Co-published with the Waterloo Centre for German Studies
For centuries, large numbers of German-speaking people have emigrated from settlements in Europe to other countries and continents. In German Diasporic Experiences: Identity, Migration, and Loss, more than forty international contributors describe and discuss aspects of the history, language, and culture of these migrant groups, individuals, and their descendants. Part I focuses on identity, with essays exploring the connections among language, politics, and the construction of histories—national, familial, and personal—in German-speaking diasporic communities around the world. Part II deals with migration, examining such issues as German migrants in postwar Britain, German refugees and forced migration, and the immigrant as a fictional character, among others. Part III examines the idea of loss in diasporic experience with essays on nationalization, language change or loss, and the reshaping of cultural identity.
Essays are revised versions of papers presented at an international conference held at the University of Waterloo in August 2006, organized by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, and reflect the multidisciplinarity and the global perspective of this field of study.

 

Mathias Schulze, James M. Skidmore, David G. John, Grit Liebscher, and Sebastien Siebel-Achenbach are researchers at the Waterloo Centre for German Studies at the University of Waterloo and have published on aspects of German language and linguistics (Liebscher, Schulze), literature and film (John, Skidmore), and history (Siebel-Achenbach).

 

Mathias Schulze's profile page

James M. Skidmore teaches German literature, film, and cultural studies at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses mainly on the intersections of politics, history, and societal development in narrative literature and film. He is the author of The Trauma of Defeat: Ricarda Huch’s Historiography during the Weimar Republic (2005), as well as articles on German and Canadian literature and film.

James M. Skidmore's profile page

Mathias Schulze, James M. Skidmore, David G. John, Grit Liebscher, and Sebastien Siebel-Achenbach are researchers at the Waterloo Centre for German Studies at the University of Waterloo and have published on aspects of German language and linguistics (Liebscher, Schulze), literature and film (John, Skidmore), and history (Siebel-Achenbach).

David G. John's profile page

Mathias Schulze, James M. Skidmore, David G. John, Grit Liebscher, and Sebastien Siebel-Achenbach are researchers at the Waterloo Centre for German Studies at the University of Waterloo and have published on aspects of German language and linguistics (Liebscher, Schulze), literature and film (John, Skidmore), and history (Siebel-Achenbach).

Grit Liebscher's profile page

Mathias Schulze, James M. Skidmore, David G. John, Grit Liebscher, and Sebastien Siebel-Achenbach are researchers at the Waterloo Centre for German Studies at the University of Waterloo and have published on aspects of German language and linguistics (Liebscher, Schulze), literature and film (John, Skidmore), and history (Siebel-Achenbach).

Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach's profile page

This book is an important contribution to German Studies because it focuses on subjects neglected by mainstream research and complements German exile studies that have mainly dealt with the cultural artifacts produced by the exiles in art, literature, music, and university scholarship... With few exceptions exile research has neglected mass migration and concentrated on individual achievements and failures, while diaspora studies paid little attention to artistic and intellectual production. Both fields have largely ignored each other. This volume shows that they could profit from each other in the future.

Ehrhard Bahr, University of California, Los Angeles, Monatshefte, Vol. 102, #2, 2010, 2010 July

Truly an impressive collection of research concerning the diverse experiences and complex process of adaptation of German-speaking people in their new homelands....German Diasporic Experience certainly provokes the reader to contemplate the difficult question concerning the basis of German identity—is it nationality, culture, or temporal context—and also the difficult question of assessing the complex migration experience. As such, this book is an extremely valuable contribution for scholars and laymen interested in German culture and migration studies. The essays offer rich and insightful material to further the exploration of culture and identity formation and how they define us in this global village.

Eugenie M. Blang, Hampton University, German Studies Review, Vol. 33, #2, May 2010, 2010 July