CFP: Motherhood in Multicultural Germany
GSA, Milwaukee, WI, 4-7 October, 2012

The media laments the declining birth rates in Germany (and across both Western and Eastern Europe) as an indication that the increased number of working women has led to the Germans “dying out.”  Yet this interpretation points to a strictly white conception of Germanness, which fails to take into account the growing minority-German (Minderheitsdeutsche) population. While mainstream media debates the best ways to encourage educated, white German women to have more children, some (such as Thilo Sarrazin) blame those of immigrant descent for the "lower average intelligence" of today's population.

This panel investigates representations of the minority-German mother to consider the ways in which she serves as the counterpoint to the white German mother in both desirable and undesirable ways.
 We are seeking a fourth paper to add to a panel that is so far focused on representations of Turkish and Turkish-German mothers in literature and film. We welcome papers that examine representations of immigrant or multi-ethnic mothers in literature (by authors such as Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Feridun Zaimoglu, Yoko Tawada, Wladimir Kaminer), film (such as by directors Feo Aladag or Fatih Akin) or other cultural products (theater, memoir, hip-hop, painting, etc.). Transnational analyses of motherhood and multiculturalism in other European countries are also welcome.

Please send abstracts of approximately 300 words and a brief biographical statement to Alexandra M. Hill ([log in to unmask]<UrlBlockedError.aspx>) by January 15, 2012.  The completed panel proposal must be submitted to the GSA by February 15.

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The German Studies Call for Papers List
Editor: Stefani Engelstein
Assistant Editor:  Olaf Schmidt
Sponsored by the University of Missouri
Info available at: http://grs.missouri.edu/resources/gerlistserv.html