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.