Topics in German Culture and Society: The Subject of German Language: Nationhood, Exile, Migration

This seminar surveys the myths of German language and identity from Martin Luther to Yoko Tawada. At stake is a notion of language that, on the one hand, unifies the German people, makes them national subjects — but, on the other hand, one that is regarded as having acquired a quasi-identity of its own that might persecute one or itself be persecuted, provide a home or be a powerful source of estrangement.