Abstract

In the last five years of the twentieth century, films by the second and third generation of the so-called German guest workers exploded onto the German film landscape.  Self-confident, articulate, and dynamic, these films situate themselves in the global exchange of cinematic images, citing and rewriting American gangster narratives, Kung Fu action films, and paralleling other emergent European minority cinemas. This, the first book-length study on the topic, will function as an introduction to this emergent and growing cinema and offer a survey of important films and directors of the last two decades. In addition, it intervenes in the theoretical debates about Turkish German culture by engaging with different methodological approaches that originate in film studies.

Barbara Mennel is Associate Professor of German Studies and Film and Media Studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

“This collection of essays significantly contributes to reimagining Turkish German cultural productions as part of a larger conversation on world cinema, global, and diaspora studies, without losing sight of the historical and cultural specificity of places and spaces in which culture is produced.” · German Studies Review

“With its multiplicity of topics this varied volume contributes much to the promising study of Turkish German cinema, and more general: migrant cinema. [This volume] does not only show how much research there has already been done, but also how much work remains to be done.” · Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

“[This book] …breaks new ground in film-theoretical approaches to the field and points the way to future avenues of investigation. Particularly refreshing are chapters that take account of how Turkish German film intersects with new forms of spectatorship…in its attention to a variety of media and genres, theoretical frameworks, institutional contexts, and its rare inclusion of perspectives from outside Germany…The volume pushes the boundaries of existing scholarship. More than just a survey, it offers productive models for future studies in the field.” · German Quarterly

“This volume presents an impressive array of essays ... which will be essential reading in German and European culture programs, cinema studies, and minority/diasporic culture studies. The collection emphasizes not only the variety of cultural products here summarized under ‘Turkish German cinema,’ ... but also methodological diversity.” · Katrin Sieg, Georgetown University

“I believe [this volume] is going to be a genuine contribution to a very lively yet underresearched area of film studies. [It] will serve as a rich model for scholarly study in film departments, as well as appealing to a wide range of readers, particularly inter- and multi- disciplinary minded scholars.” · Nezih Erdogan, Izmir University of Economics

Sabine Hake is the Texas Chair of German Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin.