openness to the unknown - an animated video

Heimatland - Homeland (silent movie)

Final Paper Proposal - Humour and the Discourse on Immigration: A Comparative Analysis of the Performances of Serdar Somuncu and Kaya Yanar

Should I laugh or not? Is a question that often comes to my mind, when hearing jokes about issues, such as immigration, integration and ethnicity, to name a few. On the one hand, these jokes are often funny, but on the other hand, they also address serious issues, which not funny at all for some people's daily lives. Is then comedy or satire the right genre to address these issues? By comparatively analyzing two very contrasting comedians' performances I shall examine this question in the paper proposed hereby. Serdar Somuncu, an 'actor, writer, satirist, comedian, and self-styled philosopher of transnational humanism' (Bower 2012: 194) achieved fame through his reading of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" on stage in 1996. Somuncu ascribes himself the right to take part in the process of coming to term with the past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung) as a 'informed German citizen' and further, legitimizes his right to criticize German-Turkish relations with his Turkish heritage (Bower 2012: 196). Further, he 'confronts the cultural taboos silenced by political correctness or exaggerated playfulness with ethnic stereotypes' (Bower 2012: 204). Kaya Yanar, comedian, moderator and writer, became famous with the TV program Was guckst du? (What are you looking at?) launched in 2001. Using Somuncu's words, Yanar is one of those comedians addressing ethnic stereotypes with 'exaggerated playfulness'. In contrast to Somuncu, Yanar puts the boundaries of humour with issues that could hurt people, thus he does not joke about religion or tragic events (spiegel.de 2008). Moreover, Yanar does not see politics as fitting for comedy, as it is not entertaining, but exhausting. And integration, according to Yanar, is fulfilled, when a German-Turkish comedian can step on stage without having to address his being German-Turkish (spiegel.de 2008).

In the context of the final paper for this class I would like to look closer at how Somuncu and Yanar address ethnic stereotypes, migration, ethnicity, belonging, identity, integration and home; issues that we dealt with throughout the semester. What role does humour inhabit when addressing these issues? Does it challenge stereotypes and common perceptions or does it rather reinforce them? How does migrant background of the performers play into the effects of their shows? What are the commonalities and differences of the performances of Somuncu and Yanar? And how does the impact of their performances differ from one another, if at all?

References:

- Bower, Kathrin 2012: Serdar Somuncu: Reframing Integration through a Transnational Politics of Satire. The German Quarterly 85 (2): 193-213.

- Spiegel.de 2008: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/leute/kaya-yanar-im-interview-mein-comedy-programm-ist-eine-danksagung-an-die-deutschen-a-542524.html

Hospitality and immigration

In the introduction to her book Postcolonial Hospitality: The Immigrant as Guest Mireille Rosello discusses the transformation of the characteristics of immigrants, which consequently also altered the discourse about immigration in France. Moreover, Rosello problematizes the metaphor of "immigrant as guest" as it obscures several aspects and creates a blurred image. First, by regarding an immigrant as a guest the reason for their "invitation" - which was not related to hospitality, but rather to employment - is obscured. Taking an "employee" as a "guest" results in the deprivation of the "guest" 'of the type of contract that exists in a businesslike relationship' (Rosello 2001: 9). What is more, the "guest" can always be disinvited and sent away without any further justification. The distinction between the discourse of rights (social contract) and the discourse of generosity (excess and gift-giving) is, thus, blurred through the metaphor of the immigrant as a guest. Not only is the status and are the rights of the immigrant hazy, but also the position of the state. Rosello argues that by taking the state as the "host", the fact is obscures that immigrants often live in shantytowns - 'a strange twist to the idea that the nation was the equivalent of a house' (ibid.: 10). Often, it is even other immigrants, rather than the state that provide housing to newcomers. As a result 'being grateful to the so-called host nation is a baffling proposition' as the only contact of the immigrant to the nation are bureaucratic procedures. Rosello continues then with a discussion of Derrida's distinction between the ethics of (infinite) hospitality and a politics of (finite) hospitality, into which, however, I shall not delve at this point.

Depicting immigrants as guest, does not only blur their reasons for migration, their status and their right, but further also legitimizes treating them differently; a "guest" is rarely regarded the same rights as a "host", the "guest" should respect the "host", and act accordingly to the latter's rules. The immigrant should behave in a certain way - as a "guest". Further, the metaphor implies another place as home, if someone is a guest in one place s/he is at home or the host in another place. It further supports the idea of temporal stay, of the immigrant not being at home, and thereby not being able to feel 100% comfortable. A possible return to the country of origin is then "naturalized", they are going "home", to where they belong, know the habits, and will feel comfortable. "Home" further implies that one is allowed to stay, and always welcome. These implications are not only valid for first generation migrants, but also for their offsprings, as we can see in discussion about remigration of second-generation immigrants to their parent's home.

In Matthieu Kassovitz's movie La Haine we can also trace the issue of hospitality in relation to offsprings of immigrants. The protagonists and the other youth habitants, clearly see their district as their home, people coming in are scrutinized carefully and often sent away (the reaction when they see the mayor from the roof, or when the TV reporter want to interview the three protagonists). However, the dynamics changes with sporadic appearance of the police, controlling what is going on in the district (Vinz stops telling a story when they come across policemen). The distinction of "guest" and "host" is further blurred by immigrant-offspring police men. When the three friends go to Paris, the dynamics change again. There they are actually visitors, and experience to some extent the hospitality usually showed to guests (the friendly police man giving directions, the beginning at the exhibition). However, after some point they have to leave the exhibition. After they left a man states: 'that is the problem with the suburbs', hinting at the "suburbs" not knowing how to behave. When coming back to their district Said and Vinz are once again subjected to the "control" of plainclothes police, with which the film takes a deadly ending. 

Could the riots in the banlieus be received differently if immigrants are not regarded as guests? Would a similar outburst in another, non-immigrant context (maybe rather in a leftist-socialist protesting against the system) circle be received similarly? Could the riots then be received as reaction to socio-political problems (such as lack of equal opportunities) rather than as upheavals from immigrant youth, from ungrateful "guest"? 

It becomes clear as the protagonists state "liberty, equality and fraternity"among other "wise" sayings while sitting on the roof of a Parisian building, they do not see that "saying" apply to them. 

References:
- Matthieu Kassovitz, La Haine/Hate (1995)
- Rosello, Mireille. Introduction to Postcolonial Hospitality: The Immigrant as Guest. Stanford, Standford UP, 2001. 

international migration - foto series and a video

let down in Europe (foto series)

video on international migration giving basic information on issues of migration:

but looking at the comments it does not seem very successful in challenging xenophobia...

Switzerland and immigration

For this week's discoveries I would like to share some articles and images around the issue of immigration in Switzerland. "Massimmigration," "floods of migrants," "waves of immigration" "invading" or "overrunning" Switzerland, "the boat is full"(boat referring to Switzerland) are widely used expressions in the media and especially in the political discours about immigration to Switzerland, often visually supported.

This article (in English) provides a quite differentiated and carefully formulated view on issues of immigration. The article further problematizes the political initiatives made for example by the Swiss People Party (SVP) in relation to immigration. Although newspaper articles, where immigration is mostly represented in a more or less objective and factual perspective, the images used often provide a different impression.

High immigration from Eastern Europe

The article heading this picture reports the ongoing discussion about the implementation of the safety valve (Ventilklausel) in order to regulate the immigration of workforce from EU countries to Switzerland. Article (German)

The article with this image also discusses the safety valve and especially the rapidly increasing population number in Switzerland. The article calls for a stricter regulation of immigration, before it is to late and Switzerland bursts. Article (German)

Further, provoking pictures are widely used in political discourse and mobilization. Here some examples:

Posters by the SVP. Left: Ivan S. rapist, soon Swiss? NO, to the counter initiative, YES for the deportation initiative. Right: YES, to the deportation initiative, NO to the counter initiative. The deportation initiative called for a stricter regulation for criminal foreigners, eventually leading to their deportation (depending on the crime). The initiants dismissed the counter initiative as 'not going far enough'. 

 Left: before, right: after; therefore: NO to the free movement agreement with the East.

 Now is enough! Stop mass immigration: 

     - So that we have less criminal and violent foreigners in Switzerland!

     - So that we do not feel foreign in our own country!

     - So that your children are not the only Swiss in their class!

     - So that our social systems do not get ruined!

     - So that your salary does not decrease and you do not loose your job!

Swiss vote for the SVP

The logo on the left states: Swiss quality SVP

Native americans could not stop immigration either...

Today they live in reservations...

(Source: homepage of the Swiss Democrats Party, minor (strongly) right wing party)

Throughout all of these images immigrants are represented in a very negative light. They are depicted as criminals, violent, swindlers taking advantage of the welfare system, etc. The images do not differentiate immigration (labor migration, refugees, asylum seekers, etc) and are very generalizing. Especially the last image is out of context, comparing the conquest of the Americas with immigration to Switzerland. 

Audre Lorde

I came across this striking quote and wanted to share it with you.

"Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy, we have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate. But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the service of separation and confusion" (Lorde 2007: 115; original emphasis).

For a short biography of Audre Lorde please click here.

Reference:

Lorde, Audre: Sister Outsider. Essays and Speeches. Berkley: Crossing Press, 2007 (1984).

migration and ethnicity

     This weeks reading evolve around the issue of migration and ethnicity, providing three different views. Let me start with briefly outlining the authors’ main arguments. Sirkeci, writing about – bluntly put – the reasons for migration, argues for the inclusion of ethnicity ‘among explanatory variables in future analyses of Turkish international migratory regimes’ (Sirkeci 2003: 204). Although it may not be the most important variable it can still add to the “environment of insecurity”.

     Soysal, then, criticizes the notions of “second generation” and “in-betweenness” as it locates migrant youth neither in the everyday life of Germany where s/he was born, but outside or on the peripheries; nor is s/he ‘longer inside Turkishness, since [s/he] was born in Germany (Soysal 2002: 125). Further, Soysal argues that stories of integration, which come along with notions such as second generation, ‘rely on taken-for-granted conceptions of identity that singularly take “national” as the defining parameter of identity and belonging’ (ibid.: 133). Consequently, Soysal argues in favor of situating migrant youth in an institutional setting, ‘in the social and cultural spaces within which they realize their life stories, make and have cultures, and converse and cooperate with their peers’  (ibid.: 123). Soysal’s approach results in a move away from generational and ethnic categories.

     In a similar vein, Glick Schiller argues against “methodological nationalism”, which takes the nation-state as containing social and historical processes, as “naturally” constituting borders, separating different homogeneous identities. The author calls instead for the ‘examination of non-ethnic forms of incorporation and transnational connection’ (Glick Schiller 2008: 1). Taking ethnicity as an analytical unit in the study of migration is likely to leave un-researched and under-theorized possible non-ethnic forms of settlement and transnational connection, and the significance of locality of the city in a migrant settlement. Further, a unit of analysis based on ethnicity homogenizes the community, which is actually highly heterogeneous as it bears divisions of class, gender, generations, region of origin or politics.

     The movie Kebab Connection (2004) written amongst others by Fatih Akin helps to understand especially Soysal’s and Glick-Schiller’s arguments. On the one hand we see how the migrant youth (Ibo and Valid) cannot be regarded as somewhere in between. By running a restaurant and through the making of movies Valid and Ibo constitute an active part of the city they inhabit and contribute to the art and culture of it. On the other hand, we also see connections across ethnic groups, although at the beginning especially among the youth. This also supports the argument that ethnic groups are heterogeneous and that through an approach of ethnic unit, this heterogeneity would be undermined and overshadowed. Taking for example Ibos family as a and other Turkish migrants as a unit of analysis would not reflect social reality, especially in the case of Ibo, who engages with the son of a Greek migrant and has a German girlfriend.

     This turn away from ethnicity as Soysal and Glick-Schiller propagate it is not in contradiction to Sirkeci’s claim to include ethnicity into the explanatory variables of migration as they focus on different phases of the migratory process. Sirkeci does not call for taking ethnicity as a unit of analysis, but rather for it’s inclusion in the analytical process, as ethnicity can contribute to the reasons for migration. In relation to Soysal’s article the question arises of who “qualifies” as migrant youth? What is necessary to “count” as migrant youth, when does someone stop to be part of migrant youth (not so much in terms of age but of the “migrant”). And then, what is the difference of utilizing the term “migrant youth” (or “migratory background”/Migrationshintergrund which seems like the German equivalent) to using “second generation”? Do not both equally contain notions of not being completely in the ‘everyday life’ of the country of residence (using migrant as part of the term), but neither being inside the …-ness of the parent’s country (using youth in the term)?

References:

• Fatih Akın, Kebab Connection (2004)
• Sirkeci, Ibrahim. "Migration from Turkey to Germany: An Ethnic Approach." New Perspectives on Turkey 28-29  (2003): 189-207.
• Glick Schiller, Nina. Beyond Methdological Ethnicity: Local and Transnational Pathways of Immigrant Incorporation ). Malmo: Malmo University, 2008.
• Soysal, Levent. "Beyond the 'second generation': Rethinking the Place of Migrant Youth Culture in Berlin." Challenging Ethnic Citizenship: German and Israeli Perspectives on Immigration. New York: Berghahn Books, 2002. 121-36.

Tamil Youth Organization

The website I would like to present for his week is Tamil Youth Organization Switzerland (TYO). It is an independent branch of the international Tamil Youth association. Among the goals of the Swiss branch are:

• socio-cultural problems with special focus on the Tamil Youth;
• enhancing intercultural contact of the Tamil population in Switzerland and the Swiss population;
• fostering the Tamil youth (equality of opportunity and knowledge) and preserving characteristics of Tamil culture;
• organization of seminars about a variety of issues (school system in Switzerland, war, racism,…);
• tutoring for children and support for parents in terms of language (translations);
• information about the situation in Sri Lanka; support of the victims of the civil war in Sri Lanka;
• vouching for right to self-determination (in Sri Lanka)

The page provides information about the Tamil population in Switzerland, the actual information in Sri Lanka (although there are only two documents of which the newer is from 2011), news are provided by the members of the page or translated form Tamil into German, information about Tamil culture, language, history, music, diaspora,…, a list of events organized by  TYO, announcements of projects. Further, there is a gallery, a video collection, surveys, music, columns where everyone who is registered on the page can publish articles, and information about using computer in Tamil. Moreover, there is a area “school”, where one can find worksheet and exercises (at the moment for German and Mathematics). Further, the website is managed by three persons of Tamil origin, the main language is German, but there is also a version in Tamil, which seems to be slightly different (comparing the pictures on both pages). Italian and French versions are under construction. To access the internal part of the page registration is needed (which I could not manage to do as there is only a login but no registration option…).

For those interested, here some background knowledge on the situation of the Tamil diaspora in Switzerland (these are to paragraphs from a paper I had written during my undergraduate studies in Switzerland):

The first Sri Lankan immigrants entered Switzerland mainly as asylum-seekers in 1971, because of the conflict between the Tamil and Singhalese population4 in Sri Lanka reaching exacerbating dimensions by the beginning of the 1980s. The number of Sri Lankans asking for asylum in Switzerland increased in the following years, reaching a peak in 1991. The first Sri Lankans attained Swiss citizenship in the 1970s, with steadily increasing figures in the subsequent decades. Between 1973 and 2006 11’000 Sri Lankan were naturalized (Moret 2007: 44). Since the 1990s the percentage of Swiss born with Sri Lankan roots is increasing, was it 19% in 1997 it augmented up to 44% in 2005 (ibid.: 44).

What is the general perception of the Tamil Diaspora among the Swiss society?

At present, they are seen as a well-integrated ethnic community (in the sense of hard working and peaceful). In terms of Esser’s notion of ‘systematic integration’ (Esser 2001: 39) the Tamils could be seen as well integrated. With regard to their ‘social integration’, however, a slightly different assessment could be made. Socially the Tamils seem to be less integrated, as they maintain social relations mainly within their community – which becomes particularly discernable in practices such as endogamy, speaking their own language, etc. Nevertheless this does not seem to bother Swiss society. Has it, however, not always been like that? Have the Tamils not always represented that type of immigrant the Swiss have desired? During the first years of Tamil or Sri Lankan immigration they were associated with violence, criminality, drug dealing and social fraud – the same aspects that are associated with the immigrants of today (e.g. coming from the Balkan region or Africa). So when did the perception of the Tamil change? The perception of the Tamil population in Switzerland altered in the 1990s, with better economic integration – which includes important values for many Swiss citizens (e.g. punctuality, hard work, cleanness and discipline) – and the family reunion, leading to the arrival of Tamil women and thus reuniting families.

References: 

• Esser, Hartmut (2001): Integration und Ethnische Schichtung. Mannheim.
• Moret, Joëlle, Denise Efionayi and Fabienne Stants (2007): Die Srilankische Diaspora in der Schweiz. Bundesamt für Migration.

good happens

Faïza Guène’s novel Just Like Tomorrow provides insights into the life of Doria, a teenage girl living in a Parisian banlieue (suburban area). Her parents had emigrated from Morocco to France in  the hope of a better life. What they found, though, was poverty and marginality. When Doria was in her mid-teens, thus shortly before the events depicted in the novel, the family father left Doria and her mother to marry another woman in Morocco who finally gave birth to the father's long-awaited desire to have a son.

The novel displays an admirable change in the character of Doria. At the beginning, the girl, disappointed of every aspect of her live, is very pessimistic, extremely introverted and suffering under  a self-imposed state of mind which does not allow her to dream about a better future. But then good things started to happen in her life. One day the Super’s wife tells her about the woman looking for a baby-sitter and that she had thought of Doria – of her, and not of someone else. Other than that, Doria's mom got to go to alternating training where she learned to read and write and get help with her job search. Further, Doria attained the chance to start at a technical school which would enable her to make a hairdresser’s certificate. The guy who helped her with school also turned out to be really nice, and in the end, Doria could even stop seing her psychologist. These events essentially prompted Doria to see her life in a more positive light, which is very evident in the following remark: ‘With all the events, of this year, I was thinking that, frankly, life’s too unfair. But now just recently, I’ve changed my mind a bit … Lot’s of things have happened that have changed my point of view’ (Guène 2006: 72).

In addition to this positive transformation,  the novel also demonstrates the difficulties Doria has at first  to accept that something good can actually happen to her. She always expected the worst and to get disappointed. This negative perception of her environment seems also to hold her back of dreaming for the better and longing for achieving more. One example of such negativity are her teachers who gave her bad feedback, denying any capacity she could have. Why then should she work harder? The only teacher she liked is her plastic arts teacher who wrote Doria had “malleable skills”. Even though it does not mean a lot, according to Doria, she did appreciate it. Another example is when the social worker asked her about the last book Doria read and she rather makes her believe she had not read anything, even though she did read a book. Further, in terms of interpersonal contact, Doria was rather reserved, and also in this realm she got a lot of negative reactions, even without her doing anything beforehand. Her lazy, uninterested and reserved behavior could, thus, also be a defense mechanism to not become more disappointed, and as a consequence Doria actually fulfills the image people have of her - the effect of the so-called “self-fulfilling prophecy”.

Through the positive events, which occurred not only to Doria, but also to people around her, the protagonist’s behavior and perception changes, she becomes more positive and ambitious, and allows herself to dream again; she even contemplates going into politics one day. In the end instead of saying “kif-kif tomorrow” which means “same shit, different day” as she used to, Doria says “kiffe kiffe tomorrow”, using the verb kiffer which is utilized to say that you really like something or someone.

The novel further raises questions about how to read literary texts and how to treat what we read. Faïza Guène informs us before starting the novel that '[t]his is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, and events are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental' (Guène 2006: 4), nevertheless we are - or at least I am - very tempted to regard the story of Doria as true and reflecting social reality. As Leslie A. Adelson writes in Against Between: A Manifesto about political science and literary interpretation that although they generally employ very distinct approaches 'the growing and diverse field of Turco-German literature [or more general literature by (second) generation immigrants] may well be the only sector in literary studies today where an entrenched sociological positivism continues to hold sway. This positivist approach presumes that literature reflects empirical truths about migrants' lives' (Adelson 2002: 245). Adelson goes on that the writings are legitimated by the author's biographies and that '[m]eanwhile, the literary elephant in the room goes unremarked' (ibid.: 245). In regard to Guène's novel the author's biography shows striking similarities with the novel's protagonist. Both are children of immigrants and grew up in the Parisian banlieues, further, both experience positive events in their mid-teens.
The question arising then for me are: on what basis to we legitimize taking literary texts as reflections of  reality? What factors influence the perceived "realness" of a text? How, for example, would our perception change if the author of Just Like Tomorrow was French and born to non-immigrant French parents?

References:

- Adelson, Leslie A. "Against Between: A Manifesto." Unpacking Europe. Ed. Hassan, Salah and Iftikhar Dadi. Rotterdam: NAI Publishers Museum BoijmansVan Beuningen, 2002. 244-55. 

- Faiza Guène, Just Like Tomorrow, London: Definitions, 2006.

Being German-Turk expressed through music

Erci-E is a German-Turkish musician, former member of Cartel and presenter of several radio programs. Currently he is working on his third solo album. "Weil ich ein Türke bin" is Erci-E's first song in German and thus, suggests that he aims at addressing the German speaking population and tell them how it is like to be of Turkish origin in Germany, by making use of the common stereotypes and prejudice.

Weil ich ein Türke bin (Because I’m a Turk) (lyrics)

same song in Trukish: Türk olduğum için (lyrics) 

Karakan is a rap/hip hop group whose members are of Turkish origin. Similarly as the previous song they also sing about being Turkish in Germany, but also includes how it is in Turkey to have grown up in Germany. Many of Karakan's songs are about being Turkish in Germany, about the migrational experience, etc and are mostly in Turkish, so is "Almancı Yabancı".

Almancı Yabancı (lyrics)

Semih Yavsaner aka Müslüm

The artist I chose to present in this weeks blog is very unconventional. Semih Yavsaner, better known under his pseudonym Müslüm, was born in Switzerland in 1979 to Turkish parents. He started his career with telephone jokes on a radio program. With the song, „Erich, warum bisch du nid ehrlich?“ (Erich, why are you not honest? [Erich is a Swiss politician of the right wing party SVP, in 2010 he was president of the youth branch]) Müslüm started his career as a musician. The song was written against an initiative propagated by Erich Hess, city councilor of Bern, and member of the right wing party SVP, who demanded the closing down of an alternative cultural center in the city of Bern (“Berner Reitschule”), titling it as a “disgrace of the city”. The center is famous for it’s leftist orientation and has been subjected to initiatives claiming for its close several times. The song became the musical “face” of the opposition of the initiative and thus, became very popular among the Swiss youth.

I remember how I thought this was a one-time shot, and although the song gained a lot of popularity it also seemed somehow ridiculous because of the way Müslüm represents himself. Not too long after his first hit, Müslüm lanced his next song “Samichlaus” (Santa Claus), again politically motivated. This time the song address the “Auschaffungsinitiative” (Initiative for the deportation of criminal immigrants, initiated by the SVP). The initiative’s posters showed black sheep being kicked out of Switzerland by white sheep. Müslüm, dressed as Santa Claus, parodies and undermines in the clip to the song the posters of the initiative. In this song too a SVP politician, Christoph Mörgeli, is addressed directly, and Erich Hess gets a black sheep figure for Christmas. Similarly to the first song, “Samichlaus” became very popular in Switzerland and recently another Müslüm song “Süpervitamin” hit the charts.

Reading the assignment for this week I remembered Müslüm and started looking for some information about him and discovered that he actually has released an album in 2012. Most of his songs include some sort of social critique, some of which address issues related to immigrants. I deemed interesting that Müslüm parodies stereotypes about male immigrants, especially those coming from the south in the way he dressed and sings. For example in his song “Orang Utan” Müslüm addresses the prejudices immigrant men face on the streets, such as being drug dealers, paedophile, terrorist, fraudster of the welfare state, etc.

Müslüm’s music, while singing in German, is clearly influenced by traditional Turkish songs. As in regard to language, Müslüm sings/speaks with a strong Turkish accent and mixes standard German (i.e. the one used officially and spoken in Germany) with Swiss German dialects. The usage of this mixed language also hints at the difficulty immigrants face in the German speaking part of Switzerland to learn the language. On the one hand, there is the official standard German (used in schools and official letters), on the other hand, the dialects (also varying from one region to another), which are spoken in daily life.

With his striking appearance Müslüm causes a lot of attraction and laughter, while at the same time addressing serious social issues. Müslüm demonstrates a very different way of using the “inbetweenness” or “third chair” for his artistic production; he plays with stereotypes and parodies them, hence, questioning and undermining them at the same time. Further, through singing about political issues Müslüm also challenges the stereotype of the "uninterested and unengaged" immigrant in terms of political participation. It might be up for debate whether it is the appropriate mean to address societal issues, but for sure he reached wide popularity and elicited sympathy through addressing serious matters with a good portion of humor. He is nominated for the Swiss Music Award 2013, his concerts are often sold out and won the “Golden Record” Award (Goldene Schallplatte) which is awarded after a certain number of sold CDs for the single “Süpervitamin”.

“Orang Utan” video and lyrics:

Wenn ich auf der Strasse spaziere               Wenn I walk on the streets

Meinen die ich bin ein Drögeli Dealer        they think I’m a drug dealer

Wenn ich mit chleinen Chindern spiele      when I play with little kids

Meinen sie ich sei Pädophile                      they think I’m paedophile

Die Menschen schauen mich hier an          people here look at me

Als ware ich ein Orang Utan                      as if I was an orang utan

Ich bin der böse fremde Mann                    I’m the evil foreign man

Ich bin ein Ausländer                                 I’m a foreigner

Eine Immigrant                                          an immigrant

Weit weg von der Heimat                          far away from my homeland

In einem fremden Land                              in a foreign country

Wenn ich mein Bart mal nicht rasiere        (If I don’t shave my beard once

Meine sie grad ich explodiere                    they think immediately I’ll explode

Wenn ich mein Rücken mal verbiege        if I bend my back

Meinen sie ich will IV beziehe                  they think immediately I want to get invalidity insurance

Die Menschen schauen mich hier an         people here look at me

Als ware ich ein Orang Utan                     as if I was an orang utan

Was habe ich ihnen denn getan                 but what did I do to them

Wir müssen wieder investieren                  We have to invest again

Nich in das Geld sondern in Liebe            not in money but in love

Hört auf mit dem Schubladisieren             stop the categorizing

Wir müssen wieder Chinder produzieren  we have to produce kids again

Ich bin ein Ausländer                                I’m a foreigner

Eine Immigrant                                         an immigrant

Weit weg von der Heimat                         far away from my homeland

In einem fremden Land                             in a foreign country

Ich bin ein Ausländer                                I’m a foreigner

Ein Ausländer und integriert                     A foreigner and integrated

“Samichlaus” clip and lyrics:

Grüezi, grüezi miteinander ich bin der Samichlaus, 

ich schaffe alle..., schwarzen schöfli aus, 

ich bin der sami öhhh ich bin der Samichlaus

und schaffe schwarze schöfli aus. 

(Hi, hi everyone, I’m Santa Claus

I deport all..., all the black sheep

I’m Santa Claus eeh I’m Santa Claus

and deport all the black sheep)

Grüezi miteinander wir sind in frieden gekommen aber ohne Geschenkli, 

ich habe eine Traum, dass wir diese jahr miteinander sind,

gib mir deine Hand ich geb dir meine chom wir werden Brüder

egal wär du bisch vu wo du chusch und wohin du gehsch:,,

(Hi everyone, we came in peace but without presents

I have a dream that this year we are together

give me your hand I give you mine, come, we are brothers

it does not matter who you are and where you’re from and where you’re going)

1-mal für die Liebe in dir. 2-mal für Gefühle mit dir, 3-mal für die ganze Partie tanzt meine Freunde tanzt.

Grüezi, grüezi miteinander ich bin der Samichlaus ,ich schaffe alle...,
schwarzen schöfli aus , ich bin der sami öhhh ich bin der
Samichlaus und schaffe schwarze schöfli aus.
Wir sind alle anders aber glaub mir wir sitzen im gleichen Schlitten,
und wenn du mal rausfliegst hol ich dich sofort wieder zurück. 

(1 timw for the love within you, 2 times fort he feelings with you, 3 times for the whole „game“,

dance my friends dance

Hi, hi everyone, I’m Santa Claus, I deport all black sheep, I’m Santa eeh I’m Santa Claus and deport all black sheep

We are all different, but believe me we sit in the same sledge,

and if you fall off then I fetch you back)

Alles was du brauchst hast du schon lange auf den Weg bekommen,

auch wen du glaubsch du brauchsch noch mehr um glücklich zu sein:,,

1-mal für die Liebe in dir. 2-mal für Gefühle mit dir , 3-mal für die ganze
Partie

tanzt meine Freunde tanzt .
Ahah wär isch dr Samichlaus (Ich bin der Samichlaus)
Ahahah wär schafft Geschenkli aus (oh ich bin doch im Partyhaus)
ahah wär isch dr Samichlaus (ich schaffe die schwarze schöfli aus). 

(Everything you need you got a long time a go with you,

even if you think you need more to be happy.

1 timw for the love within you, 2 times fort he feelings with you, 3 times for the whole „game“,

dance my friends dance

Ahah who is Santa Claus (I’m Santa Claus)

Ahah who deports the presents (oh I’m in the party house, right)

Ahah who is Santa Claus (I deport the black sheep)

Grüezi, grüezi miteinander ich bin der Sa.. (Der Mann spricht .....)
wunderschönen
Tag Herr Mörgeli haben sie den heute keine Sörgeli,

chom mir spielend mit dem handörgeli sanhörgeli sanhörgeli, wunderschönen
Tag Herr Mörgeli haben sie den heute keine Sörgeli

chom wir spielend mit dem Handörgeli sanhörgeli sanhörgeli ( 2 3 4 öhh)

Grüezi, grüezi miteinander ich bin der Samichlaus, 

(Hi, hi everyone I’m Sa..(the man speaks...) beautiful

Good morning Mr. Mörgeli don’t you have any worries today,

let’s go, we play the accordion saccordion saccordion, beautiful,

good morning Mr. Mörgeli don’t you have no worries today,

let’s go, we play the accordion saccordion saccordion (2 3 4 eeh)

Hi, hi everyone I’m Santa Claus)

ich schaffe alle..., schwarzen schöfli aus,
ich bin der sami öhhh ich bin der
Samichlaus und schaffe schwarze schöfli aus,

und schffe schwarze schöfli aus.

(I deport all…, black sheep

I’m Santa eeh I’m

Santa Claus and deport all black sheep

And deport all black sheep)

As Auzanneau analyzes in Rap in Libreville, Gabon: An Urban Sociolinguistic Space rappers use different languages - French, English or vernacular languages - depending on what they want to express, how they want to position themselves and who they address. Looking at Müslüms songs we can also observe a specific usage of language. Throughout his discography he sings German with a (caricatured) Turkish accent and usually also mixing in Swiss German dialect, especially Bernese dialect, which is know it's usage of diminutive word form by adding -li to nouns. By doing so Müslüm plays with how serious the text is interpreted. In regard to the two songs posted here, we have one the one hand "Orang Utan" in which Müslüm sings mostly in German, thus conveying a more sincere message, this effect is enhanced by the more melancholic music. On the other hand, we have "Samichlaus" using more dialect words (Samichlaus, Schäfli, Geschenkli, Sörgeli), but also his pronunciation is marked by more dialect. Concluding, we can say that in the first song the emphasis is more on the content, Müslüm informs the listener about the stigmatization of immigrants, addresses all the common stereotypes, the notion of homeland (Heimat) and being in a foreign land, of being a foreigner - and integrated. The second song, "Samichlaus", is more humoral, through the usage of dialect, the wording, and not the least the clip. Although the song addresses a serious issue, as does the first song, for "Samichlaus" Müslüm chose a less sincere way. He seems to rather make fun of the initiative by also mocking a SVP politician, than to focus on a specific message. "Samichlaus" is more likely to be listend to without hearing the message. To my mind this last point is a problem musicians in general face if they want to be political, music can be listend to in different ways. The style of the music (and the clip), though, can influence the attention listeners pay to the lyrics. In this regard, rap is probably one of the more effective musical genres to be political, as the emphasis lies first and foremost on the lyrics.

let the past reflect on our future: immigration and the perils of tabooization

More than a decade ago Can Candan produced the documentary Duvarlar-Mauern-Walls. Candan interviews immigrants of Turkish origin about the changes they faced after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the re-unification of Germany. Although the film plays in the early 1990s, the societal conflict portrayed therein is still highly valid today. Most of the interviewees in Candan's movie describe how their situation has become worse since the fall of the Wall and how discrimination against them has increased not only on the streets, but also in the job market. The "Ossis", as the Eastern German's were called, have become the Wessis' more favorable "others". In a similar vein, through the creation of the European Union (EU) and the implementation of the free movement of persons for it's member states citizens', immigrants throughout the EU and amongst themselves have been put into a de facto hierarchical order. At the top of the list are skilled EU nationals, the bottom form uneducated third country nationals. But what happens with immigrants who are already residing in a country (as opposed to those who are send back at the borders) in the light of a discourse of unification such as portrayed in Candan's movie and the construction of the EU? 

Let me address this question by giving an account of an interview I conducted with a member of the Swiss parliament in the context of my BA thesis in the summer of 2012. The parliamentarian described a group of middle-aged women of Turkish origin who once made an appointment with the politician to talk about their employment situations. The women portrayed how they would like to work, after having raised their children who are now independent. Now, the problem they faced was that of unemployment. Not even a cleaning job could the Turkish woman find due to the fact that individuals from EU countries were preferred over non-EU citizens, even if they, the EU citizens, were to migrate to Switzerland in order to take up the jobs; EU citizens immigrants were preferred over the already in Switzerland residing women of Turkish origin.

Coming back to Candan's movie the immigrants felt like un-welcomed foreigners, regardless of how long they have been living in Germany (or any other EU member state, for that matter), not only because of worsened opportunities to find employment but also due to increasing hostility and violence against immigrants by the host societies. Violence against immigrants went even so far, in 1992, as to set on fire a residential building in Rostock-Lichtenhagen with mainly immigrants living in it. Right wing groupings were amongst the accused for this atrocity, spectators cheered. One of the interviewees in the movie reminded in relation to this incident of the fact that not so long ago “not desired” people had been burnt in Germany. The hint to the Third Reich is certainly provocative. Germany has worked hard to distance itself from its Nazi past, emphasizing over and over again that something alike will never happen again. Is it, however, in and of itself enough to say that something wont ever happen again? To my mind not. In particular Germany and its people have come to construct a powerful taboo around the Third Reich incidents. The common discourse seems to evolve around that Germany and it's citizens cannot bear responsibility today for events that happened 70 years ago in Nazi Germany. The thing is so put under the table. This act of Tabuisierung,  however, bears, a crucial downside risk to it. As the case of the murdering of 9 immigrants (8 of Turkish 1 of Greek origin) by a neo Nazi group between 2000 and 2006 shows, neo-Nazi cells have been active and growing in the past decades. As Hurriyet Daily News cited Sebastian Edathy (the German Bundestag’s inquiry commission head) on the recent neo-nazi scandals in the country: ‘the threat of far-right criminal organizations had long been underestimated in Germany and that the police had misinterpreted the murders as an internal feud between immigrant shop-owners’. Wolfgang Wieland, another member of the commission, gave to protocol: 'They [the police] approached the murders with the prejudice that ‘There cannot be racist murders in our society.’ That’s horrible. The whole mentality of the security units should change'. 

These terrifying developments can to a fair portion be ascribed to the tabooization process described above, which by default implicates a 'solving-by-sweeping-away' approach to the subject in question. It is only through actively engaging, so I believe, that we can genuinely prevent the re-occurrence of events such as those that took place in Germany. The prevalent discourse or narrative of 'it happened once, but it won't happen again' is unfruitful for that matter. Both the German government and its people need to start actively engaging in fighting xenophobia if the goal is to make all of the country's citizens feel safe and at home - both settled and newcomers. So that's why we should let the past reflect on our futures.