Du Bois, W. E. B. Dark Princess (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Du Bois's 1928 novel Dark Princess was written in English but its medievalist re-imagining of a court romance is set in Berlin, where its African American protagonist falls in love with a princess who introduces him to a world of people of colour in positions of power and influence. Useful for courses on medievalisms or … Continue reading Du Bois, W. E. B. Dark Princess (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Thomae, Jackie. Brüder (Berlin, 2019)

Thomae's novel is great for anyone teaching courses on masculinity, contemporary depictions of the GDR, German depictions of Britain, and Black German identities. Her two protagonists, one in Berlin and one in London, are the brothers of the title. Their stories never intersect, and the narrative twists and turns through a broad range of genres … Continue reading Thomae, Jackie. Brüder (Berlin, 2019)

TESTER FOR JOSH Thomae, Jackie. Brüder (Berlin, 2019)

Please give a short description of the item: what's useful or interesting about it? Thomae's novel is great for anyone teaching courses on masculinity, contemporary depictions of the GDR, German depictions of Britain, and Black German identities. Her two protagonists, one in Berlin and one in London, are the brothers of the title. Their stories … Continue reading TESTER FOR JOSH Thomae, Jackie. Brüder (Berlin, 2019)

Wenzel, Olivia. 1000 Serpentinen Angst (Frankfurt, 2020)

Wenzel's debut novel has been long-listed for the Deutscher Buchpreis 2020 and offers some fantastic benefits for teaching. Her prose, like her previous theatrical work, experiments with form, perspective and repetition in creating the sense of 'Serpentinen' of the novel's title. The contemporary style and frequent use of spoken register is perfect for  intermediate and … Continue reading Wenzel, Olivia. 1000 Serpentinen Angst (Frankfurt, 2020)

Hong, Young-sun. Cold-War Germany, The Third World, and the Global Humanitarian Regime (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).

This book examines competition and collaboration among Western powers, the socialist bloc, and the Third World for control over humanitarian aid programs during the Cold War. Young-sun Hong's analysis reevaluates the established parameters of German history. On the one hand, global humanitarian efforts functioned as an arena for a three-way political power struggle. On the … Continue reading Hong, Young-sun. Cold-War Germany, The Third World, and the Global Humanitarian Regime (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Hoefle, Arnhilt Johanna. China’s Stefan Zweig. The Dynamics of Cross-Cultural Reception (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2018).

China’s Stefan Zweig not only re-conceptualizes our understanding of cross-cultural reception and its underlying dynamics, but proposes a serious re-evaluation of one of the most successful yet misunderstood European writers of the twentieth century. Zweig’s works, which have inspired recent film adaptations such as Xu Jinglei’s Letter from an Unknown Woman (2005) and Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), are … Continue reading Hoefle, Arnhilt Johanna. China’s Stefan Zweig. The Dynamics of Cross-Cultural Reception (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2018).

Fuechtner, Veronika, and Mary Rhiel (eds.). Imagining Germany Imagining Asia: Essays in Asian-German Studies. vol. 136, 2013.

The first collection of essays in the new field of Asian-German Studies, Imagining Germany Imagining Asia demonstrates that Germany and Asia have always shared cultural spaces. Indeed, since the time of the German Enlightenment, Asia served as the foil for fantasies of sexuality, escape, danger, competition, and racial and spiritual purity that were central to foundational ideas … Continue reading Fuechtner, Veronika, and Mary Rhiel (eds.). Imagining Germany Imagining Asia: Essays in Asian-German Studies. vol. 136, 2013.

Cho, Joanne Miyang and Lee M. Roberts (eds.). Transnational Encounters between Germany and Korea: Affinity in Culture and Politics in the Long Twentieth Century (London and New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017).

This book examines the history of the German-Korean relationship from the late nineteenth to the twenty-first century, focusing on the nations’ varied encounters with each other during the last years of the Yi dynasty, the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War era. With essays from a range of internationally respected scholars, … Continue reading Cho, Joanne Miyang and Lee M. Roberts (eds.). Transnational Encounters between Germany and Korea: Affinity in Culture and Politics in the Long Twentieth Century (London and New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017).