<?page no="0"?> ISBN 978-3-8233-8168-6 003 The present study adds to TEFL discourse in several ways. First of all, it contributes to the widening of the canon as it focuses on Ugandan children’s fiction. Secondly, the research connects to the few empirical studies that exist in the field. It provides further implications for cultural and global learning and literary didactics in TEFL derived from insights into the mental processes of a group of Year 9 students in Germany engaging with Ugandan children’s fiction within the scope of an extensive reading project. S. Schaidt · Ugandan Children’s Literature in TEFL Stephanie Schaidt Ugandan Children’s Literature and Its Implications for Cultural and Global Learning in TEFL An Extensive Reading Project Study <?page no="1"?> Ugandan Children’s Literature and Its Implications for Cultural and Global Learning <?page no="2"?> Augsburger Studien zur Englischdidaktik Edited by Engelbert Thaler (Augsburg) Editorial Board: Sabine Doff (Bremen), Michaela Sambanis (Berlin), Daniela Elsner (Frankfurt am Main), Carola Surkamp (Göttingen), Christiane Lütge (München), Petra Kirchhoff (Regensburg) Volume 3 <?page no="3"?> Stephanie Schaidt Ugandan Children’s Literature and Its Implications for Cultural and Global Learning An Extensive Reading Project Study <?page no="4"?> Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Förderungsfonds Wissenschaft der VG WORT. © 2018 · Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG · Dischingerweg 5 · D-72070 Tübingen Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Gedruckt auf säurefreiem und alterungsbeständigem Werkdruckpapier. Internet: www.narr.de E-Mail: info@narr.de Printed in Germany ISSN 2367-3826 ISBN 978-3-8233-8168-6 Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http: / / dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. <?page no="5"?> Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Engelbert Thaler for his continuous support and encouragement. Prof. Dr. Thaler has constantly provided an open door, offered insightful suggestions and endorsed my academic development. I am also very grateful to Prof. Dr. Chris‐ tiane Fäcke for her valuable feedback and advice throughout the project. With her inestimable comments and questions she has repeatedly encouraged me to think further. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the important contri‐ butions of Prof. Dr. Katja Sarkowsky who has supervised my Zulassungsarbeit für das Staatsexamen [final thesis for student teachers at university in Germany] on Ugandan post-independence literature and offered valuable suggestions also for the present study. Further thanks go to Prof. Dr. Hubert Zapf as the third member of my dissertation committee for his time and thoughtful comments. My gratitude is also directed to all colleagues in the Fremdsprachendidak‐ tisches Forschungskolloquium [research colloquium of foreign language didac‐ tics] of Augsburg University and their thought-provoking impulses in discus‐ sions in Augsburg, Salzburg and Frauenwörth. Particular thanks go to my friends Dr. Parnaz Kianiparsa and Dr. Sara Vali for making themselves available as interraters in this project and always providing assistance and support. Fur‐ thermore, I am especially indebted to my friend Stephanie Bajor who always had an open ear and generously offered her opinions throughout this project. I owe deep gratitude to the two English teachers and head teachers of the schools I conducted my study in and all the students participating in this re‐ search. Without their readiness to participate and their engaged involvement in the study, this project could not have been realised. In addition, I want to thank all those who made my study stay in Uganda an enlightening and memorable experience: I am indebted to Augsburg University for granting me a scholarship, to the Ugandan writers I interviewed, i.e. Doreen Baingana, Violet Barungi, Beatrice Lamwaka, Dr. Aaron Mushengyezi, Glaydah Namukasa, Julius Ocwinyo, Oscar Ranzo, Rose Rwakasisi, for their readiness to answer my questions, and to the teachers and students at different schools in Uganda for sharing their experiences with Ugandan children’s fiction. Particular thanks go to Mrs Evangeline Barongo, the chair-person of UCWIA , for her great support during my stay in Uganda. Furthermore, I want to thank my many <?page no="6"?> friends in Uganda who provide me with a home away from home whenever I visit. I also want to extend thanks to Mr Robert Raabe for proofreading the whole work, the Graduate School GGS of Augsburg University for providing a support network and offering many interesting courses, Prof. Dr. Mehlhorn and Prof. Dr. Schramm and the participants of the DGFF Summer School 2014 for thought-provoking impulses. My gratitude also goes to colleagues in the field of Didactics of History, Miriam Hannig and Philipp Bernhard, for giving valuable ideas for this project from yet another perspective. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge my sincere gratitude to VG Wort for its invaluable help in fi‐ nancing this work. Finally, I am indebted to my family and friends (you know who you are), who have always supported me in my endeavours. Particular thanks go to my sister Katharina who has diligently read the complete draft of this thesis and provided me with insightful suggestions. Acknowledgments 6 <?page no="7"?> To my parents Helga and Klaus <?page no="9"?> 1 17 2 23 2.1 23 2.2 26 2.3 31 2.4 34 2.5 37 2.6 40 2.7 44 2.8 48 2.9 59 3 62 3.1 62 3.2 65 3.3 69 4 74 4.1 74 4.2 78 4.3 81 4.4 85 4.4.1 87 4.4.2 91 4.4.3 107 Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Discussions on ”Landeskunde“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Rise of Intercultural Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Understanding Otherness: Optimistic vs. Sceptical Hermeneutics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and a Changing Concept of Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transcultural Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Otherness . . . . Implications of Anti-Racist Pedagogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Globalisation and Global Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relevance of the Different Concepts and Developments for the Present Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Literary Texts in the (Lower and Intermediate) EFL Classroom (Children’s) Literature and Cultural and Global Learning . . . Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ugandan Children’s Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Towards a Definition of Ugandan Children’s Literature . . . . . History of Ugandan Children’s Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Neo-imperialism, Postcolonialism and Ugandan Children’s Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selected Genres, Topics and Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Folktales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fiction in a Realistic Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Potential of Texts for Cultural and Global Learning . . . <?page no="10"?> 5 110 5.1 110 5.2 113 5.3 115 5.4 116 5.5 118 5.5.1 118 5.5.2 120 5.5.3 124 5.6 126 5.6.1 126 5.6.2 127 5.6.3 127 5.7 129 5.7.1 129 5.7.2 131 5.7.3 131 5.8 134 6 136 6.1 136 6.1.1 137 6.1.2 137 6.1.3 138 6.1.4 139 6.1.5 142 6.1.6 145 6.1.7 146 6.2 147 6.2.1 147 6.2.2 148 6.2.3 150 6.2.4 150 6.2.5 152 6.2.6 154 6.2.7 155 6.2.8 156 Research Design and Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Previous Studies and Focus of the Present Study . . . . . . . . . . . Research Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qualitative Research Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Research Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Questionnaires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Diaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Piloting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Project Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of the Data Analysis Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coding Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Critical Reflection upon Study Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Research Findings: Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Niko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge and Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Magdalena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 10 <?page no="11"?> 6.3 156 6.3.1 156 6.3.2 157 6.3.3 159 6.3.4 160 6.3.5 160 6.3.6 162 6.3.7 163 6.4 164 6.4.1 164 6.4.2 164 6.4.3 167 6.4.4 168 6.4.5 174 6.4.6 177 6.4.7 177 6.4.8 178 6.4.9 179 6.5 180 6.5.1 180 6.5.2 181 6.5.3 182 6.5.4 183 6.5.5 185 6.5.6 188 6.5.7 189 6.5.8 190 6.6 190 6.6.1 190 6.6.2 191 6.6.3 193 6.6.4 194 6.6.5 198 6.6.6 199 6.6.7 200 6.6.8 201 6.7 202 6.7.1 202 Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . War Involving Child Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lukas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leyla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knoweldge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 11 <?page no="12"?> 6.7.2 203 6.7.3 204 6.7.4 205 6.7.5 207 6.7.6 210 6.7.7 211 6.7.8 212 6.8 212 6.8.1 212 6.8.2 213 6.8.3 216 6.8.4 217 6.8.5 219 6.8.6 224 6.8.7 225 6.8.8 225 6.9 226 6.9.1 226 6.9.2 227 6.9.3 228 6.9.4 229 6.9.5 231 6.9.6 233 6.9.7 235 6.10 235 6.10.1 235 6.10.2 237 6.10.3 238 6.10.4 239 6.10.5 241 6.10.6 244 6.10.7 246 6.11 246 6.11.1 246 6.11.2 247 6.11.3 250 6.11.4 251 6.11.5 253 Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlotte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Philipp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 12 <?page no="13"?> 6.11.6 255 6.11.7 256 6.11.8 257 6.11.9 259 6.12 259 6.12.1 259 6.12.2 260 6.12.3 261 6.12.4 261 6.12.5 262 6.12.6 263 6.13 263 7 268 7.1 268 7.1.1 268 7.1.2 280 7.1.3 305 7.2 312 7.2.1 312 7.2.2 322 7.2.3 342 7.3 353 7.3.1 353 7.3.2 367 7.3.3 373 7.3.4 380 7.4 380 8 395 8.1 395 8.1.1 396 8.1.2 408 8.1.3 413 8.2 416 8.2.1 416 HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . War Involving Child Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . (De)Construction and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Research Findings: Thematic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prior Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mental Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction and Deconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness . . . . . . Strategies and Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIV / AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . War Involving Child Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary and Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Discussion of Research Findings and Implications Arising for TEFL . . . . . Implications for Learning and Teaching about Cultural Aspects and Global Topics in the EFL Classroom . . . . . . . . . . Knowledges Instead of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recognising Inconsistencies and Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reflecting upon Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global Education Differently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Focus on ‘Self ’ Rather Than ‘the Other’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 13 <?page no="14"?> 8.2.2 417 8.2.3 418 8.3 420 8.3.1 420 8.3.2 422 9 434 10 440 11 448 480 515 516 ‘Learning from’ Rather Than ‘Learning about’ . . . . . . . Becoming Reflective, Not Active in the First Place . . . . Implications for Learning and Teaching with Literary Texts and Extensive Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Literary Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extensive Reading Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Retrospective Reflections upon Research Design and Methodology . . . . Conclusion and Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contents 14 <?page no="15"?> List of Abbreviations BMZ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit CEFR Common European Framework of References for Languages EFL English as a Foreign Language ELT English Language Teaching FEMRITE Ugandan Women Writers’ Association FLT Foreign Language Teaching IC Intercultural Competence ICC Intercultural Communicative Competence KMK Kultusministerkonferenz L1 First / Native Language L2 Second Language NGO Non Governmental Organisation TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language UCWIA Uganda Children Writers and Illustrators Association <?page no="17"?> 1 Quote from her TED talk “The Danger of a Single Story” (2009). 1 Introduction The single story creates a stereotype and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete. They make a story become the only story. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 1 In the face of fears which are time and again raised in parts of the population that their culture could be diluted by aspects of incoming ‘foreign’ cultures, it seems indispensable to place a strong focus in German education on cultural and global learning. As language and culture are considered to be closely inter‐ related and it is assumed that one may not be taught without the other (Byram, 1998; Kramsch, 1998; Risager, 2007), the foreign language classroom plays a special role in this respect. Culture is an ambiguous term and quite difficult to capture. Over the last centuries, very many different understandings of culture have developed and in the present time various concepts of culture(s) also coexist. The normative con‐ cept of culture as high-culture only that evolved in the 19 th century has been largely replaced today by a functional-dynamic understanding of culture. Nev‐ ertheless, static concepts of culture continue to be drawn on. Herder’s (1967) understanding of cultures as separate, homogeneous islands or spheres that are ethnically consolidated has been questioned and declared obsolete (e.g. Welsch, 2010) but it has also been taken up by other scholars (e.g. Huntington, 1998). Racist and xenophobic lines of argument repeatedly utilise a static concept of culture to justify marginalisation and exclusion. Increasingly, however, scholars also point to concepts such as hybridity (Bhabha, 1990, 1994) and transculturality (Welsch, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2010) and perceive culture as a text or discourse. Discussions on cultural learning have already formed an integral part of pedagogy and foreign language didactics in Germany for many years. In the last two centuries, influenced by neighbouring disciplines, cultural learning in the foreign language classroom has gone through various changes. With the wid‐ ening of the concept of culture, the didactic approach to teaching and learning about cultural aspects has also broadened. Approaches that focus on culture as <?page no="18"?> monolithic entities such as many Landeskunde [regional studies] approaches and Fremdverstehen [understanding of the other] have been replaced or com‐ plemented by approaches that take processes of meaning creation between rep‐ resentatives of different cultures (intercultural learning) and blurrings and transgressions of boundaries (transcultural learning) or global topics (global education) into account. Fiction has been assigned a particular potential in the context of cultural and global learning. In the 1990s, scholars of the Graduate School “Understanding Otherness” in Gießen, for example, researched widely on Fremdverstehen in lit‐ erary didactics (Bredella & Christ, 1995; Christ & Legutke, 1996), and since the new millennium important impulses have also been provided by reference to postmodern and postcolonial discourses (Alter, 2015; Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild 2010; Hallet, 2002, 2007). Much of the research that has been done in the field is located at a theoretical level. Up to today, only few studies have looked into cultural learning with lit‐ erary texts empirically (see for example Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild, 2010). Particularly lower and intermediate grades of secondary education remain largely unresearched. What Burwitz-Melzer lamented at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is still true today: Für niedrigere Jahrgänge, also für ein weniger fortgeschrittenes, sprachlich weniger gewandtes und oft weniger leseerfahrenes Schülerpublikum, dessen Curriculum außerdem noch maßgeblich vom Lehrbuch bestimmt wird, lassen sich bisher allerd‐ ings kaum Unterrichtsvorschläge und Fallstudien finden. [For lower years, that is for students who are less advanced, linguistically less competent and often with less reading experience, and whose curriculum on top of this is still significantly deter‐ mined by the course book, fewer teaching suggestions and case studies may be found.] (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003, p. 93; my translation) Empirical studies, however, provide valuable insights, for example, into teaching materials, teaching procedures and learners’ mental processes in the EFL class‐ room from which conclusions can be drawn on how to create effective learning arrangements for the students. Therefore, there is still need for more empirical studies in the field. Furthermore, teaching African cultures and literatures remains largely over‐ looked in foreign language didactics. Acknowledging that in the last few years “the German EFL curriculum has been considerably extended”, Gohrisch & Grünkemeier (2012b, p. 11) point out that “[c]ompared to other postcolonial re‐ gions, Africa is less well represented in German school and university curricula”. Taking a cursory glance at school books used in Berlin and Brandenburg they 1 Introduction 18 <?page no="19"?> 2 As my study was conducted in Gymnasien [grammar schools] in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, I focus on these two federal states in particular. state that post-apartheid South Africa is the only representative, “while ‘the rest’ of the continent is silenced” (ibid., p. 21). My own look at school books in Bayern and Baden-Württemberg confirmed this observation. 2 In foreign language didactics research in Germany, ‘Africa’ has also been largely neglected. Although in the last few years a number of articles and vol‐ umes have been published which discuss the teaching of ‘the new’/ postcolonial English cultures and literatures (Doff & Schulze-Engler, 2011a; Eisenmann, 2015; Eisenmann, Grimm, & Volkmann, 2010b; Schulze-Engler, 2002), the focus on ‘Africa’ usually remains restricted to South Africa here as well. The volume Listening to Africa (Gohrisch & Grünkemeier, 2012a) seems to be the only volume in German foreign language didactics research targeted at university and high school teachers that focalises different African countries. Concrete teaching examples by scholars and practitioners centred on African countries are rare, as well. In 2010, when the football World Cup took place in South Africa, a number of foreign language didactics journals dedicated an issue to South Africa (see The Many Faces of South Africa (Bildungshaus Schulbuch‐ verlage, 2010); South Africa (Kieweg & Voigt, 2010)) and South Africa-related topics are occasionally also targeted in other issues (e.g. Decke-Cornill, 1994). Other countries are largely ignored and many articles in journals still focus on ‘Africa’ in general, seemingly homogenising a complete continent (Brose, 2015; Feuerle, 2007; Kazaki, 2014). The book Africa Postcolonial Experiences (Teichmann, 2009), published in the Schöningh Discover Series and edited by Thaler, appears to be a rather isolated example by a school publisher that presents teaching examples which take into account a variety of African coun‐ tries. Against the background of these shortcomings, the present study focuses on the intermediate levels of foreign language teaching and a country that has not yet gained much attention in TEFL in Germany, i.e. Uganda. The research seeks empirical insights into the mental processes of Year 9 students in Germany when they engage with Ugandan children’s literature within the scope of an extensive reading project. Students’ approaches to this literature, to ‘foreign’ aspects, their (de)construction and reflection processes are analysed. Taking postmodern and postcolonial discourses into account, implications for cultural and global learning in the EFL classroom and literary didactics are deduced. With the focus on Ugandan children’s fiction in the present study, the scope of research in foreign language didactics is extended and a path that turns away 1 Introduction 19 <?page no="20"?> from a homogenising approach to ‘Africa’ taken. However, I also repeatedly make use of the adjective ‘African’ in my study. As my research deals with (de)constructions of ‘otherness’, it is of particular importance to critically reflect upon the terminology that is applied, which is done in the following paragraphs. The term ‘African’ is problematic as it feigns homogeneity, which is untenable with respect to a large continent that is in fact extraordinarily heterogeneous (e.g. concerning its history, linguistic diversity, etc.). Giving various examples of the heterogeneity of the continent Taiye Selasi (2013) points to this issue of generalising: Of all the continents, Africa is the least eligible for generalization. Still, not a week goes by that I don’t hear someone use the adjective “African” and wonder: where exactly, in your mind, is this Africa of which you speak? What language do they speak in this Africa? What is the weather like? What are we thinking for food, clothing, music, worship, topography? Are we imagining the snow-capped mountains of Cape Town or the grasslands of Nairobi or the urban sprawl of Cairo or the cacophonous chaos of Lagos? Or are we rather imagining an animated scene from Disney’s The Lion King, a yellow-orange vista just before twilight with drums playing softly in the dis‐ tance? (ibid., p. 6) With respect to the term ‘African literature’, a generalisation is also question‐ able. In her talk, Selasi proclaims that “African Literature Doesn’t Exist”. She argues that [i]n order to believe in “African literature”—to employ the term as if it possessed some cogent, knowable meaning—we must believe that the word African possesses some cogent meaning as well. But what? The African continent consists of 55 states recog‐ nized by the UN. That’s roughly the same as Europe’s 50, though I’ve never heard of anyone placing authors from, say, Switzerland, Serbia, Spain and Sweden on a panel of ‘European writers.’ […] The trouble is obvious: continents are naturally formed landmasses comprised of numerous countries. If states make suspicious categories for art, continents are closer to useless. (ibid., p. 5) As an alternative way to classify literature, Selasi suggests putting a stronger focus on the identity of the writing not the writer: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we classified literature not by country but by content: the love story, the city novel, the novel of the nation-state, the war novel, the bildungsroman? ” (p. 14). It has to be noted, however, that the adjective ‘African’ and the denomination ‘African literature’, as well as references to nationality and national literature, also play an important role in the context of the pan-African movement (W. E. B. Du Bois, Léopold Senghor, Jomo Kenyetta, Kwame Nkrumah) and the develop‐ 1 Introduction 20 <?page no="21"?> ment of a counter-discourse to Western literature in the mid-twentieth century. Following the political disengagement from the colonisers, a period of pan-Af‐ ricanism / nationalism ensued in many African countries. Writers “wanted to exhibit and defend African culture against the Western rationalisation of colo‐ nialism” (Ojaide, 1995, p. 5). Furthermore, influenced by the fact that they are frequently perceived as ambassadors for the African continent, even today writers with Nigerian, Ugandan, etc. roots who live in the Global North also often describe themselves as African. Adichie (2009), for example, states: I must say that before I went to the US I didn’t consciously identify as African. But in the US whenever Africa came up people turned to me. Never mind that I knew nothing about places like Namibia. But I did come to embrace this new identity. And in many ways I think of myself now as African. Although I still get quite irritable when Africa is referred to as a country. Since I draw on scholarship in my study that engages with anti-colonial critique and repeatedly talks of an African counter-discourse, I do not see a way out of this dilemma and occasionally make use of the terms ‘African’ and ‘African literature’ as well. The same issue of being both problematic and inevitable ap‐ plies to the term ‘Western’. Similarly to ‘African’, this term may evoke essenti‐ alising concepts of culture; as a counter-concept to ‘African’ it cannot, however, be avoided in my study. In addition to this, the colour adjectives Black and white necessitate reflection. Referring to a person or groups of people, they must not be understood as bio‐ logical or personal features but as historical and sociopolitical categorories in my study. In order to accentuate the constructedness of these terms, I put the term white into italics and capitalise Black, as it serves as an emancipatory self-denomination (see Marmer & Sow, 2015a, p. 7). In students’ quotes taken from the questionnaires, reading diaries and interviews, these adjectives are, however, not marked in this way to avoid altering their meaning. Furthermore, certain terms with respect to foreign language didactics need clarification in my study. It is important to recognise that terminology in the scholarship of first, second and / or foreign language acquisition / learning is not consistent. The first language a child learns is interchangeably referred to as first language (L1), primary language, mother tongue or native language in the respective contributions. Concerning other languages that are learnt after the L1, a few linguists differentiate between second language (L2) acquisition and foreign language learning (e.g. Quirk & Greenbaum, 1972) whereas the majority of scholars use second language acquisition as an umbrella term to cover the learning of all languages different from the L1. When a difference between 1 Introduction 21 <?page no="22"?> second language acquisition and foreign language learning is made, the former refers to the learning of a non-native language in the environment in which it is spoken (e.g. learning English in the UK , USA and Australia), whereas the latter refers to the learning of a non-native language not spoken by the surrounding community and primarily learnt in the classroom, for example when English is learnt in Germany (Ellis, 1994, pp. 11-12; Gass & Selinker, 2001, p. 5). Since the term ‘English as a second language’ is also commonly applied to the English spoken in Uganda (see Kachru, 1986), I consider the differentiation between second language and foreign language to be important in my study, while ac‐ knowledging that the distinctions are usually not clear-cut. At times, however, I also quote sources in which scholars use second language acquisition and second language as generic terms. Now that the focus of this research has been introduced and important terms reflected upon, I wish to provide an outline of the present study. The thesis is divided into ten chapters. Chapter 1 is concerned with an introduction to the role of culture in the EFL classroom and offers an overview of the objectives of the present study. Chapter 2 critically discusses relevant concepts and develop‐ ments in the fields of cultural and global learning. Chapter 3 provides insights into literary didactics in the EFL classroom. Particular focus is placed on the use of children’s fiction at lower and intermediate levels of secondary school and extensive reading in this context. The fourth chapter is devoted to the literary basis of my study, Ugandan children’s literature. Selected genres, topics and titles are analysed and their relevance for the present study is pointed out. Chapter 6 and 7 present the research findings of my study. While Chapter 6 focuses on individual cases, Chapter 7 develops a thematic structure across cases. Chapter 8 discusses the research findings and suggests implications for TEFL . In the ninth chapter, I reflect upon my research design and methodology in the retrospective and in Chapter 10 the findings of my study are finally sum‐ marised, critically reflected and suggestions for future studies are made. 1 Introduction 22 <?page no="23"?> 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning Over the last two centuries, the significance of teaching language in relation to its culture(s) has been recognised and widely discussed in Germany. Under the influence of reference disciplines, the concept of culture was redefined and di‐ dactic approaches developed further. Many different terms have been coined to refer to approaches of teaching and learning about culture(s) in the foreign lan‐ guage classroom. This chapter intends to give an overview of theoretical discourses in foreign language didactics and reference disciplines (e.g. pedagogy, postmodern phi‐ losophy and postcolonial studies) with regard to cultural and global learning. Important concepts and developments in the field of teaching and learning about cultural aspects and global topics in the foreign language classroom in Germany are explained and their impact for the present study is discussed. 2.1 Discussions on Landeskunde For a very long time in FLT history in Germany, cultural learning approaches focused on the study of national cultures. In the late 19 th century and early 20 th century, teaching approaches put their emphasis on the investigation of concrete content and real objects (Realienkunde). From the 1920s, this fact-oriented, pos‐ itivistic concept evolved into a more nationalist approach which focalised the understanding of the national culture of the countries of the target language (Kulturkunde): “Culture was set apart from the social realia and mystified as a people’s soul and character as expressed in their philosophy, arts and literature” (Buttjes, 1991a, p. 55). The underlying intention was to strengthen the German national identity (see Sommer, 2003, p. 19). With its tendency to generalise, the concept of Kulturkunde was prone to creating stereotypes and presenting a sim‐ plistic image of the target culture (Steinbrügge, 2005). Thus, it was only a small step that Kulturkunde was ideologically instrumentalised during the so called ‘Third Reich’. The Nazis used the study of national mentality (Wesenskunde) and the degradation of ‘the other’ to justify their own claim of cultural superiority (Lüsebrink, 2007, p. 61). <?page no="24"?> 1 There are different types of schools at secondary education level in Germany. When the students have finished primary school, they enter a certain type of secondary school depending on their abilities and interests. Gymnasium intends to prepare students for higher education. It ends with the final examination Abitur after Year 12 or 13. Realschule (ending after Year 10) and Hauptschule (ending after Year 9) are more technically / vo‐ cationally oriented. Since the responsibility for education in Germany lies primarily with the federal states (Bundesländer), there is, however, no uniform education system in the country. In some Bundesländer the Gesamtschule [comprehensive school], com‐ bining Gymnasium, Realschule and Hauptschule, has been added to this tripartite system and in others two of the school types have been subsumed into one. Moreover, there are Sonderschulen or Förderschulen for students with special needs across Germany and various different types of schools at the upper level of secondary education, e.g. Facho‐ berschule, Berufsoberschule, etc. (KMK, 2016). After 1945, a break with this Wesenskunde was desired and a depoliticisation of the foreign language classroom was strived for. However, the legacy of Kul‐ turkunde continued to prevail. This concept influenced the foreign language classroom until the 1960s (Buttjes, 1995, p. 144). Now literary works were taken as the most important expressions of national culture: “After the experience of the failure of Kulturkunde and in the emerging intellectual climates of the Cold War and of New Criticism, literature rather than culture was taught in most foreign language classes” (Buttjes, 1991a, p. 57). In the late 1960s and 1970s, against the backdrop of educational reforms, the student movement and an increasing politicisation of society, teaching about cultures in the foreign language classroom experienced fundamental changes. The term Landeskunde [area studies / regional studies / background studies] was introduced to refer to culture teaching in the foreign language classroom in Germany and various approaches with different foci developed. With the in‐ troduction of TEFL as an obligatory subject at the secondary technical school level (Realschule and Hauptschule) 1 in 1964 / 65 (Klippel, 2007), a more prac‐ tice-oriented approach to teaching about cultures was pursued. The focus shifted to the “actual language learning process” (Buttjes, 1991a, p. 58) and contents were chosen accordingly. Thus, students were prepared for basic interaction in the contexts of travelling and consuming in the foreign language classroom. The communicative turn in the 1970s, which gave rise to communicative competence as the major aim of FLT , contributed to the development of this rather pragmatic, communicative-oriented approach to Landeskunde. Increasingly, however, scholars warned against a Landeskunde approach which reduces cultural con‐ tents to the fields of tourism and consumerism and pleaded for a stronger po‐ litical orientation in FLT . Socio-critical and political perspectives and critical reflections of clichés and stereotypes increasingly found their way into the for‐ eign language classroom during that time (Buttjes, 1981; Fischer-Wollpert, 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 24 <?page no="25"?> 1968; Keiner & Köhring, 1982; Köhring, 1981; Markmann, 1986; Raasch, 1983; Schüle, 1983). In addition, the Landeskunde approach developed an intercultural perspec‐ tive. In this context, the Stuttgarter Thesen zur Rolle der Landeskunde im Fran‐ zösischunterricht (1982) were very influential. This document, which was pub‐ lished by the Robert Bosch Stiftung in cooperation with the German-French Institute, proclaimed “transnationale Kommunikationsfähigkeit [transnational communicative competence]” as the major aim of FLT in an interconnected world. It pointed to the importance of students’ own experiences and cultural background in the context of teaching and learning about cultures: Der Fremdsprachenunterricht erreicht deshalb erst dann sein Ziel, wenn er die ei‐ genen Erfahrungen der Lernenden und die historisch geprägten Wirklichkeitserfah‐ rungen der Menschen des anderen Landes ausdrücklich in Beziehung setzt. [For this reason, FLT only achieves its aim when it expressly relates learner experiences to the historically influenced experiences of the people in the other country.] (Robert Bosch Stiftung & Deutsch-Französisches Institut, 1982, p. 11; my translation) Thus, the document encouraged a shift away from the mere focus on the foreign language and culture to a more learner-centred and comparative approach. This led the way to an intercultural orientation in FLT . In the following years, the call for an intercultural Landeskunde approach became louder. Melde (1987) em‐ phasised the importance of relativising one’s own individual and national per‐ spective and establishing a coordination of perspectives. Thus, she anticipated important findings in the field of Fremdverstehen (see Volkmann, 2007, p. 49). From the 1970s, scholars in foreign language didactics were also increasingly influenced by cultural studies (Hallet, 2002; Kramer, 1976; Nünning & Nünning, 2000; Schumann, 2000). Advocates of cultural studies (Hall, 1980; Hoggart, 1957; Thompson, 1963; Williams, 1958) set themselves apart from an objective and monolithic concept of culture and instead consider culture as a heteroge‐ neous product of human action (see Sommer, 2003, p. 8). Landeskunde ap‐ proaches which draw on cultural studies also look at culture in a wider sense, integrating all cultural practices, being part of high or popular culture. Political and ideological critique is particularly important for these approaches. They are often associated with “concepts of emancipation, egalitarianism, and critical thinking” (Grimm, Meyer, & Volkmann, 2015, p. 157). Despite various developments in the field, the concept of Landeskunde enjoys little prestige in academic discourse today. It is criticised that Landeskunde ap‐ proaches often remain rather vague concerning the political agenda and present idealised social images of the target culture(s). Landeskunde no longer conforms 2.1 Discussions on Landeskunde 25 <?page no="26"?> to the contemporary notion of culture: It focuses on monocultures with a fixed national identity and so reduces complexity. Critics further remark that the concept focalises culture with a capital C and neglects culture with a small c (Grimm et al., 2015, p. 156; Volkmann, 2010, p. 45). Another point of criticism is that the focus of Landeskunde is usually on the cognitive domain (knowledge), whereas skills and attitudes are neglected (Raddatz, 1996, p. 245). Notwithstanding the legitimacy of this criticism, it should be acknowledged that Landeskunde contributed significantly to developments in the field of teaching and learning about cultures and thus provides a crucial impetus for current discussions: Auffallend ist bei gegenwärtigen interkulturellen und kulturwissenschaftlichen Po‐ sitionen die demonstrative Abgrenzung gegenüber der als überholt abgewerteten Landeskunde. Dabei wird nicht erkannt, dass Landeskundekonzepte durchgehend von Gegenkonzepten und der genannten Suche nach einem Mehrwert der Landeskunde begleitet waren. Viele der heute diskutierten Fortschritte bei der Betrachtung anderer Kulturen wurden bereits - ohne dass dies entsprechend gewürdigt wird - in den 1970er und 1980er Jahren angebahnt. [When looking at current intercultural and cul‐ tural studies positions, the pointed demarcation from the concept of Landeskunde, which has been devaluated as outdated, is striking. It is not recognised that concepts in Landeskunde were continuously accompanied by counter-concepts and the search for an enriched Landeskunde. Without being adequately acknowledged, the ground for much of the progress in the field of learning about cultures discussed today had already been prepared in the 1970s and 1980s.] (Volkmann, 2010, p. 49; my translation) Aspects of a rather politically oriented Landeskunde (see Köhring, 1981; Mark‐ mann, 1986; Schüle, 1983), for example, constitute the foundation of the global education approach in TEFL in Germany (see Chapter 2.8). 2.2 The Rise of Intercultural Learning Since the 1980s, the term intercultural learning has been increasingly used across disciplines and school subjects in Germany. Intercultural competence ( IC ) appears as a cross-subject learning objective in various educational frameworks and curricula. The concept has its roots in pedagogy. The term intercultural education was first used in the USA , in the period between the two World Wars, to refer to programmes that fostered the integration of different ethnic groups into American society (Doyé, 1992, p. 4). In Germany, immigrant pedagogy 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 26 <?page no="27"?> (Ausländerpädagogik) developed in the 1950s and 1960s and intercultural peda‐ gogy (interkulturelle Pädagogik) in the 1980s (Auernheimer, 2003; Borelli, 1986). In the 1950s and 1960s, immigrant pedagogy aimed at a better integration of children of migrant workers into ‘German’ society. The concept was a reaction to the problems many ‘foreign’ students had at school and their lack of German language skills. It was therefore rather focused on deficits (deficit hypothesis) and aimed at linguistic and cultural assimilation of ‘foreign’ children (see Bur‐ witz-Melzer, 2003, p. 39; Fäcke, 2011, p. 175). In the 1980s, intercultural pedagogy initiated a shift away from a focus on deficits as problems to differences as potentials. The one-sided perspective of ‘the other’ was replaced by an emphasis on mutual learning and living in a multicultural society. Intercultural learning was defined as a learning objective and teaching principle across subjects. ‘Ger‐ man’ and ‘foreign’ students were encouraged to learn from each other (Krumm, 1995, p. 156). Frequently, however, this did not go beyond the integration of culinary specialities or music and dances of the students’ countries of origin into the classroom. Thus, the difference hypothesis is often criticised for stigma‐ tising, exoticising and insufficiently considering political and social-economic contexts and racial discrimination (see Fäcke, 2011, p. 175). Since the 1990s, the concept of cultural learning is also influenced by anti-racist pedagogy (Essed, Mullard, & Essinger, 1991; Essinger, 1993; see also Chapter 2.7) and the pedagogy of diversity (Prengel, 2006). Advocates of anti-racist pedagogy plead for the deconstruction of racist thought patterns and lines of actions. They focus on power inequalities between members of majority and minority groups. Both open and hidden forms of racism are critiqued. It is the aim of the approach that students develop awareness for structural similar‐ ities, differences and inequalities. Fäcke and Rösch (Fäcke, 1998; Fäcke & Rösch, 2002; Rösch, 2000) have translated some ideas of anti-racist pedagogy into (for‐ eign) language didactics. Fäcke (2011, p. 176), however, also warns that if it is taken to an extreme, any thoughts or ways of conduct may be considered racist and politically ‘correct’ behaviour does not actually exist. Anti-racist pedagogy is furthermore criticised for tendencies of levelling differences. Auernheimer, therefore, pleads for the synthesis of intercultural and antiracist pedagogies: Solange das Nebeneinander von antirassistischer und interkultureller Erziehung nicht überwunden wird, tendiert letztere zu kulturalistischen Vereinfachungen, während erstere dazu tendiert, das Prinzip der Anerkennung von Andersheit zu vernachläs‐ sigen. [As long as the parallel existence of anti-racist and intercultural education is not overcome, the latter is prone to culturalist simplification, while the former neglects the principle of acknowledging otherness.] (2003, p. 22; my translation) 2.2 The Rise of Intercultural Learning 27 <?page no="28"?> The pedagogy of diversity (Alleman-Ghionda, 1997; Prengel, 2006) focuses on the uniqueness of every individual. It takes into account that every person may have multiple identities and thus be both a member of majority and minority groups. Difference is not only looked at on the basis of ethnic background but other categories of discrimination such as sexual orientation or religion are also considered. Prengel (2006, p. 181) notes that the two terms equality and differ‐ ence are mutually dependent. She argues for an integration of the two by rec‐ ognising the diversity of individuals on the basis of equality (egalitarian differ‐ ence). In the 1990s, intercultural learning in the foreign language classroom gained in importance. Many scholars pointed to the strong relationship between lan‐ guage and culture (see Byram, 1997; Kramsch, 1993) and therefore looked at the foreign language classroom as particularly suitable for intercultural learning: Von seiner Aufgabe und seiner Erfahrung her eignet sich aber gerade der Fremdspra‐ chenunterricht für interkulturelles Lernen, zumal er auch die sprachlichen Voraus‐ setzungen für die ‘Grenzüberschreitung zwischen Kulturen’ schafft. [Given its func‐ tion and background, the foreign language classroom is particularly well suited for intercultural learning because it creates the linguistic framework within which boun‐ daries between cultures can be crossed.] (Buttjes, 1991b, p. 2; my translation) Against the background of a changing concept of culture and various develop‐ ments in reference disciplines such as pedagogy, learning about cultures was now seen as a process of meaning creation between representatives of different cultures (Delanoy & Volkmann, 2006, p. 13). Building on the Stuttgarter Thesen zur Rolle der Landeskunde (see Chapter 2.1), the learners’ role in the cultural learning process was increasingly taken into account and a more cultural-com‐ parative and culture relativizing approach was sought: Learners should no longer be seen as mere ‘receptacles’ to be filled with factual in‐ formation. Instead, they are invited to become personally involved in the exploration of English-speaking cultures as self-reflective co-constructors of cultural meanings. (Grimm et al., 2015, p. 158) Intercultural learning intends to foster students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence ( ICC ), which can be understood as a specific communicative com‐ petence for intercultural situations. In contrast to many Landeskunde ap‐ proaches, it targets not only cognitive but also affective and pragmatic learning objectives. The different goals are frequently assigned to the three domains: knowledge, skills and attitudes. In his influential model, Byram (1997) defines ICC in terms of the following objectives: 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 28 <?page no="29"?> 2 Intercultural learning and intercultural competence is, for example, a substantial com‐ ponent of the curricula for Gymnasium in both Bavaria (Staatsinstitut für Schulqualität und Bildungsforschung, 2004) and Baden-Württemberg (Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport, 2004). I refer to these two curricula and their revised editions (2016) in par‐ ticular in this thesis because my extensive reading project study was conducted in Gymnasien in these two Bundesländer. • the knowledge about social processes and social interaction concerning both one’s own and other cultures (savoirs) • skills of interpreting documents or events from other cultures and relating them to those of one’s own culture (savoir comprendre) • skills of acquiring new knowledge about another culture and operating it in real time communication (savoir apprendre / faire) • attitudes such as curiosity and openness towards other cultures, the will‐ ingness to relativise ones own beliefs and the ability to decentre and change perspectives (savoir être) • the ability to evaluate cultural products and processes criticially and to take also a critical perspective on one’s own culture (savoir s’engager). Byram’s model serves as a major reference when defining the teaching / learning objectives of intercultural learning in the foreign language classroom in Ger‐ many and it is also used as theoretical background for a number of empirical studies in the field of cultural learning (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Eberhardt, 2013; Jäger, 2008). Today, fostering students’ ICC is often considered the core aim of FLT (Müller-Hartmann & Schocker-von Ditfurth, 2014, p. 18; Thaler, 2012, p. 271). The main goal of communicative language teaching has therefore been com‐ plemented by an intercultural component. These developments are anchored in relevant documents such as the CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001), the national educational standards ( KMK , 2004, 2014) and the curricula of the different Bun‐ desländer. 2 It is generally agreed that FLT should prepare students for real-life intercultural encounters. Bredella defines the aim of intercultural learning in FLT as follows: Im FU sollen die Lernenden auf erste interkulturelle Begegnungen vorbereitet werden und interkulturelle kommunikative Kompetenz erwerben. Ziel ist es, zu verhindern, dass sie in außerschulischen Begegnungssituationen Tabus verletzen und Sanktionen erleiden und dass sie den Äußerungen von Fremden falsche Bedeutungen zuschreiben. [In the foreign language classroom learners should be prepared for intercultural en‐ counters and gain ICC. The aim is to prevent them from violating taboos, suffering 2.2 The Rise of Intercultural Learning 29 <?page no="30"?> 3 Cherrington (2004, p. 574) defines a stereotype as “a view of an individual or a group of people held by others based on commonly held assumptions that may not be the result of direct, personal knowledge of those people. Stereotypes can act as filters through which we view other people, their way of life, cultural traits, values and so on. They may serve as summaries, offering a convenient way of dealing with the many social and cultural groups we may encounter in our everyday lives. […] They frequently, but not always, contain negative content that can cause many difficulties for members of groups being judged by a stereotype rather than factual information.” Following this definition, stereotypes entail generalisations and frequently also devaluations. disapproval and ascribing the wrong meaning to what foreigners say in encounters outside the classroom.] (Bredella, 2010c, p. 123; my translation) As is apparent in this definition, learning about norms, values and taboos is at the heart of many intercultural learning approaches. In addition, the reflection upon (national) stereotypes 3 is considered fruitful for intercultural learning: Die Reflexion über kulturelle Selbst- und Fremdbilder sowie Stereotypen und Vorur‐ teile sensibilisiert Lernende nicht nur für kulturelle Andersartigkeit, sondern führt zu einer kritischen Betrachtung und Relativierung des eigenen Standpunktes und ermö‐ glicht Lernenden ihre neu erworbenen schulischen (Er-)Kenntnisse auf die außer‐ schulische Lebenswelt zu übertragen. Durch die Übertragung der fremdkulturellen Problematik auf die eigene Lebenswelt sollen die Lernenden befähigt werden, negative Fremdbilder kritisch zu reflektieren. [The reflection upon self or external images and stereotypes and prejudices not only sensitises learners to cultural otherness but also leads them to a critical view and relativisation of their own attitudes and enables them to apply their newly gained awareness to real life situations. By applying the foreign culture perspective to their own environment, learners should learn to critically reflect on negative images of the other.] (Voigt, 2010, p. 5, my translation) Although some scholars in the field of intercultural learning also take hybridity, diversity and transcultural transgressions into account (e.g. Kramsch, 1993, see Chapter 2.5), the nation is a central reference point in most intercultural learning approaches. Cultural standards that were developed for the international busi‐ ness sector (Hofstede, 1984) frequently serve as an orientation system. They are used as evaluation units for the analysis of cultural differences and the inter‐ pretation of intercultural misunderstandings. To prepare students for real-life intercultural encounters “the method of working with ‘critical incidents’ has established itself as a most beneficial preparation” (Grimm et al., 2015, p. 161). Although intercultural learning is widely accepted in foreign language di‐ dactics today, at least on a theoretical level (see CEFR , educational standards and curricula), it is not without its critics. In its initial phase, the inflationary 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 30 <?page no="31"?> use of the term ‘intercultural learning’ and also the lack of clarifications and specifications concerning the concept was regarded as problematic (see Doyé, 1992, p. 43). Some scholars went so far as to declare the concept superfluous (Edmondson & House, 1998; Freudenstein, 1994). Freudenstein (1994), for ex‐ ample, argued that this concept actually deployed ideas of Landeskunde, merely under another label. Edmondson and House (1998) pointed out that the focus of FLT should be on communicative language skills and thus considered the con‐ cept of intercultural learning as not expedient. Schüle (1998) criticised the ap‐ proach for an ideologisation and depoliticisation of classroom conditions. In her reply to Edmondson and House, Hu (2000) reacted to some of the criticism raised by the two scholars and also pointed to the need for rethinking contrastive rhetoric in the context of intercultural learning. Whereas many of these initial concerns seem to have subsided today, the concept is still exposed to criticism. Critics argue that it builds on presumptions about pure, clearly definable and static cultures and follows rather national standards and norms. It focalises differences between cultures; intracultural di‐ versity and cultural breaks and transgressions are not sufficiently taken into account (see Volkmann, 2015, p. 22). The target of dismantling stereotypes is often not achieved since overgeneralisations and oversimplifications may ac‐ tually lead to their perpetuation. Fäcke (1999, p. 47) points out that differences in status and prestige of cultures, which strongly influence peoples’ attitudes and behaviour patterns, are not considered. 2.3 Understanding Otherness: Optimistic vs. Sceptical Hermeneutics Within the growing importance of ICC , another approach has to be mentioned. From the 1990s, many German scholars have strongly relied on hermeneutically oriented didactics; the concept of Fremdverstehen [understanding of the other] was developed. Different perspectives were taken: Optimistic hermeneutics (Bredella, 1996, 2010a; Bredella & Christ, 1993, 1995; Christ & Legutke, 1996) were contrasted with sceptical hermeneutics (Hunfeld, 1991, 1992a, 1992b). In 1991, the Graduate School “Understanding Otherness” (Graduiertenschule “Didaktik des Fremdverstehen”) in Gießen was founded. As the name implies, it focuses on the understanding of the foreign / the other. From 1991 to 2000, the members of the graduate school researched and published widely in the field of hermeneutically oriented didactics. For one of the founders of the graduate school, Lothar Bredella, an advocate of philosophical hermeneutics, the under‐ 2.3 Understanding Otherness: Optimistic vs. Sceptical Hermeneutics 31 <?page no="32"?> standing of the other is possible and also desirable. It is based on two perspec‐ tives: ‘the self ’ and ‘the other’ (das Eigene and das Fremde) or the outer and the inner perspective (Innenand Außensicht). It is a ‘melting of horizons’ of the two perspectives (Horizontverschmelzung) that is strived for. The Didaktik des Fremd‐ verstehen, therefore, focuses on seeing the world through the eyes of ‘the other’ and ‘the self ’, comparing different world views and negotiating perspectives (Perspektivenwechsel and Perspektivenkoordination). The graduate school draws on the positions of the philosopher Gadamer (2013, p. 350) who assumes that ‘the self and ‘the other’ have a “historically effected consciousness” and are embedded in their particular cultures that shape them. When they engage in a conversation with each other or with a text, they exchange ideas and opinions and this eventually leads to a “fusion of horizons” (ibid.). Bredella (2010a, pp. 141-143) and Bredella & Christ (1995, p. 11) emphasise that they consider ‘self ’ and ‘other’ as subjective, dynamic and relational categories. In later pub‐ lications, members of the graduate school often use the terms Fremdverstehen and intercultural learning interchangeably (Bredella, 2010b, p. 120). In response to Fremdverstehen, positions that question hermeneutical ap‐ proaches to foreign culture were taken. Various scholars (Eckerth & Wendt, 2003b, pp. 12-13; Fäcke, 2006, p. 37) remark that Fremdverstehen, as it is under‐ stood by members of the graduate school, focuses on the dichotomous nature of ‘the self ’ and ‘the other’ binary and so rather reinforces than dismantles ster‐ eotyped notions of cultural difference. The categories of ’the self ’ and ‘the other’ are homogenised; overlaps and fractures between them are not taken into ac‐ count. According to Fäcke (2011, p. 178), the concept is based on the assumption of a homogeneous learner group and a culturally coherent subject which does not match today’s hybrid society. Fäcke (2006, p. 37) also criticises that Fremd‐ verstehen does not sufficiently take into consideration ethnicity, socio-political conditions and power relations. In addition, the concept requires a definition of who or what is ‘self ’ and ‘foreign’, and the underlying hierarchies (who decides on what) are not always reflected: Herbert Christ verfolgt mit seiner Argumentation das Ziel, das Gegenüber nicht zum Objekt eines Blicks zu machen, sondern seinen Subjektcharakter zu betonen. Mit diesem Anliegen geht er in die richtige Richtung, jedoch nicht weit genug. Er bedenkt nicht die reale soziale Position der jeweiligen Gegenüber und macht sie zu relativ abstrakten philosophischen Gedankenspielen. Hierarchische Verhältnisse und Macht‐ strukturen sind in der Vorstellung einer ‘prinzipiell gleichen’ Perspektive nicht ber‐ ücksichtigt. Blicke von oben nach unten bzw. Blicke von unten nach oben werden in ihrer Unterschiedlichkeit nicht benannt. Auch beantwortet er nicht die Frage nach Fremdverstehen zweier Partner, die einander nicht (! ) verstehen wollen. Der Herr‐ 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 32 <?page no="33"?> schaftscharakter dieses Verstehensprozesses ist in seiner Argumentation verschleiert, denn die Verstehensleistung der Mehrheitsangehörigen ist qualitativ eine andere als die Verstehensleistung der Minderheitenangehörigen. [With his argumentation Her‐ bert Christ aims at not making the other an object of the gaze but emphasising her / his subjectivity instead. This concern takes him in the right direction but not far enough. He does not consider the real social position of the others and turns them into rela‐ tively abstract thought experiments. Hierarchical structures and power asymmetries are not taken into consideration in this idea of theoretically even perspectives. There is no mention of the differences arising from the varying viewpoints, be it downwards or upwards. He also does not answer the question concerning the understanding of the other in a situation when the two partners do not (! ) want to understand each other. Power asymmetries are concealed in his argumentation because the ability to comprehend a member of the majority is qualitatively different to understanding a member of the minority] (Fäcke, 1999, p. 48; my translation) Thus, Fäcke sees the danger of appropriation of the foreign and consequently ruling over the foreign by trying to understand it. This line of argument draws on positions in reference disciplines such as poststructuralism, postmodernism and postcolonialism (see Chapter 2.4). Michel Foucault (1977, p. 163), for ex‐ ample, criticises that knowledge serves as a means of control and understanding as a form of injustice: The historical analysis of this rancorous will to knowledge reveals that all knowledge rests upon injustice (that there is no right, not even in the act of knowing, to truth or a foundation of truth) and that the instinct for knowledge is malicious (something murderous, opposed to the happiness of mankind). In his seminal book Orientalism, Edward Said (1978) correspondingly points out that we do not understand cultures to learn from them but rather to dominate them. He criticises that the Orient is essentialised as static and underdeveloped by the Occident to justify imperialism. Hunfeld (1991, 1992a, 1992b, 1994), an advocate of sceptical hermeneutics, also warns that an understanding of ‘the other’ is neither always possible nor desirable. He emphasises that literature itself is foreign because it resists quick understanding as a counter-concept of reality and so requires slow reading. He demands the recognition of challenges in the process of understanding (herme‐ neutic distance) and to acknowledge foreignness as something regular and normal, something which he calls the normalcy of the other (Normalität des Fremden). Hunfeld (1994, p. 97) also warns against an appropriation of the for‐ eign by pointing to the prejudice bias of every individual. 2.3 Understanding Otherness: Optimistic vs. Sceptical Hermeneutics 33 <?page no="34"?> As the exposition of different views in this chapter has shown, the concept of understanding foreignness / otherness is controversially debated in FLT . In response to the publications of the graduate school in Gießen, a heated debate evolved, with references to positions to universalism, ethnocentrism and rela‐ tivism (Bredella, 1994; Fäcke, 1999; Volkmann, 1999). Today, the question of dis‐ tance and proximity, and the understanding the foreign without appropriation are still very central in the discourse of cultural learning. 2.4 Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and a Changing Concept of Culture Key reference disciplines such as postmodern philosophy and postcolonial studies have significantly contributed to a changing concept of culture. In ad‐ dition, they offer plenty of inspirations for the further development of cultural learning in the EFL classroom. Therefore, it is important to elaborate on them at this point. Postmodernism is a twentieth century movement characterised by scepti‐ cism, subjectivism and relativism. Representatives of postmodern philosophy (e.g. Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Derrida and Michel Fou‐ cault) deny the existence of an objective truth and objective values. They are particularly sceptical about binary oppositions and are of the opinion that the world can be better understood through diversity and ambivalences. Post‐ modern writing focuses on the role that power and ideology play in the shaping of discourse. Foucault (1972, 1977, 1980), for example, argues that knowledge and power are closely interrelated and Lyotard (1986) reflects upon the existence of “metanarratives” which form human thought. The scholars plead against an unquestioned reproduction of given structures and for a critical and decon‐ structive approach to ways of thinking, norms and a reflective analysis of dis‐ courses (see Fäcke, 1999, pp. 62-67). 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 34 <?page no="35"?> 4 The meaning of the term ‘postcolonialism’ has changed over the years: “As originally used by historians after the Second World War in terms such as the post-colonial state, ‘postcolonial’ had a clearly chronological meaning, designating the post-inde‐ pendence period. However, from the late 1970s the term has been used by literary critics to discuss the various cultural effects of colonization” (Ashcroft et al., 2013, p. 204, emphasis in original). Up to today the term is contested. Some scholars criticise that the prefix ‘post’ in ‘postcolonialism’ implies that colonial oppression is a historical phe‐ nomenon which has been overcome and thus ignores the ongoing effects of colonialism. Therefore, it is important to note that in the case of this study the term ‘postcolonialism’ is not understood as a reference to a historical period, but applied in a conceptual sense instead. Deconstruction is also at the heart of postcolonial studies. Postcolonialism 4 intends to deconstruct the ideology of the superiority of the West: Above all, postcolonialism seeks to intervene, to force its alternative knowledges into the power structures of the west as well as the non-west. It seeks to change the way people think, the way they behave, to produce a more just and equitable relation between the different peoples of the world. (Young, 2003, p. 7) Since the late 1970s, cultural theory is influenced by a body of writing which criticises the way the Orient is represented in Western discourse. This postco‐ lonial discourse builds on works of anti-colonial critiques such as Fanon, Achebe and Ngũgĩ. Fanon published two important books, Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961) that deal with colonialism and its effects on the people. Both Achebe (1975, 1988) and Ngũgĩ (1972, 1981, 1986) criticise in several lectures, essays and essay collections the way Africa is per‐ ceived and depicted in the Western world. In 1978, Edward Said’s landmark work Orientalism was published. This book “examines the ways in which Eurocen‐ trism not only influences and alters, but also actually produces other cultures” (Ashcroft, Griffiths, & Tiffin, 2013, p. 108). According to Said, Orientalism is the source of the West’s inaccurate cultural representations of the East. It involves the exaggeration of difference and the presumption of Western superiority. This book was very influential for the development of postcolonial theories and the cause of many controversial discussions. The scholars Homi K. Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak built on Said’s work and made further essential contributions to discussions in the field of postcolonial studies. Whereas Bhaba (1990, 1994) has a rather optimistic view on postcolonial societies and emphasises aspects such as hybridity and transculturation, Spivak (1988a, 1988b) is more sceptical about the postcolonial condition. In her seminal essay “Can the Subaltern Speak? ” (1988a), she raises the question whether those people who are outside the he‐ 2.4 Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and a Changing Concept of Culture 35 <?page no="36"?> gemonic power structures can actually express their views or if their voices are drowned by the Western theorists who speak about them instead. The understanding of culture as a fluid concept is rooted in the context of postmodernism and postcolonialism. Whereas in the 19 th and the greater part of the 20 th century the understanding of culture as monolithic and static con‐ struct prevailed and it was commonly believed that we live in a world of separate national cultures (see Herder’s (1967) understanding of cultures as islands or spheres), postmodern and postcolonial scholars plead for a reconsideration of culture as something dynamic, open, hybrid and individual. They point out that culture is characterised by diversity, fractures and overlaps. Since the 1990s, terms concerned with reflections on global changes such as transnationalism (Hannerz, 2003), hybridity (Bhabha, 1994; Hall, 1990, 1994) and transculturality (Welsch, 1995, 1999, 2010) have gained in importance in these fields. As trans‐ culturality is a central concept for transcultural learning, there is need for further explanations in this context. The concept of transculturality has been notably developed by the post‐ modern philosopher Wolfgang Welsch (1995, 1999, 2010), who criticises the un‐ derstanding of cultures as clearly demarcated entities and therefore introduced the term transculturality to philosophical reflection on culture. Cultures de facto no longer have the insinuated form of homogeneity and separate‐ ness. They have instead assumed a new form, which is to be called transcultural insofar that it passes through classical cultural boundaries. Cultural conditions today are largely characterized by mixes and permeations. (Welsch, 1999, p. 197; italics in the original) Welsch draws attention to internal complexities of cultures, cultural transgres‐ sions, hybridity and commonalities. He distinguishes between transculturality on the micro and the macro level; the former refers to culture as society and the latter to the cultural identity of the individual. He claims that “we are all cultural hybrids” (ibid.) and so points to the multiple identities of every person. Accord‐ ingly, nobody can or should be reduced to ‘typical’ categories of nationality, ‘race’, gender or class. In his argumentation, Welsch clearly distances himself from interculturalism and hermeneutics. Consequently, he also questions the philosophical foundations of intercultural learning in foreign language didactics (see Delanoy, 2014, p. 27). According to Welsch, interculturality may contribute to a peaceful exchange between cultures but for him it remains rooted in an essentialised understanding of culture. 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 36 <?page no="37"?> Welsch is frequently criticised for romanticising transculturality since he is considered to neglect problems that may surface when different cultures meet. Scholars observe that the concept not only brings about positive aspects: Transkulturalität kann von Individuen nicht allein als Gewinn, sondern auch und zuerst als Identitätsverlust, als Zwang der Anpassung an globale, vor allem ökono‐ misch geprägte Hegemoniestrukturen empfunden werden. [Individuals may perceive transculturality not only as a gain but also and primarily as a loss of identity, a pressure to adapt to global hegemony structures which are economically influenced.] (Volk‐ mann, 2014, p. 43; my translation) Transculturality may lead to the levelling of differences which also incorporates the risk of postmodern blurring that does not take into account power relations and marginalisation. Not all people benefit from the positive aspects of trans‐ culturality equally (see Fäcke, 2011, p. 180; Volkmann, 2014, p. 43). Scholars from the fields of postcolonial studies deal with the concept of cul‐ tural transgressions in a more sceptical way (Loomba, 1998; Pratt, 1992). Pratt (1992, p. 7), for example, refers to prevalence of power relations in this context. She describes transculturation as a “phenomenon of the contact zone” and de‐ fines these contact zones as social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination - like colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out across the globe today. (ibid., p. 4) She therefore points out that cultural transgressions are not always character‐ ised by equality but frequently influenced by hierarchies which need to be given consideration. Loomba (1998, p. 183) also pleads for a differentiated look at hy‐ bridity that takes the “intersections in the multiple histories of colonialism and postcoloniality” into account. 2.5 Transcultural Learning The fact that Fremdverstehen and also intercultural learning remain rather com‐ mitted to an understanding of culture as a monolithic construct, and that both focus on the ‘self ’ and ‘other’ binary, does not match today’s understanding of culture and also not reflect the learners’ experiences as citizens in an increas‐ ingly interconnected and interdependent world. Increased mobility leads to cul‐ tural mingling and hybrid societies with hybrid classrooms. Therefore, also in language teaching in recent years, the prefix ‘inter’ has often been supplemented 2.5 Transcultural Learning 37 <?page no="38"?> by or changed to the prefix ‘trans’. Various scholars (Alter, 2015; Blell & Doff, 2014; Doff & Schulze-Engler, 2011a; Eckerth & Wendt, 2003b; Eisenmann, 2015; Fäcke, 2006; Flechsig, 2000; Freitag-Hild, 2010a; Matz, Rogge, & Siepmann, 2014) stress the importance of considering concepts of transculturality in foreign language didactics. They declare that an increased interface for common ground and similarities has to be created and discourses of power should be integrated in the EFL classroom. Transcultural learning approaches both intend to look into cultural transgressions on a macro level and to take the individual with its multiple identities more into account. Although transcultural competence only gained prominence in the foreign language classroom from the 2000s onwards, it has early precursors. Already in the 1990s, Kramsch (1993) suggested a cultural learning approach that entails cultural transgressions. She introduced the concept of the third place “that grows in the interstices between the cultures the learner grew up with and the new cultures he or she is being introduced to” (p. 236). Every foreign language learner has to define this place for her / himself, she explains. It is an in-between space, located within the poles of ‘the self ’ and ‘the other’ and it presents a way of thinking beyond dichotomies. Although Kramsch does not explicitly refer to transculturality, her idea of “the culture of the third kind” (p. 13) may be placed in this context. The concept of the third place was taken up and developed fur‐ ther by other scholars (Delanoy, 1999; Hallet, 2002). They suggest that the for‐ eign language classroom itself may be perceived as a “third space” in which different positions are negotiated. Flechsig (2000) stresses the importance of not only focusing on differences in FLT but also taking commonalities into account. He regards complex cultural identities as a foundation and potential for trans‐ cultural learning. Based on a fluid concept of culture, one may also see parts of ‘self ’ reflected in ‘the other’, he states. Since the start of the new millennium, the concept of transcultural learning has been developed further. Various contributions, partly contradicting each other, have been made in the field. Eckert and Wendt (2003a) and Fäcke (2006), on the one hand, argue from a (de)constructivist perspective. With reference to Welsch, they look at transculturality as a counter concept to interculturality and distance themselves from hermeneutic approaches to understanding otherness (see also Chapter 2.6). Delanoy (2006, 2008, 2012) and Freitag-Hild (2010a), on the other hand, are of the opinion that the interand transcultural approach are compatible and, therefore, propose a dialogue between the two concepts. De‐ lanoy and also Eisenmann (2015) argue that intercultural approaches often al‐ ready go far beyond the notion of monolithic cultures; a mere replacement of intercultural learning through transcultural learning is thus not meaningful in 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 38 <?page no="39"?> their view. Eisenmann, thus, suggests an Integrative Model for Cultural Studies which integrates the intercultural and transcultural dimension of learning. Blell and Doff (2014) have developed a similar model (Model of Transcultural Com‐ municative Competence), built on Byram’s model of ICC . They state that a trans‐ cultural approach “does not necessarily replace intercultural learning, but cer‐ tainly transforms it” (ibid., p. 82) and give various propositions for initiating change, adding them as pluses to Byram’s savoirs. Alter (2015, p. 26) locates the interand transcultural on a continuum “in which one does not take a hier‐ archical position over the other” and argues for “an adapted set of methods and activities, as well as underlying principles” (ibid.) for transcultural learning. She is of the opinion that “a distinction of both concepts could add decisively to the discourse of cultural learning” (ibid.). This versatile argumentation shows that the concept of transcultural learning still lacks precise definitions and clarifications. Though many scholars now consider it as a meaningful development in the field of cultural learning, they understand it in very different ways. They particularly lack consensus con‐ cerning the compatibility or delineation of interand transcultural theorems: The discursive triangle of rejection, conceptual refinement and strategic bypassing of the intercultural seems characteristic of current transcultural debates in didactics and pedagogy and is likely to remain in place in the foreseeable future. (Doff & Schulze-Engler, 2011b, p. 10) Besides this blurriness, transcultural learning and its underlying concept of transculturality also entail other problematic aspects. Volkmann (2015, p. 27) raises various points of criticism. For one, he states that “[p]roponents of trans‐ culturality tend to hush up persevering sentiments of cultural difference. Dif‐ ference and even cultural juxtapositions are still experienced by many individ‐ uals not just as the exception, but rather as the norm in cross-cultural encounters”. Here he reflects upon the issues of universalising and romanti‐ cising that are frequently criticised in the context of Welsch’s concept of trans‐ culturality. Secondly, Volkmann believes the concept addresses an elite and rather excludes the underprivileged. He also questions the positive effects of transculturality such as “diversity, openness, multi-facetted societies and ac‐ ceptance of the Other” (ibid., p. 28) that many transcultural approaches proclaim. He looks at them as risks in the context of individuality. Furthermore, Volkmann warns that “[t]ransculturality might become part of the discourse of political correctness” (ibid.). When the transcultural is seen as ideologically superior, he argues, it may lead to reluctance to talk about “the ongoing existence of binary 2.5 Transcultural Learning 39 <?page no="40"?> or hierarchical structures in thinking with regard to nations and communities” (ibid.). Volkmann’s concerns are largely addressed at a concept of transculturality that focuses on unifying aspects and that is primarily positive. Transculturality, however, entails both unifying and particularising tendencies (Iljassova-Morger, 2009, p. 40). Furthermore, various postcolonial scholars in the field (Loomba, 1998; Pratt, 1992; see Chapter 2.4) take inequalities and power asymmetries into account and, therefore, offer a more sceptical view on transculturality. It is im‐ portant that these critical aspects are considered when translating the concept into the EFL context. Implications from anti-racist pedagogy promise to be pro‐ ductive in this context (see Chapter 2.6). Another concern that Volkmann (2015, p. 28) raises is that “transculturality has not entered the mainstream discourse of EFL in Germany”. Although the manifold developments in the field have to be acknowledged, they have not yet gone far beyond the theoretical level, he argues. In my view, this may also be connected to the fact that there are only very few studies which look into trans‐ cultural learning processes empirically and make suggestions for a further de‐ velopment of cultural learning based on their results (Freitag-Hild, 2010a; Fäcke, 2006; see also Chapter 3.2.). 2.6 Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Otherness Since constructivist approaches to understanding otherness are considered to play an important role in the context of transcultural learning (see Eckert & Wendt, 2003a; Fäcke, 2006), they require further explanation at this point. Con‐ structivism is an epistemological theory grounded in the school of scepticism and drawing on neurobiological research (Maturana & Varela, 1987). There are different varieties of constructivism; whereas advocates of radical constructi‐ vism (Glasersfeld, 1989, 1995) negate the existence of any “objective reality in‐ dependent of human mental activities” (Müller, 2000, p. 45), moderate construc‐ tivists “believe in the existence of a real world which cannot be ‘objectively’ experienced or represented because our mind will us always give mere ‘inter‐ pretations’ or ‘mental models’ of this reality” (ibid.). Representatives of social constructivism (Frindte, 1998; Hejl, 1992; Vygotsky, 1978, 1980) describe the construction of knowledge as a result of social interaction in contexts. From the 1990s on, constructivist approaches have increasingly gained in importance also in foreign language didactics. Michael Wendt (1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002) argues from a radical constructivist perspective. He holds the view 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 40 <?page no="41"?> 5 In radical constructivism, ‘truth’ is replaced by ‘viability’ (Glasersfeld, 1995). The con‐ stant comparison of constructs of reality by an individual is referred to as ‘viabilisation’. 6 This term was coined by Maturana and Varela (1987, p. 27) who perceive them as “Zustandsveränderungen in der Struktur eines Systems, die von Zuständen in dessen Um‐ feld ausgelöst (d. h. nicht verursacht) werden. [structural changes in a system which are triggered (not caused) by environmental conditions]” (my translation, emphasis in orig‐ inal). that the subject constructs its subjective realities and that an objective reality does not exist because of the self-referentiality of the brain. For him learning is the construction and ‘viabilisation’ 5 of hypotheses. Perturbations 6 are consid‐ ered productive in the learning process as they trigger new mental constructions (2002, pp. 9-13). Radical constructivism has aroused strong opposition. It has been criticised, for example, by Nüse et al. (Nüse & Groeben, 1995, pp. 251-252), Bredella (1998, p. 39) and Reinfried (1999) for its principle of self-referentiality of knowledge. If it is systematically applied, they argue, this would also lead to the questioning of radical constructivism itself. Dieter Wolff (1990, 1994, 1997, 2002a, 2002b) brings ideas of a rather moderate constructivism to foreign language teaching. He bases his line of argument on the assumption that knowledge is constructed in the interaction between prior knowledge (schemata) and influences from the environment (stimuli) (2002, pp. 35-71). The way he deals with the term ‘construction’ he describes as “prag‐ matisch [pragmatic]” (2002b, p. 182), meaning that for him the recognition of reality is possible, although it is always an individual process. Whereas in radical constructivism the focus is solely on the subject, and contexts are merely taken into account, Wolff considers that the social context also plays an important role in the meaning creation process of individuals: Neues Wissen impliziert die Umstrukturierung bereits vorhandenen Wissens. Der so‐ ziale Kontext, die soziale Interaktion sind (insofern) beim Lernenden von ausschlag‐ gebender Bedeutung. [New knowledge implicates the restructuring of prior knowl‐ edge. The social context, the social interaction is (in this respect) of decisive importance for the learner.] (1997, p. 107; my translation) Wolff ’s approach faced disapproval as well; particularly his postulate of the obsoleteness of instruction has been criticised (Reinfried, 1999). It becomes apparent that there are major differences concerning the theoret‐ ical background of the two approaches, both come, however, to similar conclu‐ sions for learning and teaching practice. According to constructivists in general, ‘meaning’ is created and it is “subjective and non transferable [sic]” (Müller, 2000, p. 45). Consequently, they see learning as a process which is autonomous 2.6 Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Otherness 41 <?page no="42"?> 7 Whereas constructivism has its origins in neurology (see above), deconstructivism is a philosophical approach that evolved from postmodernism (see Chapter 2.4). The same basic assumptions, however, underlie both approaches. and active. Thus, constructivist learning theories pay tribute to individual dif‐ ferences of learners and suggest holistic approaches to teaching and learning that allow each learner to construct her / his own ‘reality’. Key principles of teaching and learning that are based on constructivism are learner autonomy and rich learning environments. The teacher acts as a facilitator, not an in‐ structor, in the constructivist classroom (ibid., p. 46). In the field of cultural learning, constructivist approaches to understanding otherness evolved in critical response to Fremdverstehen. Representatives of constructivist approaches to learning, radical constructivism (Eckerth & Wendt, 2003a; Wendt, 1993) and deconstructivism (Fäcke, 2006), doubt that it is possible to take an inner perspective on another culture. 7 They regard the perspective on self as something very complex and always influenced by personal experi‐ ences, interpretations, emotions and are of the opinion that this applies even more for perspectives on others. Knowledge about reality is constructed through ‘viabilisation’ (see footnote 7). When different constructions of reality are in‐ compatible, something appears as foreign: Fremdheit läßt sich demzufolge als Inkompatibilität der Wirklichkeitskonstruktionen verschiedener Individuen definieren. Sobald Inkompabilität festgestellt ist, bleiben grundsätzlich zwei Möglichkeiten: Man kann den Fremden zur ungeeigneten Instanz für die eigenen Viabilitätsprüfungen erklären oder ihn zum “Anlaß” nehmen, die ei‐ genen Wirklichkeitskonstruktionen zu revidieren. [Foreignness can therefore be de‐ scribed as an incompatibility between constructions of reality of different individuals. As soon as incompatibility is observed, there are generally two possibilities: the for‐ eign can be considered as inappropriate for one’s own viabilisation process or as a trigger to revise one’s own construction of reality.] (Wendt, 1993, p. 47; my translation) Foreignness can only be overcome to the degree to which the person is willing and able to viabilise her / his constructions of reality. This is usually a life-long process. Mutual viabilisation is considered both a prerequisite and an aim of any social and linguistic interaction (Eckerth & Wendt, 2003a, p. 13). According to Fäcke (2002, p. 214), constructivist approaches to otherness may help to reduce the danger of appropriation. The hermeneutic distance (see Hun‐ feld, Chapter 2.3) is maintained and used as a starting point for critical reflec‐ tions: 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 42 <?page no="43"?> Vor diesem Hintergrund bedeutet interkulturelles Lernen die Fähigkeit und die Of‐ fenheit, eigene Wirklichkeitskonstruktionen nicht nur auf individueller Ebene inner‐ halb der Eigengruppe, sondern auch durch fremdkulturelle Gruppen zu viabilisieren. Dies bedeutet eine Form der Fremdsozialisation, die ohne Aneignungen auskommen kann, indem prinzipiell ein Moment des Nicht-Verstehens bzw. Eigenartigen mitge‐ dacht wird (vgl. Wendt 2000). [Against this background intercultural learning is the ability and openness to viabilise your own constructions of reality not only on an individual level within your own group but also through foreign groups. This implies a kind of socialisation into the foreign (culture) which can proceed without appro‐ priation, by always including an element of non-understanding or the peculiar (see Wendt 2000).] (My translation) Since ‘self ’ and ‘other’ are not considered to be objective categories but indi‐ vidual and interindividually viabilised constructs, from a constructivist per‐ spective it is essential that the learners’ awareness of the constructedness of their own and ‘the other’ culture is developed in the foreign language classroom (see “Konstruktionsbewusstsein [awareness of constructedness]”, Wendt, 2002, p. 43). Genetsch and Hallet (2010) make suggestions for text and material arrange‐ ments with the aid of which a culture may be represented in a way that pays tribute to the inner plurality of culture and the constructedness of expressions about culture. Their proposed principles for text selection, i.e. an inherent plu‐ rality and multitudes of perspectives, multimodality and recurrences and inter‐ textual correlatability (ibid., p. 10), may be placed in the context of constructivist approaches to culture. According to the two scholars, the texts and materials that are selected to represent a culture in the foreign language classroom should both complement one another by entailing content-related ties and also con‐ tradict each other by providing different perspectives on certain issues. When texts and other materials are arranged in this way, learners are required to con‐ struct their own image of the target culture, they argue: Die Lernenden werden nicht einfach nach landeskundlicher Art über eine andere Kultur ‘belehrt’, sondern sie müssen sich ihr Bild von dieser Kultur selbst erabeiten. Dies geschieht durch die aktive Arbeit mit den in einem reader oder Materialpaket zur Verfügung stehenden oder aber mit selbst recherchierten Texten und Bildern - oder aus einer Kombination von beidem. [The learners are not just ‘instructed’ about an‐ other culture, but instead have to establish an image of this culture on their own. This happens through active work with texts and images that are available in a reader or material package or with personally researched texts and pictures - or with a com‐ bination of both.] (Ibid., my translation) 2.6 Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Otherness 43 <?page no="44"?> Furthermore, the two scholars suggest two different task types which may be used when working with texts and other materials representing a certain culture in the foreign language classroom: connective tasks and constructivist tasks (ibid. pp. 10-11). Whereas connective tasks prompt learners to establish con‐ nections beyond single texts with the aim of understanding one particular text in the light of another, constructivist tasks require students to do research on a certain topic and look for texts and other materials that in their opinion repre‐ sent a specific culture. Here learning autonomy and reflection, characteristic features of constructivist approaches to learning, are focalised. 2.7 Implications of Anti-Racist Pedagogy Alongside the constructivist approach to understanding otherness, ideas of anti-racist pedagogy (Elverich, Kalpaka, & Reindlmeier, 2009; Essed, 1991; Essed, Mullard, & Essinger, 1991; Kalpaka & Räthzel, 1990) promise to be very produc‐ tive for cultural (and global learning). This pedagogic approach gained in im‐ portance in Germany in the 1990s (see Chapter 2.2). Since then, various contri‐ butions have been made in the field. Whereas in its beginning anti-racist pedagogy focused mainly on the people who are affected and excluded through racist structures and looked into ways in which they could be supported, in the last few years the privileges of the majority group are taken into account more strongly, particularly in the approach of Critical Whiteness (see Becker, 2011; Pech, 2009). The perspective from which racism is seen has, therefore, shifted: “Gegenstand einer solchen Perspektive ist nicht das Objekt rassisierender Diskri‐ minierung, sondern ihr Subjekt, der / die rassisierende Person. [The focus of such a perspective is not the object who is racially discriminated against but the sub‐ ject, the person who is committing the act of racism]” (Dietze, 2006, p. 223; my translation). Furthermore, some scholars increasingly point to problematic as‐ pects inherent in the concept of anti-racism as a counter-strategy and plead for a shift to an approach critical to racism (rassismuskritischer Ansatz) (Mecheril, 2004; Mecheril & Melter, 2010). Neither of the approaches that developed in the field are didactic in nature; they do offer, however, didactic implications. Before the key principles of approaches concerned with antiracism or critical of racism and the implications for cultural learning are elaborated on, the very complex concept ‘racism’ requires further clarification. There are both broad and narrow definitions of racism. Whereas some narrow definitions focus on devaluations of human beings according to physical aspects only (biologically based racism), wider definitions also encompass other factors 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 44 <?page no="45"?> 8 Drawing on Memmi’s and Cherrington’s (see Chapter 2.2.) definitions, the difference between ‘racism’ and ‘stereotype’ appears to be that the latter in comparison to the former does not necessarily involve the devaluation of the other and result in hostility or aggression. A differentiation between ‘racism’ and ‘ethnocentrism’ or ‘xenophobia’ is more difficult. All three terms entail the devaluation of differences. When using a broad definition of racism (“racism without race”), differentiating between a superi‐ ority / inferiority bias based on physical differences (‘racism’) and ethnic / cultural dif‐ ferences (‘ethnocentrism’ or ‘xenophobia’) does not apply. I would argue that ‘ethno‐ centrism’ focuses more on the perspective from which an issue is looked at (one’s own ethnic background). Sumner (1906, p. 13) defines it as a “view of things in which one’s group is the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it”. In comparison to ‘racism’ which looks at the differences as natural and, thus, in‐ surmountable; ethnocentrism considers assimilation of ‘the other’ to ‘the self ’ as de‐ sirable and necessary. ‘Xenophobia’ (in German ‘Ausländerfeindlichkeit’) is a term that in Germany was for a long time primarily used to talk about instances in which ‘for‐ eigners’ were discriminated against or attacked in the country. The term ‘racism’ was then reserved for references to the mass murder of the Nazis. Only in the mid-1980s, when violence against migrants and refugees rose, did the term ‘racism’ increasingly enter language use in Germany (Müller, 1997, p. 361). such as inferiority bias with reference to culture. Balibar (1991, p. 21) talks of “racism without races”. It is commonly agreed in anti-racism pedagogy and re‐ lated approaches that to address the multifaceted nature of racism, a wider def‐ inition is required to draw on. A scholar who is frequently referred to in this context is Albert Memmi. For him racism is a generalizing definition and valuation of differences, whether real or imaginary to the advantage of the one defining or deploying them [accusateur], and to the detriment of the one subjugated to the act of definition [victime], whose purpose is to justify (social or physical) hostility or assault [aggression]. (2000, p. 100) Memmi therefore holds that racism comprises 1) the recognition of differences, real or imaginary, 2) the devaluation of ‘the other’ vs. self-valuation, 3) the ap‐ plication of a generalisation to a whole group and 4) a consequential justification for hostility towards ‘the other’ originating in its devaluation. Including a va‐ riety of aspects, this definition shows that ‘racism’ may have overlaps with phenomena such as ‘stereotypes’, ‘ethnocentrism’ and ‘xenophobia’. 8 What is not explicitly manifested in this definition but forms a central element on which advocates of anti-racist pedagogy base their understanding of racism, is the prevalence of group hierarchies between the powerful and the powerless, ma‐ jority and minority groups. Kalpaka and Räthzel (1990, p. 13) state that only when the group which constructs another group as inferior also has the power to enforce this construction, this may be referred to as racism. 2.7 Implications of Anti-Racist Pedagogy 45 <?page no="46"?> Advocates of anti-racist pedagogy also repeatedly point out that racism is a process of social construction. Racism is a system of structural inequalities and a historical process, both created and re-created through routine practices. […] structures of racism do not exist external to agents - they are made by agents - but specific practices are by definition racist only when they activate existing structural racial inequality in the system. (Essed, 1991, p. 39) For them, racism is, therefore, more than attitudes and actions of individuals; it is embedded in institutional structures and social discourses. Furthermore, embracing a wide definition, scholars of approaches critical to racism frequently describe exoticism as racism (see Danielzik & Bendix, 2011, p. 633) or deal with paternalism in the context of power asymmetries (see AG Sprache, Bildung und Rassismuskritik, 2012). Experts in the field of anti-racist pedagogy criticise that in intercultural ap‐ proaches social problems and inequalities are often considered to be grounded in culture and that it is believed that these problems may be overcome through intercultural encounters, changes of perspectives and tolerance. Those ap‐ proaches exclude the existence of power asymmetries, racist structures and dis‐ crimination, the scholars argue: In vielen Bildungsangeboten steht die Auseinandersetzung mit ‘kulturellen Differen‐ zen’ im Mittelpunkt, die als Erklärungsmuster für Probleme des gesellschaftlichen Zusammenlebens dienen. Diese Sichtweise geht oftmals mit Kulturalisierungen einher und blendet gesellschaftliche Ausschließungspraxen und Machtverhältnisse aus. [Many educational programmes have at the centre the engagement with ‘cultural differences’ which serve as explanatory models for social conflicts. This often goes along with culturalisations and ignores exclusion practices by society and power asymmetries.] (Elverich & Reindlmeier, 2009, p. 34; my translation) Anti-racist pedagogy focuses more on interventions on a structural than on an interpersonal level. It is rather concerned with societal-theoretical analyses than with deficit hypotheses, explanatory models of xenophobia, stereotypes or cul‐ tural conflicts (Müller, 1997, p. 363). A major aim of anti-racist pedagogy is “ein aktives Bewußtsein für strukturelle Ähnlichkeiten, für Ungleichheit und Unger‐ echtigkeit zu entwickeln. [to develop an active awareness for structural similar‐ ities, inequality and injustice]” (Essed et al., 1991, p. 84; my translation). Discussions in anti-racist pedagogy and related approaches offer various im‐ plications for the foreign language classroom. In the cross-curricular set of guidelines “Rassismuskritischer Leitfaden [guideline critical to racism]” (Projekt 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 46 <?page no="47"?> Lern- und Erinnerungsort Afrikanisches Viertel ( LEO ) beim Amt für Weiterbil‐ dung und Kultur des Bezirksamtes Mitte von Berlin & Marmer, 2015), several ideas are given for the implementation of antiracism measures in the (foreign language) classroom. For one, the authors stress the importance of giving those who experience racism a voice, which should be also implemented in FLT by using more African and Black authors and sources as references (ibid., p. 27). Furthermore, perceiving racism as a social construct embedded in institutional structures and as a historical process, the scholars plead for a stronger contex‐ tualisation in educational work. The reflection upon power asymmetries and inequalities which are strongly linked to colonialism and imperialism requires more attention in the classroom, they argue. They consider this to apply to language teaching as well (ibid., pp. 28-29). In addition, the authors are con‐ cerned with a sensitive approach to language. They regard it as important that students reflect upon the power of language, learn about the origins of certain words and become exposed to self-determined denominations in any language learnt at school. The scholars emphasise that also language hegemonies of former colonial languages and the development of Creole languages require attention in this context (ibid., pp. 32-33). Although it is without doubt important and necessary to take ideas of anti-racist pedagogy and related concepts into account, these approaches also entail various problematic aspects. Kalpaka and Räthzel (1990) wrote a book on the Schwierigkeit, nicht rassistisch zu sein [difficulty of not being racist], of which the title already points to the problem of the near-impossibility of not being racist. Taguieff (1998) speaks of antiracism in crisis. He criticises that when the topic ‘race’ is shifted to a cultural level it allows for a replication of racism which is neither wanted nor predicted, particularly not by the antiracists themselves (ibid., pp. 238-239). By accepting culture as a “neue und heimlich rassenbildende Kagetorisierung [new and secretly race-forming categorisation]” (ibid., p. 243; my translation), antiracism rather perpetuates what it intends to oppose, he explains. According to him, the concept, therefore, remains stuck in a binary of oppositions: racism as bad and evil, antiracism as good. Particularly in a school context it is problematic to apply this black-and-white way of thinking since it should not be the aim of education to stigmatise children as ‘racists’, also and particularly not in FLT . As Fäcke (2011, p. 176) notes [d]ie Dichotomisierung der eigenen und der fremden Kulturen und jegliche Einschät‐ zung von Verhaltensweisen als rassistisch führen zu einer kontraproduktiven Stag‐ nation. Wenn jegliches Denken und Handeln als rassistisch interpretiert wird, dann sind vermeintlich ‘richtige’ und politisch korrekte Handlungsweisen von vornherein ausgeschlossen. [the dichotomization of own and foreign cultures and the evaluation 2.7 Implications of Anti-Racist Pedagogy 47 <?page no="48"?> of behaviour patterns as racist lead to counter-productive stagnation. When any thought and action is interpreted as racist, then allegedly ‘right’ and politically correct actions are excluded from the outset.] (My translation) Nevertheless, in my eyes, focusing more on the reflection of racist structures and power asymmetries in cultural learning is essential to counteract tendencies of othering. 2.8 Globalisation and Global Education Think about an eleven-year-old student in a school in a large city anywhere in the world today. Their life will undoubtedly be affected by the processes of globalisation in a multitude of ways. To name but a few, these could include: the languages spoken within the school; the technology they use to further their learning; the focus of the school curriculum; the origin of the clothes they wear; the cultural mix of students within the school; and the origin of the food they eat during their lunch break. In short, processes of globalisation are increasingly affecting the lives of most (if not all) people in the world, but they do so in different, complex, unequal and contested ways. (Peterson & Warwick, 2015, p. 5) As the quote illustrates, our world is interconnected on a social, political, tech‐ nological, economic, ecological and cultural scale. The role of culture in a global age and questions concerned with cultural mixing stretch into TEFL (Lütge, 2015b, p. 7). Many issues people are faced with in an increasingly globalised world are beyond the scope of the bipolar concept of understanding ‘the other’ or intercultural learning and thus present new challenges to the EFL classroom. Since the 1990s, ‘globalisation’ has been a buzzword dominating political dis‐ cussion and is “often used very loosely and, indeed, in contradictory ways” (Robertson, 1992, p. 2). Many scholars with various research backgrounds have contributed to academic discussion on this topic (Appadurai, 1996, 2001; Bauman, 1998, 2007, 2012; Beck, 2006; Giddens, 1990, 1999; Robertson, 1992). Giddens (1990, p. 64) defines globalisation as “the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa”. It is commonly looked upon as a dynamic and powerful force and is both appreciated and se‐ verely critiqued. Scholars repeatedly point to the ‘risks’ people are faced with in a globalised world (Beck, 2006; Giddens, 1999). There are many ongoing wars and conflicts, a growing number of people are forced to flee from war areas, gender imbalances 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 48 <?page no="49"?> prevail, fear of terrorism impacts societies and climate change has effects on people around the world. Beck (2006, 2007) named the world we live in a “world risk society”. As Peterson and Warwick state in the quote cited at the outset of this chapter, globalisation has, however, different effects on different people. It is, therefore, an asymmetrical process. Economic and political inequalities may be seen as inherent in global power relations. Bauman (1998, p. 71) argues that negative consequences of globalisation are rooted in instabilities brought on by global capitalism: Globalisation has given more opportunities for the extremely wealthy to make money more quickly. These individuals have utilised the latest technology to move large sums of money around the globe extremely quickly and speculate ever more efficiently. Unfortunately, the technology makes no impact on the lives of the world poor. In fact, globalisation is a paradox; while it is very beneficial to a very few, it leaves out or marginalizes two thirds of the world’s population. These developments are firmly rooted in history, as colonialism and neo-impe‐ rialism have a strong influence on power relations worldwide, Bauman further explains. Appadurai (1996, p. 17) moreover understands globalisation as a “deeply historical, uneven and even localizing process” and points out that it should not be equated with cultural homogenisation or Americanisation because “different societies appropriate the materials of modernity differently” (ibid.). The concept of global education in the EFL classroom which has been devel‐ oped over the last few decades focuses on global ‘risks’. As will be further ela‐ borated in this chapter, it does not yet, however, take power asymmetries and historical contexts sufficiently into account. The fact that global education is regarded as “a transdisciplinary and trans‐ curricular task” (Volkmann, 2015, p. 30), discussed in various fields (e.g. peda‐ gogy, political education) and inspired by different reference disciplines (e.g. critical theory, critical pedagogy), makes it necessary to begin with some back‐ ground information concerning the definition and origin of the concept. Despite or because of this grounding in diverse academic discourses, the term global education “still remains fuzzy and ambivalent” (Lütge, 2015b, p. 8). There are inconsistencies in the use of terminology, as Pike (2000, p. 64, qtd. in Lütge, 2015b, pp. 8-9) points out: A major difficulty in any comparative study of global education - and a hindrance, perhaps, to a global dialogue - lies in the use of the terminology itself. First, the term global education is not universal; although commonly used in North America, a host of lables are attached to similar educational initiatives around the world […]. 2.8 Globalisation and Global Education 49 <?page no="50"?> 9 The KMK coordinates the activities in the educational sector of the 16 federal states in Germany, which possess cultural sovereignty. Whereas in the US the term global education prevails, in Germany Globales Lernen [global learning] is commonly used to refer to the concept (Asbrand & Scheunpflug, 2014; Bühler, 1996; Seitz, 2002). Since EFL didactics draws strongly on international research, global education is, however, also established in German publications in this field (Blell & Doff, 2014; Lütge, 2015a). In this study, the terms global education and global learning are used interchangeably. Asbrand and Scheunpflug (2014, p. 401), influential figures in the field of global learning in Germany, understand global learning as a pedagogical reac‐ tion to the development towards a world society. For Scheunpflug (2010, pp. 33-34), it is a guiding principle which can be applied to different subjects in school and it is defined by thematic issues such as peace, environment and de‐ velopment. According to her, competencies in the field comprise the ability to understand and critically reflect global interdependencies, own values and attitudes, develop own positions, see options, capability to make choices, to participate in com‐ munication and decisions within a global context. (Ibid.) Documents such as the “Maastricht Global Education Declaration” (North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, 2002), the “ UN Decade (2005-2014)” ( UNESCO , 2005), the Oxfam brochure “Education for Global Citizenship: A Guide for Schools” (Oxfam, 2006) and the Orientierungsrahmen für den Lernbereich Globale Entwicklung [Orientation Framework for the Learning Area of Global Develop‐ ment] (Appelt et al., 2007; Siege, Schreiber, & Appelt, 2015) provide guidelines for global education and learning on an international and national level. In Ger‐ many, the Orientation Framework for the Learning Area of Global Development is the most prominent guideline. This document which was published by the Kul‐ tusministerkonferenz ( KMK ) 9 and the Federal Ministry for Economic Coopera‐ tion and Develoment ( BMZ ) is competence oriented; it differentiates global learning into three competencies: Erkennen [Noticing], Bewerten [Evaluating] and Handeln [Acting]. These competencies are oriented towards the concept of sustainable development. The framework is not only cross-curricular but also meant as a framework for educators of learners of different ages and learning levels (from kindergarten to tertiary level). Global learning in Germany is rooted in various educational relevant theories. After the Second World War development education and the so called ‘Third World’ pedagogy emerged. In the 1950s, the first development aid associations such as Misereor (1958), Brot für die Welt (1959), BMZ (1961) and Deutscher En‐ 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 50 <?page no="51"?> twicklungsdienst (1963) were founded and became increasingly engaged in the sensitisation of society to the suffering of the people in the so called ‘Third World’. Their pedagogical concept, which encouraged people to reflect upon the ‘deficits’ of people in the ‘Third World’ and to think of ways of how they can be helped to overcome these, was also applied to youth work and schools. In the late 1960s, against the background of political upheaval in Germany, the notion of development education underwent politicisation. The reception of depend‐ ency theories created new impulses in discussions about ‘development’ and ap‐ proaches of ‘development aid’ were reconsidered. Increasingly the role of the Global North in the exploitation of the Global South was taken into account. In consequence of critical perspectives on development, the concept of develop‐ ment education was also developed further. There was a shift away from a mere focus on economic dimensions of development to the inclusion of various other concepts such as culture, education, human rights, environment and emanci‐ pation. Increasingly, overlaps with similar fields such as peace education and environment education became apparent (see Asbrand & Scheunpflug, 2014, pp. 401-402; Seitz, 1993). From the 1990s, a shift away from the term ‘development’ to the term ‘global’ could be observed. In Germany, the term Globales Lernen (global learning) now prevailed. It was increasingly acknowledged that the world is more complex than a Global North versus a Global South; mere educational work concerning problems of ‘the poor’ became questionable. Since then, the concept of global learning has been developed further by various scholars and has taken different directions. Bühler (1996) is an advocate of a normative perspective that is based on a holistic worldview, whereas Scheunpflug and Schröck (2002) represent a rather evolutionary, system-theoretical perspective (see Asbrand & Scheunp‐ flug, 2014, pp. 402-403). In the EFL classroom, global education may be considered to have its origin in the politically oriented Landeskunde approaches of the 1970s and 1980s (see Chapter 2.1). It gained momentum, however, around the turn of the millennium (Volkmann, 2015, p. 29). Since then, scholars have increasingly suggested going beyond culturalist assumptions and including global issues in TEFL . Very in‐ fluential in this context, is the spread of the English language across the world. English is considered a global language and it is increasingly used as lingua franca by people worldwide (see Crystal, 2012; Seidelhofer, 2011). Pennycook (2007, p. 6) points to the strong link of English to processes of globalisation: English is a translocal language, a language of fluidity and fixity that moves across, while becoming embedded in, the materiality of localities and social relations. English 2.8 Globalisation and Global Education 51 <?page no="52"?> is bound up with transcultural flows, a language of imagined communities and refa‐ shioning identities. Under the influence of these developments and postcolonial discourses, the call for a shift beyond the hitherto dominant countries in the EFL classroom, Great Britain and the USA , becomes louder. Furthermore, the fact that the English language is less seen as a language of native speakers than a language for learning about the world and communi‐ cating with people all around the world (Cates, 2004b, p. 242) means that “any country and its locally as well as globally relevant topics could be deemed worthy of inclusion” (Volkmann, 2015, p. 30). Against this background of English as a global language, Doyé (1999, p. 98) pleads for an integration of global issues in the EFL classroom, a concept he calls world studies: even an extended concept of cultural studies […] cannot fulfil the task of providing appropriate cultural contents for the teaching of English as a global language alone, and therefore cultural studies, in my opinion, have to be complemented by what has become known as world studies. […] It starts from the global issues of this world such as starvation, suppression, ecological destruction, illiteracy, aggression and shows their global dimension. Volkmann (2015, p. 29) sees another reason for the establishment of global ed‐ ucation in FLT in Germany in what he calls the “twin dilemma” in FLT dis‐ courses in the 1990s: The communicative turn brought about concepts of FLT which were primarily pragmatic and utilitarian. The CEFR (2001), for example, focuses on communication “at the cost of neglecting skills or competence in the time-honored educative fields of literature, aesthetics, education, political edu‐ cation, etc” (ibid.). The integration of global issues in this context has meant a shift to a more content-driven and educationally relevant foreign language classroom which many opponents of the CEFR have welcomed. Also on an in‐ ternational scale, scholars regarded global education as a way to resolve per‐ petual challenges of FLT : English language teaching has been bedevilled with three perennial problems: the gulf between classroom activities and real life; the separation of ELT from mainstream educational ideas; the lack of a content as its subject matter. By making Global Issues a central core of EFL, these problems would be to some extent resolved. (Maley, 1992, p. 73) A scholar in the field of global education in the foreign language classroom who is well-received and widely cited in EFL didactics in Germany is Kip Cates, an English language educator based in Japan (Blell & Doff, 2014; Florio-Hansen, 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 52 <?page no="53"?> 2010; Hammer, 2012a; Lütge, 2012b, 2012c, 2015b). Cates defines global education as an approach to language teaching which aims at enabling students to effectively ac‐ quire and use a foreign language while empowering them with the knowledge, skills and commitment required by world citizens for the solution of global problems. (1990, p. 3) For him it involves the integration of global issues such as peace, development, environment and human rights in the foreign language classroom and the focus on concepts such as social responsibility and world citizenship. He divides global education into four component fields: “peace education, development education, environmental education and human rights education” (2004b, p. 241). Cates states that language teaching has a special status within the field of education. He talks of the “unique responsibility in promoting peace, justice, and an active concern for the world’s problems” (2002, p. 43) and the “flexibility of topic” (2002, p. 44) that sets languages apart from other subjects. Cates refers to a precursor in the field of global education, the so called Linguapax project that emerged from an UNESCO conference on “Teaching Foreign Languages for Peace and Understanding” in 1987. It was one of the first initiatives that linked language teaching with global education. Today Linguapax is an NGO that is “dedicated to the appreciation and protection of linguistic diversity worldwide” (Linguapax, n.d.). Cates (2002, p. 46) criticises the status quo in the foreign language classroom. Textbooks only treat global issues shallowly, if at all, and so rather create ster‐ eotypes and bias instead of deconstructing them, he asserts. According to him, traditional schooling characterised through rote memorisation, passive learning and examination pressures does not adequately prepare young people to cope with global challenges (2004b, p. 241). He pleads for more task-based, experi‐ mental, interactive and cooperative learning (Cates & Jacobs, 2006). Essential for Cates’s concept of global education is that it intends to go beyond a mere incorporation of facts about global issues (knowledge) and instead en‐ compasses a profound involvement and concrete impulses for action. Cates di‐ vides his concept, therefore, into four dimensions: • Knowledge about world countries and cultures, and about global prob‐ lems, their causes and solutions; • Skills of critical thinking, cooperative problem solving, conflict solution, and seeing issues from multiple perspectives; • Attitudes of global awareness, cultural appreciation, respect for diversity, and empathy; 2.8 Globalisation and Global Education 53 <?page no="54"?> • Action: the final aim of global learning is to have students ‘think globally and act locally’. (2004b, p. 241) Cates states that global education can be applied in various ways in teaching. It should not only encompass the integration of global issues in the EFL classroom (content) but also involve methods, materials, course design, etc.: Global education is as much a matter of how we teach as of what we teach. For many teachers, this involves a shift from passive to active learning, from teacherto stu‐ dent-centered classes, from language as structure to language for communication about the world. (2002, p. 45) In the last two decades, there has been a remarkable amount of publications in the field of global education in Germany (e.g. Lütge, 2015a; Thaler, 2006-2011). Different thematic areas within global education are addressed: While some scholars focalise peace education (Diehr, 2007; Florio-Hansen, 2002; Hammer, 2012b), others look into human rights (Bland, 2012; Genetsch, Hallet, Surkamp, & Weisshaar, 2012), gender issues (Thaler, 2008a) or ecodidactics (Küchler, 2009; Mayer, 2006; Mayer & Wilson, 2006; Volkmann, 2012). Both issues of di‐ versity (Kroschewski, 2015) and topics that are of universal human interest or have universal validity such as family, school, friendship and love (Alter, 2012; Volkmann, 2007, p. 150) are considered relevant in the global age. Grimm et al. (2015, pp. 163-164), drawing on Volkmann (2010, pp. 195-196) and Hammer (2012a, p. 75), published a list of twelve “obviously interrelated and overlapping thematic fields” which may be focused on in the EFL classroom to develop “global competence”: • Demographic aspects: mobility, dissolution of space, spatial ‘shrinking,’ processes of migration, settlement, mass migration, according to coun‐ tries, cultures, social groups, etc., the politics of migration and immigra‐ tion • Social aspects: religion, living together in multicultural societies, integra‐ tion and ‘parallel societies’ • Aspects of peace education and non-violence: violence and war, racism, ar‐ mament, refugees, terrorism • Social aspects: human rights, gender issues, child rights, social commit‐ ment (e.g. ATTAC , Amnesty International, Terre des Femmes) • Political aspects and human rights education: human rights, global gover‐ nance, immigration laws, politics of assimilation, multiculturalism, inte‐ gration 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 54 <?page no="55"?> • Ecological aspects and environmental education: environmental pollution, deforestation, animal rights, recycling, natural catastrophes, climate change • Cultural aspects: global pop culture, McDonaldization, globalization and localization (local and global interconnections) • Socio-economic aspects: poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, consumer societies, commercialism, financial systems, market economies, fair trade • Technical aspects: traffic, mobility, digitalization • Media aspects: media use, Internet, social networks, global communica‐ tion, smart phones • Health education: drugs, fighting AIDS and other global diseases, food (fast food vs. balanced diet) • Language-related aspects: language imperialism (English as ‘killer lan‐ guage’), communication problems, English as a lingua franca, business communication (see ch. 1.1). (Italics in the original) Global education is considered to be both “Themenfeld und Unterrichtsprinzip [topic area and teaching principle]” ( Jancke & Surkamp, 2012, p. 65). Key areas of the world risk society are selected and used as examples in the classroom with the goal of fostering students’ global competence. The scholars, however, also point out that in order to reach this goal a certain methodology needs to be applied. It includes rather student-centred classes, active, experiential, task-based learning, and interdisciplinary projects. As transcultural learning, global education, though considered an essential supplement of cultural learning, is also criticised for problematic aspects. Hammer (2012a, pp. 77-78) and Peaty (2004) list several points of criticisms and concerns that are frequently raised in this context. There is the risk of preaching instead of teaching or even indoctrination. Moreover, teacher bias and inade‐ quate teacher education in the field are considered problematic aspects. In ad‐ dition, it is criticised that the curriculum is already full and that language lessons should focus on language and leave world affairs to the social studies. A major point of criticism focuses on universalising tendencies in global learning. Scholars (Andreotti, 2008; Fäcke, 1999; Merryfield, 2009) point out that a basic principle of global education is an epistemology that suggests certain universal and ‘correct’ ways of thinking and acting. Developed by white Western 2.8 Globalisation and Global Education 55 <?page no="56"?> 10 The debate on universal human rights may illustrate differences between universalistic and relativistic approaches to culture. A universalistic approach to culture assumes that all human beings have the same rights independent of their ethnic, social and religious background (Sommer, 2003, p. 17). These universal rights are recorded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As is declared in the preamble of this document, human rights are proclaimed “as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” (United Nations General Assembly, 1948) by cultural universalists. Many ideas of human rights policy refer, however, back to the age of Enlightenment (Wimmer, 1997, p. 122) and political landmarks in ‘Western’ history such as the French Revolution (1789) and American Bill of Rights (1791). Thus, it is frequently criticised by opponents of cultural universalism that behind this human being who is addressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights there is a rather ‘Western’ human image. Cultural rela‐ tivists therefore consider the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as ethnocentric, operating for example with Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978). They criticise the claim of universality of ‘Western’ philosophies and legal positions and represent the position of equivalence instead of equality (Gleichwertigkeit statt Gleichheit) (Sommer, 2003, p. 18). scholars, it frequently carries the inherent assumption that Western ideas about education, development or human rights are universal / superior, they argue. 10 Global education is also frequently attacked for being too idealistic and for not focusing enough on power asymmetries. Fäcke (1999, pp. 51-55) raises this point of criticism with reference to Bühler’s concept of global learning. She comments on his book Perspektivenwechsel? Unterwegs zu ‘globalem Lernen’ (1996) in which Bühler strongly pleads for a protection of the weak. According to Fäcke, his approach is utopian and implies a claim to absoluteness. It does not withstand critical perspectives of power, she states. Power asymmetries are only mentioned but not sufficiently contextualised. There is not enough criticism of existing conditions and no suggestions for tackling power imbalances are made. In addition, Fäcke criticises that Bühler’s approach focuses only on ‘the other’ and not ‘the self ’. The gaze from the perspective of the powerful is so turned to the powerless and Bühler’s concept clearly addresses a ‘Western’, European target group: Die von Bühler formulierten Leitideen und Richtziele orientieren sich ausschließlich hin auf europäische Schüler. Doch welche Lernziele wären adäquat für den Rest der Welt? Verbirgt sich dahinter nicht doch ein Menschenbild, das den Mächtigen einen Subjektstatus und den Machtlosen einen Objektstatus zuweist? Das Grundinteresse aller Herrschenden nach Macht wird hier gleichzeitig verschleiert und diskursiv re‐ produziert. [The key ideas and principles divised by Bühler are oriented towards Eu‐ ropean students. But which learning objectives would be appropriate for the rest of the world? Is there a human image behind it that gives the powerful the status of 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 56 <?page no="57"?> subject and the powerless the status of object? The basic striving of all rulers for power is blurred and also discursively reproduced.] (Fäcke, 1999, pp. 53-54; my translation) Scholars also raise the concern that global education does not focus enough on the historical background and lacks references to the legacy of colonialism. Glokal e. V., an association registered in Berlin which focuses on power critical educational work and counselling, analysed over a hundred sources and core documents dating from 2007 to 2012 that were published in the field of devel‐ opment education in Germany and are used by NGO s, teachers or multipliers in the education sector. The aim of this analysis of materials was “to find out how far, and to what effect, development education material broaches or ne‐ glects issues of postcolonial power relations” (Glokal e. V., 2013, p. 5). The asso‐ ciation summarises the results of the study as follows: In summary it becomes evident that the analysed material reproduces hegemonic Eu‐ rocentric historiography (and, in particular, historical omissions) as well as hegemonic concepts of development, culture and racism. The interconnectedness of colonialism, capitalism and modernity are avoided and wholeheartedly ignored. With the absence of these important issues within the modern discourse on development education, the bifurcation of the world persists: on the one hand people and societies which need to be ‘developed’, and helpers, saviours of the world, and responsible cosmopolitans on the other. A Postcolonial critique is adopted at times, but is often defused to such a degree that it does not destabilise the dominant narrative perspective. In addition, the material does not do justice to an inclusive pedagogy in the migration society. (Glokal e. V., 2013, p. 5) Much of the criticism addressed at the concept of global learning in Germany also focuses on the Orientation Framework for the Learning Area of Global De‐ velopment (Appelt et al., 2007; Siege et al., 2015). In an open letter to the architects of the first edition of the orientation framework, a nation-wide affiliation com‐ prising various organisations and networks from the field of power critical ed‐ ucation and organisations of Blacks (Berlin Postkolonial, glokal, IMAFREDU , karfi, moveglobal, 2014), raises several points of criticism concerning the frame‐ work. It criticises, for example, that it is a product of a white, Western scholar‐ ship, not taking perspectives of Black people and people in the Global South sufficiently into account. Furthermore, it points to the normative orientation towards sustainable development, a highly disputed concept, as very problem‐ atic. In addition, global education approaches, as they are suggested by scholars in foreign language didactics, entail questionable aspects. Since Cates’s concept of global education is frequently referred to in the German EFL context, there 2.8 Globalisation and Global Education 57 <?page no="58"?> is need for further reflections upon his approach at this point. Despite the fact that Cates has without doubt made important contributions to the field of global education in foreign language learning, particularly by bringing attention to the concept, his approach is not unproblematic, I argue. First of all, the theoretical and empirical foundation of his concept may be questioned. To my knowledge, Cates has only published a number of short ar‐ ticles, essays and talks in the field of global education which give only an insight into sections but not an overview of his theoretical foundation of the concept. In addition, he hardly provides any empirical evidence for his assumptions. Furthermore, some of the goals Cates lists seem to be rather impracticable and impossible to realise. In my opinion, global education should not raise the claim of solving world problems since this is an unrealistic if not presumptuous goal. Cates, however, emphasises exactly this point in several of his articles: • The final goal of global education is action - democratic participation in the local and global community to solve world problems. (Cates, 2002, p. 41) • One out-of-class activity carried out by Bamford was a charity walkathon in Tokyo where students and teachers practice English while walking 35 kilome‐ ters to raise money to help end world hunger. (Cates, 2002, p. 47) • In this chapter, we propose an optimistic view of the future of this planet. We propose that as our tiny globe spins round the Sun, we second language teachers can play a role in making this world a better place at the same time that we improve our students' language proficiency. The means by which we and many of our colleagues have been attempting to do our part for the planet lies in the use of global education projects as a component of the second language cur‐ riculum. (Cates & Jacobs, 2006, p. 167) In addition, I would judge some of the following methods and activities that Cates suggests rather critically: • Role plays can stimulate students' creativity while promoting communicative language use in a way that lecturing can't. There's a big difference between reading about Third World refugees, for example, and actually becoming one in class. Global education role plays include conflict resolution skits, discrim‐ ination experience games, and Model United Nations simulations, and can have students take on roles ranging from endangered species, to African slaves, to world leaders. (Cates, 2004a, p. 33) • Some schools write English letters to foster children from Third World coun‐ tries. Yet others hold English charity events to raise money to remove Cambo‐ 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 58 <?page no="59"?> dian landmines, help African AIDS victims, assist Iraqi children, or build schools in Nepal. (Cates, 2004a, p. 34) The first quote gives an overview of suggestions for role play activities. I con‐ sider “acting out a refugee” or an “African slave” not only a very difficult activity for students without experiences of displacement or colonial oppression but also a highly questionable one, as it may easily reinforce existing prejudices and play down the seriousness of the topic. The suggestions in the second quote focus on ways in which students may help or assist underprivileged people in the world. Such activities, particularly when done in a non-reflective manner, may increase feelings of superiority and prejudices. Both quotes show that Cates’s concept of global learning clearly addresses a Western target group and does not include everyone. It seems to look at ‘the other’ as an object of Western knowledge through which people in the Global North may enhance their com‐ petencies. It completely neglects that people in the Global South may develop their own possibilities of action. Therefore, I would deny the concept the de‐ nomination ‘global’. In conclusion, from a postcolonial perspective, global education as it is often understood and implemented today tends to reproduce assumptions of cultural supremacy, implicitly or explicitly. Consequently, stereotypes are reinforced in‐ stead of being deconstructed. It usually targets ‘the other’ and excludes certain people and groups of people of a migration society. I therefore plead with Fäcke (1999), Andreotti (2006, 2008) and Merryfield (2009) for a more reflexive discus‐ sion of notions of culture and global issues. Ideas for such an approach are given in Chapter 8. 2.9 Relevance of the Different Concepts and Developments for the Present Study This overview of important concepts and developments in the field of cultural and global learning leads us to a reflection on the importance of selected dis‐ courses and approaches and their relevance for my study. The present study is based on a broad understanding of culture and considers transcultural competence a desirable objective in the EFL classroom. While the approaches of Fremdverstehen and intercultural learning focus on the negotia‐ tion of meaning between separate cultures and so inevitably adhere to the ‘self ’ and ‘other’ binary, the transcultural approach strives to take cultural transgres‐ sions, diversity, commonalities and the individual with its multiple identities into account. In our postmodern society, which is characterised by blurrings and 2.9 Relevance of the Different Concepts and Developments for the Present Study 59 <?page no="60"?> hybridity, and also against the background of prevalent power asymmetries, I regard the transcultural approach as more appropriate for the foreign language classroom. It has to be acknowledged, however, that it is the intercultural ap‐ proach that is mainly reflected in German educational documents and materials today (see Chapter 2.2). Furthermore, binary oppositions are an inherent part of human thought (see Bauman, 1991, p. 8). Consequently, it can be expected that students (and teachers) often remain caught in binary comparisons and nationalist thinking in the EFL classroom. The aim of the present study is to reconstruct students’ approaches to otherness and to discuss implications for cultural learning in the EFL classroom that evolve from the results of the re‐ search. Furthermore, constructivist ideas of learning and understanding otherness strongly impact my study. My research does not focalise an allegedly given ob‐ jectivity but instead puts the subjective experiences of the students in the centre of the investigation. However, since I also consider the social framework, i.e. school, media, socialisation, etc. to play an important role in the meaning cre‐ ation process of the individual student, my study is informed by a rather mod‐ erate constructivist approach (see Wolff, 2002a, 2002b) that mediates between subject and context and attempts to balance both poles. The aim is to find ways of how the students’ mental processes of construction and deconstruction may be effectively negotiated in the classroom. In my research, approaches critical to racism are also taken into account. As my study focuses on postcolonial literature and a country that was a British protectorate for almost 70 years, which continues to be of political, social and cultural impact today, I consider the reflection upon the history of colonialism and the prevalence of neo-imperialistic power asymmetries and racist structures as very important in this context. The students’ prior knowledge concerning these aspects and their reflection processes need to be given attention in my study. From this, implications for cultural and global learning will be developed. A further focus of my study is placed on global education. As elaborated on in Chapter 2.8, global education in the German EFL classroom is commonly concerned with ‘global’ risks. Since ‘Africa’ is often mentioned in the context of crisis, it frequently serves as an object of study in global education approaches. Wars in African countries and the HIV / AIDS epidemic in Africa are made topics 2 Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning 60 <?page no="61"?> 11 In the last few years, many global education materials focusing on Africa have been published in Germany, e.g. “Afrika im Kontext Globales Lernens” (Henze & Overwien, 2009), Mädchen und Frauen bewegen Afrika (Gemeinsam für Afrika, 2011), “The Bitter Sweet Taste of Chocolate” (Dasenbrock, 2012), “Speaking up for Child Soldiers. Die Botschaft des Popsongs ‘I Want Love’ erschließen und das Thema vertiefen” (Uplawski, 2014), “‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ … and Africa’s lethal enemy? ” (Kazaki, 2014) and Frieden (Gemeinsam für Afrika, 2016). of classroom discussion. 11 So called ‘global topics’ are treated also in Ugandan narratives; there is, for example, a remarkable amount of Ugandan children’s narratives that focuses on HIV / AIDS (see also Chapter 4.4.2.3). Therefore, it is the intention of the present study to provide empirical insights into how stu‐ dents deal with topics of this type and, also taking problematic aspects men‐ tioned in theoretical discourse (see Chapter 2.8) into account, to suggest impli‐ cations for a different approach to global education (see Chapter 8.2). 2.9 Relevance of the Different Concepts and Developments for the Present Study 61 <?page no="62"?> 1 Drawing on a narrow definition of “literature” which takes “the poetic and imaginative quality of literary texts” (Thaler, 2008, p. 16) into account, the two terms “literature” and “fiction” are used interchangeably in this study. 3 Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom Having provided an overview of important concepts and developments in the fields of cultural and global learning, the following chapter focuses on the role of (children’s) literature 1 in the EFL classroom. After a general justification for using literature and particularly children’s literature in TEFL , its potentials for cultural and global learning are explored. In the final section, key principles of extensive reading are explained. 3.1 Literary Texts in the (Lower and Intermediate) EFL Classroom The role of fiction in TEFL has changed over the last decades. In the 19th century, when the grammar-translation method prevailed, literary texts were at the centre of every foreign language classroom. They were functionalised for the introduction of grammar structures and translation practice. Later methods, however, put less emphasis on literature teaching (O'Sullivan & Rösler, 2008; Surkamp, 2012). Today, two different developments concerning the role of lit‐ erature in TEFL may be observed. On the one hand, literature is marginalised in the communicative language learning classroom but on the other hand it has regained momentum particularly due to its importance for intercultural learning (O'Sullivan & Rösler, 2008, p. 4). The communicative turn in the 1970s and 80s which brought about the pri‐ mary goal of TEFL today, namely communicative competence, led to a margin‐ alisation of literary texts in the foreign language classroom (Nünning, 1997; Surkamp, 2012). In communicative language learning, fiction is mainly used to stimulate discussion or to introduce new vocabulary and grammar structures. Thus, language acquisition is emphasised and a wider study of literary texts is only carried out at higher levels of language learning. This development is man‐ ifested in the Bildungsstandards ( KMK 2003 and 2005) for the lower and inter‐ mediate secondary level (Hauptschulabschluss and Mittlerer Schulabschluss). Here, literature only plays a minor role and its potential is not taken into account <?page no="63"?> further. There is, for example, no connection drawn between cultural learning and literature. Moreover, receptive competences are over-emphasized in this document (Bergfelder, 2007, p. 14). According to Surkamp (2012, p. 491), “edu‐ cational standards reduce the concept of communicative competence to the de‐ mands of everyday communicative situations, so that there is hardly any space for literary reading”. In addition, both the CEFR and the educational standards are mainly competence and output oriented. They indicate that learner ach‐ ievements have to be measured continuously. Surkamp (ibid., p. 490) criticises that with regard to teaching literature, this ignores the difference between reading to ex‐ tract information as it is primarily done with non-fictional texts, and literary reading which includes affective, motivational and attitudinal components which are difficult to measure and evaluate. Thus, it can be concluded that these documents do not sufficiently take into account the potential of literary texts for foreign language learning. At the same time, literary texts regained momentum in TEFL in the 1990s due to research that had been done in the field. Brought about by the influence of reader response criticism and subjectivist reading models, the focus in liter‐ ature teaching shifted from the text to the reader and learner-oriented methods such as creative approaches to texts gained in importance (Bredella & Bur‐ witz-Melzer, 2004; Caspari, 2005). Furthermore, the communicative approach was enhanced by an intercultural dimension and scholars emphasised the op‐ portunities provided by literary texts for changing perspectives, empathising with others and dealing with diversity (Alter, 2015; Bredella, 1993, 1996; Bur‐ witz-Melzer, 2003; Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild, 2010a; Nünning & Surkamp, 2006; Surkamp & Nünning, 2009; Thaler, 2008b). The benefits of literature for cultural and global learning that are discussed in the respective scholarship are elabo‐ rated in Chapter 3.2. Irrespective of these developments, literature still plays a comparably minor role at lower and intermediate levels of TEFL , up to today: For the most part, language learners are not introduced to full-length texts in the EFL-literature classroom until they reach their final school year, at which point they read, and are examined on, one or two major and complex works. (Bland, 2013, p. 5) At higher levels (Oberstufe), students mainly read and discuss canonical adult literature such as Fahrenheit 451, Hamlet or, if anything by an African writer, novels like Things Fall Apart. In order to be able to deal with those complex texts and understand them thoroughly, students should be initiated to literature ear‐ 3.1 Literary Texts in the (Lower and Intermediate) EFL Classroom 63 <?page no="64"?> lier; “postponing the ‘literary shock’ until the very advanced grades does not prove helpful” (Lütge, 2012a, p. 199). An apprenticeship in literary reading from lower levels can help students to gain the competencies they need to understand literary texts in a foreign language but also develop the love for literature and so introduce them to lifelong reading: This issue of helping our students become lifelong readers by linking literature to their daily lives and world knowledge is not an issue which is only important for L1 learners - it also applies to L2 learners and can be enhanced and adapted from kin‐ dergarten onward through all grades and school types. (Burwitz-Melzer 2013, p. 56) A prerequisite of successful work with literary texts at lower and intermediate levels is the selection of rich and attractive reading material. The majority of students in the teenage years are reluctant readers, particularly in a foreign language. To motivate students and enable them to discover that reading is ac‐ tually interesting and enjoyable, age appropriateness has to be taken into con‐ sideration in the selection process of literary texts (Nünning, 1997, p. 7; Thaler, 2008b, p. 20). Reading literary texts written for adult readers in lower grades in which the students do not yet have the necessary language proficiency to un‐ derstand complicated sentence structures and are cognitively not ready to deal with abstract themes, can be demotivating and increase students’ inhibitions about reading books in a foreign language. Therefore, teachers and educators often resort to graded and simplified, i.e. shortened or adapted, reading material at lower and intermediate levels. Such texts are particularly written or adapted for the language class and can be used to introduce children to literature. Because of the simplification or adaptation they have undergone, they directly address the learners’ needs (see Hermes, 2007). However, they also have several drawbacks: Badly simplified graded readers often lack the patterned language typical of much authentic literature - yet parallelism and easily noticed and memorable metaphorical language support language acquisition. With regard to intensive reading, graded readers are unsuitable as they are most often based on adult literature. Simplifying the language does not make the themes of literature for mature readers accessible to adolescent learners with an immature understanding of the world. (Bland, 2012b, p. 205) 3 Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom 64 <?page no="65"?> 2 It has to be noted that ‘authentic’ is a highly disputed term in TEFL (Mishan, 2005; Rilling & Dantas-Whitney, 2009). In this context, it may be understood as “designed for native speakers” (Harmer, 1983, p. 146) or “written for use by the foreign language community, not for language learners” (Nuttall, 1996, p. 177). Due to this, various scholars (Bland, 2013; Bland & Lütge, 2013; Hesse, 2009; O'Sullivan & Rösler, 2008, 2013) rather point to ‘authentic’ 2 children’s fiction as suitable reading material for the foreign language classroom. Authentic child‐ ren’s texts are aimed at young people and usually deal with topics of childhood or adolescence. Furthermore, the language they make use of is not too elaborate. Therefore, texts of this kind often arouse interests of students at primary and lower secondary level and provide exciting and feasible reading material for them. Nevertheless, it has to be considered that since they are designed for a native speaking audience at a certain age, their linguistic level may be too dif‐ ficult for the learners at the same age. Therefore, in the foreign language class‐ room texts are often used that address a slightly younger readership. There is usually a mismatch between the learners’ intellectual development and their linguistic competence in this context. This mismatch requires careful selection decisions in order not to injure the students’ sense of maturity. 3.2 (Children’s) Literature and Cultural and Global Learning The potential of literature for learning about cultures has been emphasised by many scholars (Alter, 2015; Bredella, 1993, 1996; Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild, 2010a; Nünning & Surkamp, 2006; Surkamp & Nünning, 2009; Thaler, 2008b). Literary texts in general are considered to offer many op‐ portunities for engaging with diversity. Sometimes scholars award children’s fiction particular potentials for cultural learning. According to Lütge (2013, p. 97) “[c]hildren’s literature often challenges and transcends the binary oppo‐ sition of ‘self ’ and ‘other’, thus providing an enormous educational potential that can be exploited for the foreign language classroom”. Depending on their theoretical background, the scholars in the field base their arguments on dif‐ ferent perspectives. In the 1990s, in foreign language literature didactics, scholars primarily ar‐ gued from a hermeneutic stance. Bredella (1993) pointed to the important role literature plays in the process of understanding the other (Fremdverstehen; see Chapter 2.3). According to him, fiction teaches the reader to see the world from different perspectives. This happens in his view through a dialectic process in which the reader becomes aware of both similarities with and differences be‐ 3.2 (Children’s) Literature and Cultural and Global Learning 65 <?page no="66"?> tween ‘the self ’ and ‘the other’. Various other scholars also argue similarly and emphasise the importance of Perspektivenwechsel [change of perspectives] and Perspektivenübernahme [adoption of perspectives] (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Freitag-Hild, 2010a; Nünning, 2001; Rauer, 1997; Schinschke, 1995; Schubert, 2013). As already discussed in Chapter 2.3, the argument that differences may be overcome through changes of perspectives is often, however, viewed rather critically (Eckerth & Wendt, 2003a; Fäcke, 2003, 2006; Hunfeld, 1991, 1992b). The concept of Fremdverstehen is considered to contribute to the perpetuation of dichotomies and to not take power hierarchies into account. As of late, scholars increasingly translate postmodern or postcolonial thoughts into literature didactics. Wintersteiner (2006a, 2006b) laid the founda‐ tions for transcultural literary didactics in German didactics. Against the back‐ ground of globalisation and postcolonialism, he pleads for a shift from a national education to education for a solidary global community. Transcultural literary didactics makes an aesthetic contribution to such an education, he argues: Ziel transkultureller Literaturdidaktik ist es, einen spezifisch ästhetischen Beitrag zu einer Erziehung für eine solidarische Weltgesellschaft zu leisten. Sie begreift sich als Bestandteil globalen Lernens, mit Hinblick und unter Nutzung der besonderen Mö‐ glichkeiten der Literatur. Sie situiert sich im Rahmen eines Bildungskonzepts, das Differenz akzeptiert und auf ihr gründet, nicht im Sinne multikultureller Beliebigkeit, sondern bezogen auf ein universelles Wertsystem, das Respekt vor der Verschieden‐ heit, d. h. vor der Andersheit des Anderen, zum zentralen Programm macht und bereit ist, die notwendigen Auseinandersetzungen, die daraus resultieren, zu akzeptieren und zu führen. [It is the aim of transcultural literary didactics to provide a specifically aesthetic contribution to education for a solidary world society. It should be under‐ stood as a part of global learning with reference to and through the use of special possibilities provided by literature. It is located within an educational framework which accepts difference and is grounded in it, not in a sense of multicultural arbi‐ trariness but with reference to a universal system of values that puts the respect for diversity, i.e. the otherness of the others, at the centre and is prepared to accept and lead the inevitably arising debates.] (2006a, p. 138; my translation) A central aspect of his approach is the respect for diversity. Wintersteiner holds that hybridity should not be regarded as something exceptional but rather as something normal. It should be represented in both the literary texts and methods used in the classroom, he argues, pleading for a “Poetik der Verschie‐ denheit [poetics of diversity]” (2006a). Similarly, in TEFL , Hallet (2002) promotes an intertextual approach to ELT . He is of the opinion that there is always a multitude of texts required to represent culture(s). In a postmodern manner, he 3 Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom 66 <?page no="67"?> refers to the foreign language classroom as a hybrid space of discourses in which meaning is created through a “Spiel der Texte [game of texts]” (see title of the book Fremdsprachendidaktik als Spiel der Texte und Kulturen). Scholars have also repeatedly pointed to the need for an extension of the canon. The content of FLT should do justice to the diachronic, geographic and cultural diversity of the target language, they argue. Fäcke (2006) and Freitag-Hild (2010a) plead for an integration of postcolonial and hybrid texts, i.e. sub-Saharan African texts and fictions of migrations. Alter (2015) stresses that the texts should go beyond national and ethnic otherness. According to her, the realistic fiction about multicultural characters which is commonly used in the EFL classroom rather reinforces stereotypes than deconstructs them. She argues for the integration of texts that talk also about other aspects of otherness (e.g. sexual orientation, gender identity, religion) and that “do not limit multi‐ cultural protagonists to mere problem-identities but which depict multicultural protagonists who experience fantastic adventures for their own sake” (ibid., p. 17). Furthermore, scholars (Alter, 2012; Bland, 2012; Bland & Strotmann, 2014; Hammer, 2012b) also point to the potentials of fiction for global learning. They suggest fiction on global issues such as organ donation, cancer, environment issues, war, etc. for classroom use. According to Alter (2012, p. 8), “global liter‐ ature” may both give insights into a specific culture but also into issues that appear across geographic and language borders, such as grief, sickness and pov‐ erty. She considers particularly “global children’s fiction” as suitable for giving an insight into worlds which are different and appear foreign: Den jungen Lesern begegnen in den Erzählungen Protagonisten, die sich in einem gleichen Lebensabschnitt befinden, die eigentlich ähnliche Erlebnisse, Träume und Ängste haben; die sich dann aber auf Grund ihrer dennoch besonderen Situation mit ganz anderen Themen und Bürden auseinandersetzen müssen. [Young readers en‐ counter protagonists in the narratives who are in the same stage of life and have similar experiences, dreams and fears but because of their specific situation they have to deal with completely different issues and problems.] (Ibid.; my translation) Similarly, Bland (2013, p. 114) considers “discussing fundamentally serious is‐ sues with the aid of children’s literature rewarding and satisfying for pre-adult readers”. She points to the importance of an apprenticeship in critical reading in a postmodern age: The growing lack of belief or confidence in metanarratives […] demands a balancing opportunity for empowerment through education, specifically through a literature apprenticeship, to read the world critically, constructively and purposefully, with the 3.2 (Children’s) Literature and Cultural and Global Learning 67 <?page no="68"?> pedagogical promise of being able to influence outcomes at least to some extent and therefore have choices in life. (Ibid., p. 111-112) Drawing on the first Oxfam principle of global education “asking questions and developing critical thinking skills”, she suggests various texts that deal with race, class, gender, ecocritical issues and human rights for use in the EFL classroom (ibid., pp. 219-253). Having looked into only benefits of literary texts for cultural and global learning so far, a turn to problematic aspects is now required. Despite the various potentials literary texts offer, the use of such in the context of cultural or global learning also carries various inherent risks. The danger of contrastive herme‐ neutics, in which ‘the other’ is excluded or stigmatised, has already been ela‐ borated on in Chapter 2. In the context of using literary texts for cultural or global learning, the risk of the functionalization of literature also needs to be pointed out. Fiction is art and should not be mistaken for a supplier of factional information; its literary value always has to be acknowledged. In fact, the po‐ tentials of literary texts in the foreign language classroom go far beyond pro‐ viding an insight into regional studies. As O’Sullivan and Rösler (2002, p. 81) state, literary texts sind keine sekundären Sachtexte, sondern tragen gerade auf der nicht-kognitiven Ebene dadurch, dass sie Perspektivenwechsel, Empathie usw. ermöglichen, auf be‐ sondere Weise zum Sprach- und Kulturerwerb bei. [are no secondary non-fiction texts but contribute particularly on the non-cognitive level in a special way to learning about language and culture, by enabling changes of perspectives, empathy, etc.] (My translation) They are often much more successful in touching upon the readers’ emotions than non-fictional texts. The Ugandan writer Monica Arac de Nyeko (Patel, 2009) points out in an interview: “Fiction […] often unpacks the bigger and more complex issues, by giving these collective memories a human and much more intimate face and story”. Still, when literary texts are used in the classroom, they serve a certain function and, therefore, “it is rather difficult to see literature in ELT beyond functional contexts” (Alter, 2015, p. 68). In addition to this, fiction should not be equated with reality. Even literary texts written in a realistic mode do not mirror a given reality but instead rather create it. According to Iser (1971, p. 70) “no literary text relates to contingent reality as such, but to models or concepts of reality, in which contingencies and complexities are reduced to meaningful structure”. Literary texts are, therefore, not entirely mimetic; they may reflect upon reality but can also change it. As Gohrisch and Grünkemeier (2012b, p. 15) state, literary texts “juxtapose and ne‐ 3 Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom 68 <?page no="69"?> gotiate conflicting perceptions of realities, interweaving them with desires and even utopian ideas”. When considering the implications of fiction with regard to cultural and global learning, a further key aspect is text selection. Alter (2015, p. 77) points to the responsibility of teachers and educators in this context. They not only need to choose interesting reading materials which motivate the students to read but also keep in mind questions of ethics: What if a teacher decides to develop students’ identity by teaching literature that a surrounding community may consider to be harmful, for example when it demonizes or praises homosexual relationships, neutrally presents teenage pregnancy, fosters revolutionary political ideas or other values that some see as immoral or unethical? Although I acknowledge this responsibility and reflect upon my own text se‐ lection in Chapter 4.1, I consider it as important that students in their appren‐ ticeship in critical cultural literacy (Bland, 2013) increasingly develop judgement about the argumentation of a text. Instead of over-emphasising the pre-selection of reading material, the students should, therefore, be presented as much as possible with a multitude of perspectives so that they are given the opportunity to form their own opinions. This opportunity may be provided by an extensive reading project. The key principles of extensive reading will be explained in the following. 3.3 Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom Extensive reading, also referred to as pleasure reading (Mikulecky, 1990), fun-reading (Hermes, 1984) or free voluntary reading (Krashen, 1993) is recog‐ nised as one of the reading styles applied in the EFL classroom. Bamford and Day (2004, p. 1), experts in the field of extensive reading, define it as follows: Extensive reading is an approach to language teaching in which learners read a lot of easy material in the new language. They choose their own reading material and read it independently of the teacher. They read for general, overall meaning, and they read for information and enjoyment. They are encouraged to stop reading if the material is not interesting or if it is too difficult. They are also encouraged to expand their reading comfort zone - the range of material that can be read easily with confidence. Following this and similar definitions (Davis, 1995; Renandya, 2007), frequent reading of a large quantity of text(s) is at the heart of extensive reading. Fur‐ thermore, in extensive reading projects, reading is conducted for the sake of 3.3 Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom 69 <?page no="70"?> pleasure. In contrast to intensive reading, extensive reading does not aim at close analysis but rather at a global understanding of the texts. Day and Bamford (1998, pp. 7-8) summarise the key principles of extensive reading in the following list: 1. Students read as much as possible, perhaps in and definitely out of the classroom. 2. A variety of materials on a wide range of topics is available so as to en‐ courage reading for different reasons and in different ways. 3. Students select what they want to read and have the freedom to stop reading material that fails to interest them. 4. The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding. These purposes are determined by the nature of the material and the interests of the student. 5. Reading is its own reward. There are few or no follow-up exercises after reading. 6. Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of the stu‐ dents in terms of vocabulary and grammar. Dictionaries are rarely used while reading because the constant stopping to look up words makes fluent reading difficult. 7. Reading is individual and silent, at the students’ own pace, and, outside class, done when and where the student chooses. 8. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower as students read books and other materials they find easily understandable. 9. Teachers orient students to the goals of the program, explain the meth‐ odology, keep track of what each student reads, and guide students in getting the most out of the program. 10. The teacher is a role model of a reader for the students - an active member of the classroom reading community, demonstrating what it means to be a reader and the rewards of being a reader. Although this list is commonly referred to in publications in the field, it has to be noted that the application of extensive reading usually varies according to the context in which the individual project is conducted; not all the principles are always followed. I also adapted my extensive reading project design to the specific needs of my study (see Chapter 5.5). Nevertheless, the key principles of extensive reading as listed in the literature require further elaboration. The essence of the extensive reading approach is that students read a lot in the foreign language. Therefore, in extensive reading projects students need to be exposed to a large amount of reading material. They should be allowed to 3 Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom 70 <?page no="71"?> 3 Day and Bamford refer to Krashen’s (1985) input hypothesis at this point, in which “i” stands for the student’s current level of acquisition. According to Krashen, in order for further acquisition to take place, the comprehensible input has to be slightly above “i”, which he expresses as “i+1”. In contrast to this, Day and Bamford speak of “i-1”, meaning that the reading material in extensive reading should include vocabulary and syntactic structures that are primarily slightly below the reader’s level of language acquisition. select their own reading material according to their own interests. Depending on the individual design of the project, pre-selection of texts on the part of the teacher or researcher, may, however, be necessary. For Day and Bamford (1998, p. 53) interesting content and appropriate linguistic level are major criteria when selecting suitable reading material for an extensive reading project. They point out that for the purposes of developing reading fluency and confidence, second language stu‐ dents need to read interesting, understandable materials that are basically at the i minus 1 level, 3 that is, below their linguistic ability. They therefore plead for the use of both language learning literature and child‐ ren’s fiction in extensive reading projects. Since extensive reading requires students to read a lot, students need to do a substantial part of it outside the classroom. In order to be effective, however, time should also be set aside for students to read extensively in class. Harris and Sipay (1990, p. 656, qtd. in Day and Bamford 1998, p. 90) raise the following question: “If we do not demonstrate that reading is a worthwhile activity by providing school time, how can we expect children to value reading? ” By giving students time in class to read extensively, value is placed on the activity of reading. In addition, the opportunity is created to assist students in their reading process. Therefore, reading lessons or phases of silent reading are often part of extensive reading programmes. It is debated whether pre-/ while-/ post-activities during the extensive reading process are useful or rather distract from the pleasure of reading. For Krashen (1993, p. 23), reading alone provides the necessary input for language learning: “Reading is the only way, the only way [sic] we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advance grammar, and the only way we become good spellers”. He does not consider output to have any effect on learners’ ability. Day and Bamford (1998, p. 140) mention no or very few follow-up activities as one of the key principles of extensive reading. Reading should be considered its own reward, they argue: “Ideally, […] no postreading work should be required, the act of reading being its own reward. Students read and that is all” (ibid.). Other scholars, however, also point to the importance of 3.3 Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom 71 <?page no="72"?> follow-up activities in extensive reading programmes. In their review of Day & Bamford’s Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom, Renandya, Ja‐ cobs and Yu (1998, p. 189) criticise the authors for downplaying the importance of follow-up activities and state: “We agree that students should see reading as a rewarding experience in and of itself, but we feel that postreading activities have an important role in ER [extensive reading]”. They consider follow-up activities particularly helpful for readers who are not yet very experienced. A central principle of extensive reading is learner autonomy and, therefore, extensive reading may be considered especially productive in the context of constructivist approaches (see also Chapter 2.6). In an extensive reading project, the teacher or educator withdraws from her / his role as an instructor and acts as a guide on the side instead. This stepping back on the part of the teacher / educator strengthens the autonomy and self-responsibility of the learners. By providing students with a variety of different texts, a rich learning environment is created for them, which constructivists consider essential for the students’ process of meaning construction. In addition to this, extensive reading is an approach that takes the individuality of every student into account, as the students are given the opportunity to choose the texts according to their own level of language proficiency and interest. In this way, the students’ sub‐ jective needs may be catered for. Extensive reading can also be linked to the discourse of postmodernism (see Chapter 2.4) and intertextuality in the foreign language classroom (see Hallet, 2002, 2007; Genetsch & Hallet, 2010). According to Hallet, teaching approaches should reflect the complexity and diversity of discourses appropriately. He therefore pleads for a combination of texts in foreign language teaching: Die Bedeutung eines Textes erschließt sich nicht aus diesem selbst heraus, sondern im Zusammenspiel mit anderen Texten und Diskursen. Ein Text wird aus dem Blick‐ winkel anderer Texte beleuchtet, seine Merkmale und Besonderheiten, darunter in‐ haltliche wie gender, race und class, aber auch strukturelle und erzählerische treten erst im Vergleich mit anderen Texten deutlich hervor. [The meaning of a text does not become accessible by itself, but in the interplay with other texts and discourses. A text is illuminated by the perspective from another text, its features and characteristics, including content-related aspects such as gender, race and class, but also structural and narrative only become apparent clearly when they are compared with other texts.] (2002, p. 99; my translation) Following Hallet, the limitations of single literary texts have repeatedly been pointed out in the context of cultural learning: “As each text only entails a limited insight to a culture, it only offers a single representation to which counter-rep‐ 3 Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom 72 <?page no="73"?> resentations can often be found” (Alter, 2015, p. 45). It can be expected that the framework of an extensive reading project that calls for the integration of var‐ ious texts and, therefore, may include different representations and counter-rep‐ resentations is particularly fruitful for cultural and global learning. 3.3 Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom 73 <?page no="74"?> 1 During a six-month study visit in Uganda in 2014, I conducted interviews with nine Ugandan writers of children’s fiction and a group interview with members of the UCWIA. Information gained through these interviews is integrated in this chapter. 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature Now that a general overview of theoretical discourse in foreign language di‐ dactics concerning culture and literature in teaching has been given, a turn to‐ wards the literary basis on which I ground my study is needed. In order to set the framework for this study, first of all, a definition of Ugandan children’s fiction is attempted. The history of this literature is then elaborated on and selected genres, topics and texts are presented. The focus is hereby put on folk‐ tales on the one hand and texts in a realistic mode on the other hand, i.e. short stories and novellas of growing up, of school, about HIV / AIDS , the girl child and child soldiers in the war in Northern Uganda. 1 4.1 Towards a Definition of Ugandan Children’s Literature The definition of Ugandan children’s literature is approached with two ques‐ tions in mind: 1) What is children’s literature? and 2) What is Ugandan litera‐ ture? In a second step, reflections on both questions will be brought together to arrive at a working definition for the present study. This approach seems im‐ portant as both categories are not clear-cut by themselves and the controversy sourrounding these definitions gives insights into the complexity of the speci‐ fication and demarcation of the literary body that forms the basis of this study. It is by no means easy to arrive at a definition of children's literature (see Reynolds, 2011, p. 2). As Nodelman (2008, p. 136) notes [i]t is both the simplest and the most complex question we can ask: What is children’s literature? The answers to this question are many and various. There are not quite as many answers as there are researchers, but it is a close call. The most common way to define the term is to describe it as literature that is “intended for, or widely read by, children” (Pearson, 2011, p. 3). This definition, however, first of all requires a uniform understanding of childhood. Who is a <?page no="75"?> 2 Many (international) agreements such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN General Assembly, 1990) and the African Charter of Rights of the Child (Organi‐ sation of African Unity, 1999) define a child as someone below the age of eighteen. Ugandan law, the Children Act commenced in August 1997, also uses this definition. Youth, on the other hand, is a socially constructed phase between childhood and adult‐ hood which, according to the United Nations (2013), refers to the age group 15 to 24. In Uganda, however, the definition of youth differs slightly. Usually young people between the age of 18 and 30 are considered to be youth in Uganda (see Bell, 2007, p. 190; also said in the interview with UCWIA on March 27, 2014). Taking this into account and also the fact that Ugandan publishing houses commonly do not differentiate between children’s and youth / young adult fiction, I include youth / young adult fiction, as it is understood in the West, under the rubric of children’s fiction in my study. child? When does childhood begin and end? There are different concepts of childhood around the world. 2 Moreover, it has to be taken into consideration that children read books which are written for them but books which are written for adults also at times attract a younger readership. The fact that even adult readers increasingly read books such as Harry Potter or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which were originally published as children’s literature, further complicates the issue. This crossover literature is very difficult to classify. Difficulties in classification also apply to Ugandan children’s fiction. The messages Ugandan children’s songs and stories convey frequently cannot be deciphered by children, but are still enjoyed by them. Those songs and stories, therefore, also address a cross‐ over audience (Mushengyezi, 2008, pp. 246-247). Taking these reflections into account, it becomes apparent that it is very difficult to speak of a “single, co‐ herent, fixed body of works that makes up children’s literature” (Reynolds, 2011, p. 2). To approach the second question, the definition of ‘African literature’ needs to be looked into first as the complexity of this definition, i.e. its importance for the pan-African movement on the one hand and the questionability of homog‐ enising tendencies on the other (see also Chapter 1), also affect the definitions of ‘national’ literatures. Amongst scholars it is highly controversial which lit‐ erary works can be counted as African. In his essay “The African Writer and the English Language”, Chinua Achebe lists several questions concerning the defi‐ nition of African literature, which have been raised at the Makerere Conference of African Writers of English Expression in 1952: Was it literature produced in Africa or about Africa? Could African literature be on any subject, or must it have an African theme? Should it embrace the whole continent or South of the Sahara, or just Black Africa? And then the question of language. Should 4.1 Towards a Definition of Ugandan Children’s Literature 75 <?page no="76"?> 3 See also Taiye Selasi’s (2013) talk “African Literature Doesn’t Exist” (quoted in Chapter 1 of this study). it be in indigenous African languages or should it include Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Afrikaans, etc? (1975, p. 55) The writers who participated in the conference failed to agree on a satisfactory definition and up to today no definition for African literature has been estab‐ lished. According to Achebe (ibid., p. 56), it is impossible to “cram African lit‐ erature into a small, neat definition”. 3 The Ugandan writer and literary critic, Austin Bukenya (2000, p. x), comes up with the following working definition for Ugandan literature: “Ugandan Literature is literature written in Uganda by Ugandans, in any of the languages used in Uganda, about Ugandan topics and with genuinely Ugandan concerns”. He then, however, deconstructs it step by step. According to him, this definition excludes oral literature, literary texts that are written by Ugandans outside of Uganda or texts by writers who were not born Ugandan but lived and worked in the country for most of their life. In addition, Bukenya talks about the problem of determining the genuineness of Ugandan topics (ibid., pp. x-xi). Achebe’s and Bukenya’s elaborations illustrate that ‘continent’ and also ‘nation’ can be considered questionable categories for literature. Nevertheless, to escape tendencies of homogenising ‘Africa’, and when focusing on Ugandan literature as a counter-discourse to Western litera‐ ture about Uganda, the adherence to the categorisation of literature as ‘Ugandan’ cannot be completely avoided in my study. The questions which were raised at the Makerere Conference and Bukenya’s reflections may also be applied to African / Ugandan children’s literature: Does it only include literature that is produced on the African continent / in Uganda and written for children who are born and live there or also texts written outside Africa / Uganda for an international readership? According to the Nigerian children’s literature critic Fayose (1991, p. 74), African children’s literature is a literary creation which draws its subject matter from the African world view and which is written in a language and style the African child can comprehend. It must be seen as promoting African culture and must enable the child or young adult to understand and appreciate his or her environment better and it must give him or her some pleasure. In the context of concepts such as hybridity and transculturality, the existence of an “African world view”, “African child” or “African culture” may be perceived as dubious (see also Selasi, 2013). Still, it can be argued that many literary texts for children concerned with Africa rather represent a Western perspective on 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 76 <?page no="77"?> the continent. As Nancy Schmidt remarks in her study of Children’s Fiction about Africa (1981), many of the books about Africa for children are written by “Eu‐ roamerican” writers and are also addressed at a “Euroamerican” readership. This is still true today (see Chapter 4.3). Literature for children or young adults about Uganda by writers based in Western countries includes, for example, Page McBrier’s Beatrice’s Goat (2001), Bernard Ashley’s The Bush (2008), and Daniel Lafrance’s War Brothers: The Graphic Novel (2013). There is also a number of children’s books which deal with the African continent by German writers, written and published in German (for example In Afrika war ich nie allein by Marie-Thérèse Schins, 2001). According to Maddy and MacCann (2009, p. 13), many of these fictional texts about Africa, written and published by writers and publishing houses based in the Global North, “extend centuries of myth-making about Africa as a ‘dark place’”. Other texts portray Africa as an exotic place, full of adventure (see Chapter 4.3). This Western-derived literature about Africa is the literature which is mainly available in libraries and bookshops in Germany and therefore students are usually primarily exposed to this type of texts. Written literature (not oral) for children by writers based in countries on the African continent is a rather new phenomenon, which started in the 1960s. In the last few years, however, the number of publishing houses and writers in African countries has increased immensely and, therefore, there are also many children’s texts written and published by writers and publishing houses on the African continent today. Furthermore, in the age of globalisation where national boundaries are constantly crossed, writers and readers with African roots live in countries all around the world and societies on the African continent are also multicultural. There are writers with Western backgrounds who spend much of their lifetime in African countries and tell their stories from wherever they are. Barbara Kimenye, a British-Ugandan author, is such an example of a hybrid writer who describes herself as both grounded in a Ugandan and a British cul‐ ture. Her novels, despite addressing an East-African readership, also include features of British boarding school stories (see Chapter 4.4.2). Luisa Natiwi, a Ugandan writer who now lives in Hamburg, Germany, wrote and published her first children’s book set in Uganda in German and so clearly addresses it to a German readership (Dr. Limilim, der Urwalddoktor, 2013). These contemplations show that it is very difficult to propose clear charac‐ teristics for a definition of Ugandan children’s fiction given that it is a rather complex issue with various problematic aspects, particularly involving different understandings of childhood and the concept of transculturality. For an inclu‐ sion and further analysis in my study, I selected 18 texts that are set in Uganda and written and published for young readers. Since I base my study on a wide 4.1 Towards a Definition of Ugandan Children’s Literature 77 <?page no="78"?> 4 Furthermore, I agree with Attikpoé (2006, p. 69) that the question is not “whether or not an African is better qualified to write about African conditions than others”. The question rather is whether writers from other backgrounds “have the will [and also the knowledge; my note] to change the outdated clichés and social perceptions based on colonial discourse”. In this context, it should also be noted that not all the narratives by African / Ugandan writers are free of stereotypes and colonial misconceptions. Some of the writers may have internalised colonial perspectives since they have been socialised in a society where Western values and traditions were often regarded as superior. As a white Western scholar I do, however, not regard myself qualified to pass judgements on this aspect. concept of culture, the nationality / Ugandan background of the writers of the texts was not decisive in my text selection process. 4 However, in order to provide the students in Germany with counter-representations of Western discourse, I placed particular emphasis on the criterion of distribution and only chose texts that are (also) published and read by children in Uganda. During my study stay in Uganda, I looked for the texts in bookshops and libraries and was recom‐ mended titles by students, teachers and the writers that I interviewed. Besides this, the relevance of the texts for the age group of 14to 16-year-olds and the level of linguistic difficulty of the texts, i.e. their suitability for learners of the English language at intermediate level (A2-B1) was decisive for text selection. Furthermore, in my selection process I drew on criteria by Genetsch and Hallet (2010), who suggest exposing students to a multitude of different texts that both complement and also contradict one another, thus entailing content-related ties and presenting multiple perspectives on an issue (see also Chapter 2.6). There‐ fore, I chose texts by different writers that are all set and read in Uganda but are concerned with various topics and / or deal with the same topic in different ways for inclusion in the reading project. 4.2 History of Ugandan Children’s Literature The analysis of the texts that were chosen for integration in the extensive reading project will be preceded by an overview of the (pre-)colonial history of literature produced for and / or consumed by children in Uganda. Before the 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 78 <?page no="79"?> 5 Uganda as a country was created by the British. In 1894, the British ‘protectorate’ was established in Buganda, the most powerful kingdom in the region which covered a large part of present day Uganda (Mutibwa, 1992, p. 2). Theoretically, the status of ‘protec‐ torate’, implying a degree of self-determination, should have meant different conse‐ quences for Uganda than for neighbouring Kenya, which was made a colony. However, the colonial influence in Uganda was very strong as well. The British established “a system of administration later known as indirect rule by which Britain was to govern Buganda through Buganda’s own institutions” (ibid., p. 5) Uganda was under British rule for almost 70 years. In 1962, Uganda was officially declared independent. 6 The term ‘oral literature’ is frequently applied to texts of this type (see Bukenya et al., 1995; Finnegan, 1970, Kaschula, 2001) but it is contested due to its self-contradictory nature of referring to the spoken mode on the one hand and the written mode on the other. To deal with this contradiction the Ugandan scholar Pio Zirimu introduced the term ‘orature’. According to Ngũgĩ (2007, p. 4), he intended in this way “to counter the tendency to see the arts communicated orally and received aurally as an inferior or a lower rung in the linear development of literature”. As both terms are commonly applied in the Ugandan context, I use them interchangeably in this study. arrival of the Europeans in Uganda, 5 young people in Uganda enjoyed texts that were oral in nature. They consisted of folktales, myths, songs, riddles and prov‐ erbs which were passed by word of mouth. 6 Missionaries set up the first formal schools in the country in the end of the 19 th century and taught the children in Uganda how to read and write (Ssekamwa & Lugumba, 2001, p. 2). This marked the beginning of the consumption of written literature by children in Uganda. Orature was denigrated by the colonisers; instead literature was read in Ugandan schools which was prescribed as suitable by the Europeans. Most of the books which were read and studied by young people in Uganda before in‐ dependence were imported from Britain. Children in Uganda could not easily relate to these texts and were rather alienated by them. Emenyonu (1974, p. 47) remarks for the Nigerian context: Before 1960 the Nigerian child read nothing but British literature, and he had to be left to figure out what was meant by Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and the Thames. The poems he was forced to read and memorize talked about bleak and chilly mid-winter, snow flakes [sic], men who galloped by whenever the moon and stars are out, great ports and swarming cities, and of course the Pied Piper - subjects and images which conveyed no meaning and no feeling to the average Ni‐ gerian child in his natural environment. In the colonial era, it was mainly missionaries who collected and wrote down African folktales and children’s stories. Rosetta Gage Bakerville, for example, published The King of the Snakes and Other Folk-Lore Stories from Uganda (1922) and The Flame Tree and other Folk-Lore Stories from Uganda (1925). These stories 4.2 History of Ugandan Children’s Literature 79 <?page no="80"?> 7 The interview was conducted on July 9, 2014 in Kampala. were, however, mainly addressed at a European readership and not specifically meant for children. Colonial stories of that type often presented Africa contro‐ versially; both as dark and dangerous but also as an exotic paradise, a place full of wildlife and adventure (Khorana, 1994, p. xiv). African people were frequently stereotyped and denigrated in this literature: “In children’s fiction, even adult Africans are portrayed as childish or as grotesque caricatures of human beings; they are irresponsible and fearful, and they take childish glee in trinkets and toys” (ibid., p. xviii). White characters, on the other hand, were usually presented as superior. When those books were brought to African countries and used in schools, the children who read these stories were not only alienated by them but also induced to think of their own culture as minor and themselves as ‘other’. European publishers also started to publish for African children during that time. Many of these texts comprised “simply European literature in special school editions with vocabulary lists and questions” (Schmidt, 1981, p. 21). They carried “a strong moral message from an alien value system” (ibid.). European missionaries and teachers used them to ‘europeanise’ African children. The books were intended as tools to improve literacy on the continent and also as an instruction aid to teach children about Christianity (ibid., p. 23). Publishing for children in African countries started after their independence, in the 1960s and 1970s when a series of seminars and conferences were held throughout Africa to address the problems of colonial bias in school curricula and textbooks; to develop relevant classroom materials; to publish trade books with a suitable African content; to write in African languages; and to determine the role of national governments in promoting and assisting a children’s book industry. (Khorana, 1994, p. xxx) During that time European publishing houses such as Oxford University Press, Heinemann and Macmillan set up offices in Uganda and published the first children’s texts by Ugandans. Nevertheless, even during that time children in Uganda mainly read texts that were imported from Western countries, as became clear in the interviews with writers who grew up in the country during that time: • When I was growing up, most of the books were in English and were about white people, Enid Blyton and all those other books. (Baingana, 2014) 7 • And the English stories the teacher used to read to us were not written by Ugandan writers. I cannot recall any story we read at school which was written 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 80 <?page no="81"?> 8 The interview was conducted on July 8, 2014 in Kampala. 9 The interview was conducted on May 21, 2014 in Kampala. 10 The Uganda Children Writers and Illustrators Association was founded in 1998 (regis‐ tered 1999) by the writer Eva Barongo. The association links up writers and illustrators of children’s literature in Uganda. Its aim is to promote the reading and writing culture in Uganda. The association has a small publishing unit and it regularly runs reading tents and workshops in the country (Barongo in an interview with me on April 29, 2014). by a Ugandan writer, not even by an African writer. We just heard stories such as Cinderella and so on. They were just Western stories. (Namukasa, 2014) 8 • When I was young, I was reading stories from abroad. Cinderella, you know the classics from abroad. “Snow White”. And also stories of Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton. All of the books, I think, were from writers from abroad. Because that was what was there. (Ranzo, 2014) 9 In the late 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, local publishing houses also started to emerge (e.g. Fountain Publishers, MK Publishers) and they put special em‐ phasis on the publication of literature for young people. Today also literary NGO s (Strauhs, 2013) such as the Ugandan Women Writers’ Association, FEM‐ RITE , (see Chapter 4.4.2) and the Uganda Children Writers and Illustrators As‐ sociation ( UCWIA ) 10 are building a platform for women writers and writers for young readers to contribute to the Ugandan literature scene. Up to today, international organisations and also the Ugandan government have had a strong impact on the publishing industry in Uganda. They frequently commission writers of children’s literature to write about certain topics, e.g. HIV / AIDS , and so influence them in their writing. Moreover, they are involved in the distribution of books in the country. In the following, neo-imperialistic tendencies in African / Ugandan literature are explored, after which I will discuss postcolonial literature. 4.3 Neo-imperialism, Postcolonialism and Ugandan Children’s Literature Imperialistic ideologies in children’s literature about Africa have still not dis‐ appeared today. As Edward Said (1993, p. 9) states in Culture and Imperialism “[i]n our time, direct colonialism has largely ended; imperialism […] [however] lingers where it has always been, in a kind of general cultural sphere, as well as in specific political, ideological, economic, and social practices”. Children’s books in particular offer themselves for imperialist ideologies, Maddy and Mac‐ 4.3 Neo-imperialism, Postcolonialism and Ugandan Children’s Literature 81 <?page no="82"?> 11 Before, the term ‘neo-colonialist’/ ‘neo-colonialism’ was commonly used in this context. It was coined by Kwame Nkrumah in Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism (1965) and has been widely applied “to refer to any and all forms of control of the ex-colonies after political independence” (Ashcroft et al., 2013, p. 146). Increasingly, however, it is replaced by ‘neo-imperialism’ “to distinguish the ongoing control exer‐ cised over developing countries by a globalized capitalist economy often epitomized by the United States from earlier neo-colonialism” (ibid., p. 147). Cann (2009, p. 6) observe: “Children’s books retain their usefulness to the im‐ perialist because they greatly oversimplify some information and at the same time make it easy for children to internalize a well-dramatized, well-crafted set of ideas”. Various scholars, therefore, have examined contemporary children’s books that deal with Africa and discovered neo-imperialistic tendencies 11 (Attikpoé, 2006; Maddy & MacCann, 2009; Richards, 1989). The researchers hold that con‐ temporary novels such as A Girl Named Disaster (1996) by Nancy Farmer and Our Secret, Siri Aang (2004) by Cristina Kessler display stereotypes about Africa and Africans. Those books are often praised in Western countries, become best‐ sellers and are even awarded prestigious awards. But they portray Africa from a merely Western perspective and give their readers a false picture of the con‐ tinent by presenting stereotypes and misconceptions, the scholars criticise. Such wrong ideas about Africa portrayed in the children’s books of many Western writers include ‘dark continent’ mythologies, presentations of whites as superior, and degenerations of African customs and traditions. Even in the twenty-first century it is still true that, [t]he jungle-type environment is still a favourite setting for books on Africa. Even books published in the last decade prefer a premodern, rural, or primitive setting, while modern city life, with its inherent adjustment to postcolonial realities, is totally ignored. It is the mysterious, Edenic, or traditional Africa that Western writers try to evoke. (Khorana, 1994, p. xxi) Frequently, Western writers use children’s books about Africa to raise topics which are primarily of their own interest such as “environmental protection, Western feminism, disease prevention, law and order” (Maddy & MacCann, 2009, p. 18). Many of the books focus on development aid and the role Western development aid workers play in the ‘underdeveloped’ countries. They so depict societies which are in need of help from white people. Furthermore, international organisations often publish and distribute books by writers in African countries, also Uganda, on topics they consider educative for children. Sometimes writers 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 82 <?page no="83"?> 12 Oscar Ranzo’s book Saving Little Viola, which focuses on child sacrifice in Uganda, was, for example, published by the NGO Lively Minds in partnership with UNICEF and it is used in their child-sacrifice-prevention programme (interview with Ranzo on May 21, 2014). Rose Rwakasisi (interview on May 21, 2014) talks about a seminar she attended before she wrote HIV / AIDS narratives and Violet Barungi (interview on April 28, 2014) mentions guidelines she was given by Macmillan publishers for the HIV / AIDS narratives. Doreen Baingana (interview on July 9, 2014) laments the NGO culture in publishing in Uganda: “Because of our NGO culture we write children’s books of how not to get HIV / AIDS, da, da, da, da. All the sort of NGO topics. Children surviving in war. Because that’s where the money is. But entertainment, fun (…) you can also learn from that. Or even if it’s a child in a war situation, make it fun - well, I don’t know if it can be fun - but make it an adventure story, he rescues someone or make it heroic. So, I think, again that’s where the money goes. There is no money for just mere enter‐ tainment”. are also given seminars and guidelines which instruct them in their writing. This may also be interpreted as a neo-imperialistic influence in children’s fiction. 12 Neo-imperialism becomes apparent in yet another sphere: Even today the practice of importing Western texts to Africa continues. International develop‐ ment organisations such as Book Aid International, located in the UK , work “in partnership with libraries in Africa providing books, resources and training to support an environment in which reading for pleasure, study and lifelong learning can flourish” (Book Aid International, 2015). The organisation further explains on its website that most of the books that are sent to African countries are donated by UK publishers: Our work would not be possible without the generous support of the UK publishing and book trade sector. Over 90 % of the books we send to our partners are donated by publishers and we work closely with our partners to understand their needs so that we can ensure the books we send are relevant and useful. (Ibid.) Taking into account that school libraries in African countries are gradually filling up with books by mainly UK -based publishing houses like that, which in the case of school books are oriented towards the school curricula in the UK , I argue, however, their relevance may be questioned. Also in libraries and book‐ shops in the Global North children’s books by African writers are still rare. It is mainly small publishing houses which publish literature by writers based on the African continent and translate it into other languages, for example German. There are only a few children’s books by African writers which have gained international attention: “So far in German speaking countries the most impor‐ tant book of an African author is Meja Mwangi’s Kariuki and His White Friend (1991), which in 1992 was awarded the German Youth Literature prize” (Braun‐ lein, 1997-1999, p. 46). 4.3 Neo-imperialism, Postcolonialism and Ugandan Children’s Literature 83 <?page no="84"?> 13 As already pointed out in Chapter 2.4, ‘postcolonial’ is not understood as a reference to a historical period (cf. post-independence) but in a conceptual sense in this study. Thus, much of the children’s fiction about Africa and also the distribution structures remain imperialistic in one way or another. Colonial misconceptions “continue to define Africa in the lives of Western schoolchildren” (Maddy & MacCann, 2009, p. 113). There is, however, an increasing amount of postcolonial African children’s literature that readers and educators can resort to. Before a closer insight into postcolonial Ugandan children’s literature is provided, a definition of the term ‘postcolonial’, particularly with reference to children’s fiction, is required. Boehmer (1995, p. 3) defines postcolonial literature as literature which “crit‐ ically scrutinizes the colonial relationship. It is writing that sets out in one way or another to resist colonialist perspectives”. Postcolonial 13 writing is often de‐ scribed as writing back to the colonisers, the oppressors. The postcolonial sub‐ jects, the formerly silenced, raise their voices, speak for themselves and so be‐ come heard and recognised. For Perry Nodelman (1992) and Jacqueline Rose (1984), children’s literature and its criticism, however, are always colonialist. Perry Nodelman constructs many parallels between Said’s Orientalism (1978; see Chapter 2.4) and fiction for children. In children’s literature, children are usually spoken for by adults, he argues. In analogy to Said, Nodelman thus de‐ scribes children’s literature as a study of ‘the other’ (1992, p. 29). Also according to Rose (1984, p. 10), “[t]here is no child behind the category ‘children’s fiction’, other than the one which the category itself sets in place, the one which it needs to believe is there for its own purposes”. She bases her line of argument on The Little White Bird (Barrie, 1902) but it may also be applied to other children’s literature. Mushengyezi (2008, p. 235), for example, questions whether there is really a child behind the category of oral Ugandan children’s literature: If these texts (as we presume) are performed for a child audience, why are they often dominated by adult themes, and why do they employ layered language that only adults can decipher? Do adults use children’s songs as an arena for playing out their own agendas? Other scholars, however, believe that children’s literature can also be postcolo‐ nial. For Bradford (2007, p. 7) the relationship between children and adults cannot be compared with that of Orientals and Orientalists: “children are always seen as occupying a state or stage that will lead to adulthood, whereas Orientals never transmute into Orientalists and are thus always and inescapably inferior”. She criticises that Nodelman does not take into consideration the question of 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 84 <?page no="85"?> 14 More than 30 different languages, falling into the language families of Bantu, Central Sudanic, Nilotic and Kuliak are spoken in Uganda. During the colonial era, English was introduced as the language of government and the educational system in Uganda. Upon independence in 1962, it remained the official language besides Kiswahili (Meierkord et al., 2016, pp. 20-24; Schneider, 2008, p. 286). The influence English had and still has in the education system and other parts of public life, also influenced the writing and publishing industry: English became the pre-eminent language of Ugandan literary practice. In recent years, however, increasingly also texts in other Ugandan languages are published (Meierkord et al., 2016, pp. 37-39). ‘race’ which is actually essential for postcolonial theory. McGillis (1997, p. 8), who also points to the contradiction of postcolonialism and children, sees the possibility of children’s literature being postcolonial as children’s books “rep‐ resent a challenge to the traditions of mainstream culture”. Introducing students at universities to children’s literature and making use of this literature in the foreign language classroom, may be evaluated as a postcolonial act itself since it contributes to the process of reconceiving the canon. In Khorana’s (2007, p. 17) view, postcolonial literature “speaks in multiple voices; it gives agency to and embraces all hitherto marginalized segments of the population—children, women, untouchables, and ethnic and racial minorities”. Taking these reflec‐ tions into account, literature which gives children in Uganda, who were for‐ merly often silenced, a voice and does not patronise them but provides them with the possibility to choose, to make decisions and to think critically, can be referred to as postcolonial. Many Ugandan writers after independence gave their attention to the Ugandan child. They wrote down oral tales and explored current topics that were of interest to the children in the country. Children in Uganda are the main characters in the narratives and the stories focus on young people’s issues. The literature does not only portray the children as victims of circumstances but also as powerful actors who make meaningful contributions to their society. Some of the topics Ugandan children’s literature deals with and selected titles that were chosen for the inclusion in the extensive reading project are presented in the next chapter. 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles Ugandan children’s literature can be differentiated into oral and written forms. Moreover, there is literature in different languages in Uganda; the majority of children’s literature is, however, written in English. 14 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 85 <?page no="86"?> 15 As already elaborated on in Chapter 3.2, literature does not mirror reality (see also Volkmann, 2010, p. 251). Since the texts reflect upon real life experiences of young people in Uganda, the mode they are written in may be described as realistic, however. 16 Magic realism describes thematic and structural characteristics of texts that place “the rational, linear world of Western realist fiction […] against alter / native narrative modes that expose the hidden and naturalized cultural formations on which Western narratives are based” (Ashcroft et al., 2013, p. 119). In the present study, I focus on written fiction in English for young people which comprises different genres. The biggest part of it is taken up by folktales and narratives in a realistic mode, 15 thus in the form of prose. There are few dramas and poems written for children in Uganda. The folktales contain many ‘fantastic’ and also ‘realistic’ elements and, therefore, share common elements with magic realism. 16 The narratives in a realistic mode are set in postcolonial Uganda and deal with different topics such as growing up, school, HIV / AIDS , the girl child and child soldiers. In the present chapter, different genres, topics and titles are discussed. For a further analysis and integration in my study the following 18 texts were selected: Folktales: • How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails (Rwakasisi, 2004) • The Baby in the Forest (Barungi, 2009) • The Adventurous Sisters (Okurut, 1999) • The Precious Calabash (Anywar, 2003) • The Jewels of Amuria (Ranzo, 2013) • A Testing of Strength (Bukenya, 1990) Fiction in a Realistic Mode • Cherished Dreams (Adyeeri, 1994) • “First Kiss” (Baingana, 2005a) • “The Hair Cut” (Lamwaka, 2010b) • Our Cousins from Abroad (Barungi, 2003) • Voice of a Dream (Namukasa, 2006) • Moses (Kimenye, 1968a) • Moses in Trouble (Kimenye, 1968b) • I Will Miss Mr Kizito (Sempebwa, 2005) • The Unfulfilled Dream (Ocwinyo, 2003) • “ JJ ” (Segawa, 2010) • I Will Not Fail (Kisubi, 2008) • Children of the Red Fields (Arac de Nyeko, 2005a) 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 86 <?page no="87"?> 4.4.1 Folktales In the precolonial era, literature in Uganda was oral and folktales made up an important part of oral literature (Otiso, 2006, p. 35). In times when formal schools did not exist, stories were told to educate children. Hence, orature is often de‐ scribed as a complete educational system which “helps one to develop as an individual and to become a positive member of society” (Bukenya, Wa-Gachanja, & Nandwa, 1995, p. 16). A large amount of postcolonial Ugandan children’s fic‐ tion revives the precolonial period and retells folktales for children. Since the tradition of narrating oral tales is in the process of declining, writers regard it as their responsibility to save these oral stories from extinction. Local Ugandan publishers such as Fountain Publishers and UCWIA , as well as African and Western publishing houses (e.g. East African Educational Publishers and Oxford University Press) “have worked to publish some folktales and use them as in‐ structional materials in primary schools” (Mushengyezi, 2013, p. xvi). Fountain Publishers, for example, has three different series in which folktales from all over Uganda are published: Our Heritage Series, Once upon a Time Series and Tales from the Past Series. Folktales in Uganda are written and read for various purposes. Through their often humorous nature, they entertain the young readers. But the folktales are also educative; different aspects of social life can be learnt by the children through the tales. The young readers are asked to work hard, to respect elders and girls are warned against advances of older men. Therefore, folktales are also didactic in nature. According to Bukenya and Wa-Gachanja (1995, p. 78), the moral of a folktale is, however, usually conveyed in an indirect, subtle way. It “only invites one towards the right path, but it does not compel or force one to follow that right path. It gives one the freedom to choose between right and wrong”. Furthermore, folktales are valued for sharing with children traditions and customs of different regions in Uganda. In the editor’s note on the back of the books of the Fountain Our Heritage Series, it is stated that they are also intended to educate children about Uganda’s rich cultural heritage. […] The stories come from different parts of the country so that they can widen the children’s knowledge of both the societies and the cultural values of the different peoples of Uganda. (Anywar, 2003) Folktales are universal and so are their major themes. They tell of magic, mon‐ sters and talking animals, and deal with values which are appreciated all around the world: honesty, friendship, hard work, cleverness, modesty, etc. Their uni‐ versal nature is also highlighted by the fact that Ugandan and German folktales resemble one another in many aspects. The content and plot of the folktale How 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 87 <?page no="88"?> 17 Ogres are “giants, demons and devils of all kinds [which] are always perpetuating evil. They are depicted as cruel and sadistic” (Nandwa & Bukenya, 1983, p. 55). They so present evil and destructive characters in society: “Ogres appear in many African folk‐ tales, always in pursuit of human beings and particularly so girls and women. The ogres, in their desire to corrupt, destroy and annihilate women, symbolise the nature of the warped, aggressive male” (Bukenya et al., 1995, p. 78). The German wolf stories, for example the ones collected by the Brothers Grimm (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood), may be compared to these ogre stories. Goats Lost Their Beatiful Tails, for example, may be compared with that of Der Wolf und die sieben Geißlein [The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids] and The Ad‐ venturous Sisters has much in common with the German folktale Frau Holle [Mother Holle]. However, since they are the stories of the people, passed on from generation to generation, folktales also give an insight into cultural particular‐ ities and different ways of living. According to Fayose (1995, pp. 26-27), “they uphold the ethics of the society from which they originate”. There are folktales with human characters, with animal characters and mon‐ sters (e.g. ogre stories) 17 in Uganda. Furthermore, there exist etiological (also explanatory or pourquoi tales) and trickster tales. Etiological tales are stories which try to explain “the origin of cultural traits and natural features” (Nandwa & Bukenya, 1983, pp. 77-78). They do this often in a humorous manner, not focusing on scientific facts. How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails (Rwakasisi, 2004), for example, purports to explain why goats in comparisons to sheep no longer have long tails. According to Rwakasisi’s story, the goats owe the loss of their beautiful tails to their naivety and trust in the sheep that were jealous of them and, therefore, betrayed them. Trickster tales feature a protagonist who is usually both cunning and foolish: They “have one central character, usually a wise trickster in animal shape. The trickster is both a creator and a clown. Sometimes he can create good things for his people, and at other times he makes incredible mischief ” (Bosma, 1992, p. 10). A Testing of Strength (Bukenya, 1990), a short Ugandan drama for children based on a folktale, may be referred to as a trickster tale; it focuses on Hare, the most important trickster figure in Ugandan literature. As small as he is, he beats the big and strong elephant and hippopot‐ amus with his wit. Characters such as Hare make folktales highly relevant for children. In terms of bodily strength children are usually the weak members of society who cannot cope with adults and thus they are often suppressed by them. Folktales, however, present a reversed world. They are an expression of the belief that the poor and the low human beings in the society can rise to high positions while the rich and those in power […] can fall and be destroyed. 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 88 <?page no="89"?> 18 ‘Muganda’ refers to a person from the kingdom of Buganda, one of the kingdoms in present day Uganda. The stories also indicate that wisdom will always outshine bodily strength and brute force. The brain is stronger than bodily size by far. (Bukenya et al., 1995, p. 87) Oral folktales from East Africa have a specific structure (Bukenya et al., 1995). This structure is frequently also transplanted onto the written English text. At the beginning of many folktales a problem or conflict is presented which has to be solved. In the process of solving the initial problem, other problems often come up for which solutions also have to be found. Hence, a folktale can be described as a “movement from conflict to resolution, a movement from a state of problems to a state in which problems are resolved” (ibid., pp. 65-66). More‐ over, in many folktales conflicts revolve around actions which follow each other in pairs for example obedience / disobedience, reward / punishment and good / evil. The characters also often appear in pairs and are contrasted to each other such as the senior / junior wife, good girl / disobedient girl, grand‐ mother / granddaughter, adult / child, young girl / ogre. Good behaviour is re‐ warded whereas bad behaviour is punished (ibid.). The folktale The Adventurous Sisters (Okurut, 1999) makes use of such a structure. There are two sisters in the story. Whereas Nyabucureera is good and humble, Nyabwangu is “loudmouthed and badly behaved” (ibid., p. 1). On their journey to the other side of the moun‐ tain, Nyabucureera shows great readiness to help whomever they meet on the way but Nyabwangu insults the creatures instead. On their way back home, when they meet the same creatures again, Nyabucureera is punished by them for her bad behaviour. This teaches her a lesson and she returns home a different person. Many Ugandan writers make use of different oral techniques in their folktales. They integrate, for example, chants and songs in the written texts. Those chants and songs involve the children who read the story in the narration process. They may shout or sing them out aloud and so become an active part of the story. In some of the folktales, the chants / songs appear in a language different from English. In The Baby in the Forest, for example, the baby / monster repeatedly asks: “Kusa ompekire ibaaki? (Why can’t you grind the millet with me on your back? )” (Barungi, 2009, p. 13). Other characteristic features of oral tales in Uganda are opening and closing formulae which involve the listeners. As Kizza (2010, p. 100) explains a Muganda 18 storyteller invites the audience to join in the storytelling with these words: olwatuuka ngambalabira. This is an invitation that catches the attention, be‐ 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 89 <?page no="90"?> cause literally translated it is ‘once upon a time I saw.’ After uttering what is clearly an incomplete statement, the storyteller stops. If the audience wants to know what the storyteller saw, they must acknowledge that they are paying attention and ready to hear and participate in the storytelling by replying: nobulabibwo (with your very own eyes). Then the storyteller can start narrating. Most of the translated folktales, which were written down for children, however, start and close with similar phrases as their Western counterparts such as “A long time ago” (Okurut, 1999, p. 1) and “they lived happily for many years” (Ranzo, 2013, p. 24). Ugandan folktales often talk about the past. They are frequently set in ancient times, before there was any technology and when the traditional value system was stronger. Therefore, some stories are criticised for propagating obsolete values such as unquestioned obedience to elders or gender stereotypes. Various Ugandan scholars (Kiyimba, 2005; Mushengyezi, 2013) condemn the portrayal of women in some Ugandan folktales: Many of the stories I collected (the ‘Njabala’ tale is a good example) depict women characters negatively. In other stories girls are presented as objects of male voyeurism, their only value being to be married off in exchange for cows and goats. The Nshemere story from Ankole narrated to me by Siriva Tinkamanyire depicts a village beauty who is all too grateful to give herself away to a man she barely knows. (Mushengyezi, 2013, p. xx) Also certain recently published tales for children include gender stereotypes. In The Jewels of Amuria (Ranzo, 2013), for example, the daughters, who are de‐ scribed as “fully-grown and ripe for marriage” (ibid., p. 4), are the objects of men’s desires. Their suitors perform different tasks and pay high dowries in order to get their hand in marriage. The girls’ perspectives are not described in the story. At the end of the folktale the chief hands the youngest daughter over to the herdsmen with the words “Aliyah is all yours” (ibid., p. 22). In folktales of this kind, girls are not presented as individuals in their own right. Beauty plays a very important role in their lives; it determines their future. As children they have to listen to their father and brothers and when they are married they have to obey their husbands. Not all folktales and their adaptations for children are, however, gender im‐ balanced. Many tales also portray strong female characters that beat men with their wisdom and wit. Moreover, some writers transfer the folktale to modern times and talk about issues only young people of today can relate to. In The Baby in the Forest (Barungi, 2009), for example, references to Bill Gates and computers are made. The Ugandan writer and children’s literature critic Aaron Mushen‐ 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 90 <?page no="91"?> 19 The interview was conducted on July 9, 2014 at Makerere University in Kampala. 20 A motorcycle taxi that is commonly found in Uganda. gyezi, pleads for a stronger acknowledgement of contemporary versions of folktales in an interview: 19 [t]raditional stories are constantly retold. Over time they acquire new motives and new structures. So, for example, in the traditional story you may have Hare going to visit his friend, Hyena, but in the modern version he may go on a BodaBoda  20 or he may call Hyena on a mobile phone. There are those modern motives which are con‐ stantly fused into the traditional stories. And I think we should recognise those as adaptations of the traditional folktale, and they are legitimate in their own right. They are not the authentic traditional story but they are variations of it and they can stand on their own. The argumentation in this chapter has shown that in Uganda folktales adapted for children have distinctive features and many functions. They preserve oral stories from extinction and they continue to play an important role in the edu‐ cation of young people in the country. Folktales are, however, no static con‐ structs passed on from generation to generation unaltered. While being retold, they are affected by a variety of influences and thus undergo change. As Jenkins (1993, p. 25) states, folktales adapted for children may, therefore, bridge “the gap between the past and the present, rural and urban, African and Western culture, an oral tradition and a written one”. 4.4.2 Fiction in a Realistic Mode The adolescent years are characterised by many changes and challenges in Uganda as elsewhere. Questions of identity arise and young people develop their values and worldview. Many experiences young people in Uganda go through are universal. During puberty relationships with parents and elders change, peers gain in importance and young people have their first sexual experiences. Some of the young people are in school and study for their examinations and others struggle to find a job. Their life-style depends very much on their family background, level of education, gender, and also urban or rural residence. The political and social situation in postcolonial Uganda, however, also forces young people to take up roles that are reserved for adults in other parts of the world: The AIDS epidemic left behind many orphans who have to care for themselves and also for their younger siblings; they become parents at a very 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 91 <?page no="92"?> 21 Idi Amin, also known as the “lion rampant” (Mutibwa, 1992, p. 104) ruled over Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Under his regime, violence and murders were the order of the day. To divert the domestic and international attention from the crimes he committed in the country, Amin began to first expel Israelis and then Indians from Uganda (see ibid., p. 89). Whereas he and other people in the government enriched themselves through the property the Asian business people had to leave behind, their expulsion also led to a collapse of the economy and worsened the inflation of the country (see Gakwandi, 1999, p. 24). young age (see Chapter 4.4.2.3). In addition, some children are abused as soldiers in the war in Northern Uganda (see Chapter 4.4.2.5). Besides folktales, there are many Ugandan children’s narratives which reflect upon adolescence in post-independence Uganda. In the following, selected topics and titles of this fiction in a realistic mode are presented. The list of titles and topics analysed is selective and focuses on the narratives that were chosen for inclusion in the extensive reading project only. The first part of the analysis is concerned with narratives that deal with issues of growing up, i.e. young adult love and the search for an identity. The next subchapter then looks into school stories. Other narratives that are analysed in the following encompass topics such as HIV / AIDS , the girl child and child soldiers in the war in Northern Uganda. 4.4.2.1 Growing Up in Post-Independence Uganda In much of the fiction written in a realistic mode, issues of growing up are addressed. The young people in the narratives, for example, fall in love for the first time or search for a place where they belong. As some of the titles of the narratives suggest (e.g. Voice of a Dream, Cherished Dreams), most of the texts are concerned with young peoples’ dreams and aspirations. Some of the narra‐ tives deal with young people in cities, while others focus on life in rural areas. The short stories and novels are set in post-independence Uganda. They re‐ flect upon Ugandan society during a certain time after independence. The back‐ ground setting of “First Kiss” (Baingana, 2005a) and Cherished Dreams (Adyeeri, 1994), for example, is the time after Idi Amin’s regime and his economic war. 21 At first sight, “First Kiss”, a story published in the short story collection Tropical Fish. Tales from Entebbe (Baingana, 2005b), appears primarily to be concerned with the first romantic encounter of Christine. She is kissed by Nicholas at a party which she attends with her elder sisters. The next day at her former pri‐ mary school, when she waits in vain for Nicholas for their anticipated first ren‐ dezvous, much of Christine’s reflections, however, focus on the terrible condi‐ tions the school buildings are in and the political situation in the country: 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 92 <?page no="93"?> Things must have started falling apart years ago. She hadn’t noticed it then, probably because she was here every day. The change was gradual and the result normal, like many other things about Amin’s time, including the everyday fear in the air. She remembered how everyone had laughed in astonishment, then got used to it, when Amin by decree banned minis and wigs. (Ibid., p. 39) Christine is disillusioned, both by the fact that her first date turns out differently than expected and by the hopeless post-war situation in Uganda. Also in Cher‐ ished Dreams (Adyeeri, 1994) the protagonist Sande, a young man, suffers under the economic conditions in the 1970s / 80s in the country. The university he attends is in a very bad state: Twenty years of political turmoil had steadily eroded the glamour of the University of East Africa. Only the crumbling facades, hidden by overgrown hedges, told of a once-reputable institution. Elsewhere there was unbelievable decay. Blocked man‐ holes oozed grey stuff which flowed across the roads to fertilise wild bushes. The paint had long fallen off the walls and the sockets and cables had been vandalised, leaving naked wires hanging dangerously. The sinks, the showers, the door knobs and the glass louvres had also been looted. (Ibid., p. 102) Sande suffers under poverty and the society he lives in is corrupt. Still, he fights for his dreams, manages to complete his education and becomes a teacher who is committed to work for a better future. Other stories and novels are set in contemporary Uganda and use the HIV -epidemic, for example, as a backdrop. The life of Nanfuka in Voice of a Dream (Namukasa, 2006) is largely affected by AIDS . Her father dies from AIDS and her mother abandons the family. Consequently Nanfuka and her siblings become AIDS orphans (see HIV / AIDS narratives in Chapter 4.4.2.3). However, not the entire novel is concerned with the epidemic; love is also a central aspect of the narrative. Three of the thirteen chapters focus on Sendi, a young boy and former schoolmate of Nanfuka. He is known as a womaniser who sleeps around. The fact that he falls in love with Nanfuka and gradually changes his character over the run of the novel is an essential part of the plot. Therefore, Voice of a Dream may also be referred to as a romance novel. Besides fighting for one’s dreams and young adult love, identity crisis and identity search are major topics in the narratives that deal with issues of growing up in post-independence Uganda. “The Hair Cut” (Lamwaka, 2010b), for ex‐ ample, is a story about Flora, a thirteen-year old girl who goes through a phase of self-doubt. She locks herself into her room and refuses to go to school because she feels ugly. Her mother struggles to get her out of this room and persuade her that her life is not that bad after all. Finally, when Flora gets her hair cut, 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 93 <?page no="94"?> she also regains her self-confidence and decides to go back to school the next day. Similarly, Mercy in Our Cousins from Abroad (Barungi, 2003) is plagued by feelings of insecurity and not belonging. Born and raised in Britain, she and her brother Adam are with their mother for the first time in Uganda to visit their cousins. Their parents have just divorced and the children are to attend boarding school in Uganda. Whereas her brother quickly makes friends with the children in the village, Mercy has problems in adapting to the new situation. She looks down at the living conditions and certain ‘superstitious’ beliefs of her cousins. When they in return start to avoid her, she feels left out and becomes homesick. Gradually, however, Mercy gets to know more about her new environment and finally used to the situation. At the end of the story, she and her brother are preparing to be taken to their new boarding school. Although they focus on different issues of growing up, the narratives in this category have in common that they portray the young people as individuals with their own mind-sets, dreams and aspirations for their future. They go through phases of insecurity and look for a place where they belong. Though the situation in post-independence Uganda causes them many hardships (e.g. bad economic conditions, HIV -epidemic), they manage to set goals for them‐ selves and go through character developments. 4.4.2.2 School Another frequent topic in Ugandan children’s fiction in a realistic mode are school experiences. Particularly in the first years after independence, school stories gained in importance in Uganda. According to Reynolds (2011, p. 81), “the school story is one of the oldest and most fully developed genres associated with children’s literature”. African school stories became popular in the 1960s. The most famous school-boy in Africa is Moses, a creation by Barbara Kimenye. Kimenye who was born and grew up in England considered herself Ugandan by birth (Oldfield, 2013, p. 29). She moved to Uganda in the early 1950s (ibid., p.xvi) where she “integrated fully into the Baganda society” (ibid., p. 193). Kimenye was one of the pioneers in writing for children in East Africa; she “began […] in the mid-1960s and continued writing for juniors and adolescents until she moved to London in the late 1990s” (ibid., p. 189). Today, Kimenye is one of the most widely read writers of children’s fiction in Africa. Her books are read in Uganda, East Africa and even beyond. There are at least eleven Moses stories published by the Oxford Library for Eastern Africa, two by East African Edu‐ cational Publishers and three by Macmillan Publishers Limited which have been reprinted several times. 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 94 <?page no="95"?> All of the titles in the series focus on Moses, a fifteen-year-old Ugandan boy, growing up without parents. He is sent to boarding school by his uncle and aunt. This boarding school, Mukibi’s Educational Institute for the Sons of African Gentlemen, provides the setting for most of the Moses stories. Moses is quite a bold boy who has many different adventures at school while dealing with au‐ thoritarian adults. He does not conform to the ideal student which adults have in mind. He is not obedient but instead enjoys playing tricks on his teachers. In the first book of the series, Moses introduces himself in the following way: I had just been expelled from my sixth school. They sent me back to Uncle Silasi’s house, where I again met with the usual preaching mixed with abuse from him, and the usual floods of tears from his wife, Aunt Damali. Then I was banished to my bedroom while a family council hastily assembled to decide what next to do with me. It was pretty dull being there alone with only a silly old bee trying to bore his way through the window pane for company. But at least I was able to stretch out on a bed and have a peaceful smoke. I would not have minded a glass of beer, too, but there wasn’t much hope of that in my uncle’s house. (Kimenye, 1968a, p. 1) Also in the other books in the series, Moses and his friends King Kong, Itchy Fingers and Rukia break many school rules. They smoke and drink, secretly sneak out of school, keep a pet snake or gamble. In each book, they play another prank on their teachers. Because of her both British and Ugandan background, Kimenye’s stories are informed by experiences in both countries. She has thus created hybrid litera‐ ture. Kimenye only wrote when she stayed in Uganda. She got her inspirations from everyday Ugandan life. Therefore, her stories, on the one hand, reflect upon Ugandan reality. On the other hand, Kimenye also confirmed in an inter‐ view that her writing was influenced by English authors. She was inspired by Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series and also Richmal Crompton’s William stories (Oldfield, 2013, p. 197). From the William stories Kimenye took on the unruly schoolboy motif and created her own Ugandan stories based on that: William is a scruffy eleven-year old perpetually on the lookout for his next adventure, and, in the same manner that Moses’ [sic] Aunt and Uncle despair of him, William’s parents have lost all hope of William’s ever becoming anything that remotely resem‐ bles the ideal child. (Ibid.) 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 95 <?page no="96"?> 22 The Ugandan school system is highly influenced by the British system because the first formal schools in Uganda were set up by British missionaries. They built boarding schools in order to remove children from their ‘primitive’ life-style and bring them up in a British, Christian culture. They imported structures like school uniforms, prefects and a daily programme with morning and evening preps (Ssekamwa & Lugumba, 2001; Tiberondwa, 1998). These structures continue to prevail in Ugandan boarding schools up to today. Thus, many routines in the Ugandan school system described in the story are similar to those of the British system in the 1960s and 70s. The name of the boarding school, Mukibi’s Educational Institute for the Sons of African Gentlemen, which provides the setting of most of the stories, may serve as a reminder of the colonial past of the country and its influence on the school system. It evokes associations of African men being taught to behave in the typical British gentleman manner. Boarding schools are widespread in Uganda today. Whereas in the 1960s, attending boarding school was still regarded a privilege, today the majority of schools in Uganda are boarding schools and most of the Ugandan young adults who go through secondary school education spend at least some time in boarding school. Kimenye describes Ugandan boarding school life in her stories which exhibits similarities with boarding school life in Britain during that time. 22 The students sleep in dormitories, eat in a dining hall and have to visit the san or sick bay when they fall sick. There is a gate with a gatekeeper on the school compound where the students have to report when they want to leave the school premises and the students have to follow strict rules and face sometimes harsh punish‐ ments when they break them. In the stories, the author refers to foods commonly eaten in Uganda (“matooke” (Kimenye, 1968b, p. 3), “posho and beans” (ibid., p. 46)) and other aspects of local Ugandan life. She frequently makes use of code-switching in this context and integrates non-translated and non-explained Luganda or Kiswahili words in the texts. Some of the adventures Moses and his friends experience are, however, stock-type adventures which are taken from British school adventure stories (e.g. catching a thief or ghost, going camping). In addition, she integrates British expressions in her writing. In Moses in Trouble (Kimenye, 1968b), the students, for example, make use of British proverbs like “Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” (p. 7) and refer to Western myths such as The Flying Dutchman: “I began to feel a bit like the ‘Flying Dutchman’, journeying through eternity with no hope of ever reaching a destination” (p. 48). Kimenye does not only portray boarding school life and unruly school chil‐ dren in the Moses series but also includes a subtle critique of the school system and society in her stories. In Moses in Trouble (1968b), the reader gets to know that many of the structures and rules at school, which are established by adults, are not as effective as they seem to be at first sight. The san at Mukibi’s Educa‐ tional Institute for the Sons of African Gentlemen, for example, is a room with 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 96 <?page no="97"?> 23 This is still of high relevance today as private investors are increasingly encouraged by the Ugandan government to get involved in the education sector and many schools are therefore private and run by individuals (Womakuyu, 2009). “two beds” and a “pile of ragged old comics” (ibid., p.38). There is no professional school nurse attending to the students and the teacher in charge does not know much about nursing: Miss Nagendo had swept us down to the San, pushed a thermometer in our mouths […] and dosed us with castor oil. For some odd reason, she carried out the same medical routine for every ailment, and even applied it to Rukia once after he fell out of a tree and broke his leg. (Ibid., p. 38) Kigali, the gate keeper, also acts rather unprofessionally. He shares gossip with students (ibid., p. 3) and leaves the gate when he goes “down to the village bar” or “courting the rich widow” (ibid., p. 17). The prefects are supposed to report their fellow students when they are breaking the school rules. Instead, Rukia, who acts as prefect, joins Moses and his other friends to play tricks on the teachers. He is even one of the first to agree to get some pawpaws from the headmaster’s shamba: “I’m all for going and grabbing a few pawpaws tonight, after lights-out, when the rest of the school has quietened down. Now then, who wants to come with me? ” (ibid., p. 19). Kimenye’s stories may also be read as a critique of seeing schools merely as businesses. 23 In Moses in Trouble (1968b), the headmaster Mukibi, for example, does not want to increase the cooks’ salaries to keep them at school (ibid., p.4), instead he makes the students cook their own food. Furthermore, additional to their school fees, the students are required to pay money for hospital bills (ibid., p. 5). The school is in a very bad state. According to the students the school kitchen is an “extra large rat hole” (ibid., p. 36) and the thermometer in the San “broken and permanently stuck at 85°” (ibid., p. 38). People outside the school, like the police doctor who examines Moses when he is severely undernourished, hear “queer things about Mukibi’s Educational Institute” (ibid., p. 70). Finally, when Moses’s bad state of health is discovered and the doctor threatens to “take the matter further” (ibid., p. 72), changes occur at the school. The students are given better meals and hygiene is suddenly emphasised. But after the school inspector has visited the school, the changes are immediately reversed: ‘Well, the moment the inspector left, old Mukibi let it be known that things were going back to normal.’ ‘What do you mean by back to normal? ’ ‘Back to what they were before old Mukibi knew his school was going to be inspected. The cooks have been told to return their new uniforms. He’s cancelled the order for goats which he placed 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 97 <?page no="98"?> 24 According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the end of 2012, 35.3 million people lived with HIV / AIDS worldwide, and Sub-Saharan Africa was most affected by the disease since it had the vast majority (71 %) of all HIV / AIDS cases in the world (WHO, 2014). UNAIDS (2015) estimates the number of people living with HIV in Uganda with 1 500 000 in 2015. with somebody in the village, and he says he’s not buying any more eggs or milk because he has to pay for the tinned stuff that we found and used when it fell off the lorry.’ (Ibid., p. 80) These passages in the book can be read as reflections upon the insufficiency of the educational system in the country. According to Oldfield (2013, p. 201), Kimenye wanted “to empower children through the Moses stories”. Moses experiences a lot of injustices at school. In Moses and Moses in Trouble, he is, for example, wrongly accused of lying and having stolen food. He is severely punished by Mr Karanja, the deputy head‐ master. The boarding school structure as described in the novels may, therefore, be referred to as oppressive and can even be compared to the colonial system: “Institutions such as the boarding-school system in the Moses books attempt to inhibit and squash autonomy - much as colonialism did (and Mukibi’s school is legacy of such systems of control)” (Oldfield, 2013, p. 202). Through their pranks and tricks, Moses and his friends, however, find ways to transform their own situation; they constantly “transgress boundaries” (Oldfield, 2013). 4.4.2.3 HIV / AIDS Since the 1990s, much of the Ugandan children’s fiction in a realistic mode fo‐ cuses on the topic of HIV / AIDS . There are several narratives that put this topic at the centre of the plot and may, therefore, be referred to as HIV / AIDS narra‐ tives; other texts use it as a backdrop. Uganda was one of the first African countries which reacted to AIDS and it is internationally celebrated as the African AIDS success story. In recent years, HIV rates, which had dropped drastically from 18 % in the early 1990s to 6.4 % in 2005 (Natukunda, 2014), are, however, again on the rise. 24 HIV / AIDS is not only a medical issue which can be explained scientifically but it also reaches out far beyond this field: “ HIV / AIDS cuts across discourses and involves a variety of aspects such as historical, economic, political, social, psychological, ethical and cultural issues” (Grünkemeier, 2013, p. 10). For people to understand this disease, it needs to be contextualised. This can, for example, be done through fiction. Fiction may be evaluated as particularly effective in the struggle against HIV / AIDS and connected aspects, such as stigma, since it hu‐ 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 98 <?page no="99"?> 25 Rose Rwakasisi talked about attending such a seminar in the interview I conducted with her on May 21, 2014. manises facts and figures. Readers get insights into feelings of people who are infected and affected by the disease and so develop a better understanding of it: Fiction provides a repertoire of means to communicate what science cannot by pro‐ viding a prism which puts medical issues on HIV / AIDS in sharper focus. This fiction tells the reader much about the anxieties and uncertainties that HIV / AIDS has wrought on individuals and into society in a way that a purely scientific discourse cannot. The writers make an important contribution to cultural production because their works comment on, and more importantly, offer possibilities of imagining and (re)creating new forms and practices of social and sexual behaviour in society. (Mur‐ iungi, 2007, p. 301) Since HIV / AIDS has been one of the most pressing issues affecting Uganda for more than three decades now, it is not surprising that many writers deal with this topic. Since the 1990s, the different dimensions of AIDS have been explored in Ugandan literature, oral and written. Many Ugandan writers have reflected on the AIDS epidemic in their novels, stories, plays and poems and also songs and a large number of these literary texts are addressed to young people. Today, HIV / AIDS narratives play a very important role in Uganda in edu‐ cating young people about the disease. The first children’s narratives dealing with HIV / AIDS were published in the mid-1990s. The number of publications increased when the Ugandan government started to expand HIV prevention education to primary and secondary schools in 2001. Then, international and local publishers commissioned Ugandan writers to write HIV / AIDS narratives which were published in different series. Uganda is now awash with HIV / AIDS stories for children and young adults. The fact that many of the writers who write about HIV / AIDS are commis‐ sioned by international or local publishing houses has an influence on their writing. The writers attend seminars in which they are given advice on about what (not) to write in the books. 25 The Ugandan government set regulations that should be followed in HIV / AIDS education (President’s Initiative on HIV / AIDS Strategy on Communication to Youth, PIASCY ). Like many religious organisations inside and outside the country, the government does not partic‐ 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 99 <?page no="100"?> 26 Financed by the largest single donor of African countries in the fight against HIV / AIDS, the US government with Ex-President George W. Bush and his President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Museveni’s tactic in the fight against AIDS changed at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Whereas before his government supported the distribution of condoms, abstinence was now imposed as the only way to prevent HIV infections. In these joint Uganda-US efforts to combat AIDS, the ABC approach was developed. Following this approach, people are encouraged to (A) abstain from risky sex encounters, (B) be faithful to their partner and (C) to use condoms, but only as a last resort. Condoms, in this approach, are mainly meant for those people who are already affected or have multiple sex partners. Like many religious leaders in the country, the Ugandan President speaks openly against the use of condoms: “Museveni said the teaching of the Western countries on the use of condoms was inappropriate for Ugandans. ‘When I proposed the use and distribution of condoms, I wanted them to remain in town for the prostitutes to save their lives,’ Museveni said” (Ssejoba, 2004). His wife, Janet Museveni is also a staunch proponent of the abstinence only programme. According to the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), she “has de‐ scribed abstinence-only approaches as a blend of African and Christian values and has used her position of influence to intimidate organizations that promote condoms to young people” (Cohen & Tate, 2005, p. 1). The ABC approach is criticised by scholars and organisations because they say it is not providing enough information about how adolescents can protect themselves from the disease when they choose to have sex. Moreover, the abstinence only principle once again puts the stigma back on HIV / AIDS and labels HIV-positive people as immoral, they argue (see Cohen & Tate, 2005; Tu‐ mushabe 2006). 27 The interview was conducted on May 20, 2014 at FEMRITE in Kampala. ularly encourage the use of condoms which may explain the near-absence of references to condoms in HIV / AIDS narratives in Uganda. 26 The way HIV / AIDS is dealt with in children's literature has gone through changes in the last decades. Whereas early publications still focus more on shocking issues with the aim of deterrence, newer publications also increasingly take aspects such as living positively into account. This may be related to the development that HIV / AIDS affects society differently today. The Ugandan writer Beatrice Lamwaka states in an interview: The days of my HIV time were not the same as today’s children’s HIV time. Then people would get skinny, the disease would really affect somebody and you would look at that person and know: Oh, my goodness. But that’s not the situation now. People just live with it today. 27 Her novella, Anena’s Victory (2003) that vividly talks about the decaying body and painful death of Anena’s mother of AIDS , is still set in the former times, she explains. The Ugandan HIV / AIDS narratives deal with topics which are relevant for children in Uganda. They are educative and talk about scientific issues such as 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 100 <?page no="101"?> the transmission and prevention of HIV / AIDS , but they also address other di‐ mensions of the epidemic: care, stigma and living positively. Peer pressure and sugar mummies / daddies are further themes reoccurring in the books. Besides narratives that focus on HIV / AIDS related topics only, there are various texts that use the HIV / AIDS epidemic as a setback (e.g. Voice of a Dream). In many HIV / AIDS narratives, children are presented as victims of circum‐ stances. They either give in to peer pressure and / or the advances of a sugar daddy or mummy, and this finally destroys them. In some of the stories the children manage to get back on the right track and escape the destiny of being infected with HIV but other stories end on quite a sad note. The pretty and intelligent Gwendolyn in The Unfulfilled Dream (Ocwinyo, 2003), for example, gives in her friend’s pleading to escape from school and accompanies her to a bar. There the two girls meet two elder men who buy them drinks. Next, Gwen‐ dolyn wakes up in the bed of one of the men. When the headmistress finds out that the two girls have lied to her, they are expelled from school. Soon after Gwendolyn finds out that she is HIV -positive and pregnant. She loses her baby because it is also HIV -positive and she is shunned by the people in her village. Now when Gwendolyn Akello walks through Teboke trading centre, or goes to market, or to the well, people do not treat her with much respect any more. They do not admire her beauty, or her intelligence any longer. Instead they pity her. Sometimes they even laugh at her. They all know she is sick. They all know she will die soon. They call her the beautiful and brilliant girl who did not know what to do with her great promise. (Ibid., p. 53) Gwendolyn’s story, starting off so well, is eventually a story full of disasters; it does not even end in a positive way. Stories of this type want to shock; they pass a strong warning to the young readers and also often attribute the blame to the girls. In other HIV / AIDS narratives, however, children are presented as the her‐ oines and heroes who overcome stigma, fight discrimination and courageously talk about their own HIV status. Julie in the short story “ JJ ” (Segawa, 2010), for example, is HIV -positive from birth. Nevertheless, she lives a ‘normal’ life, with medication. She goes to school every day and has friends who know about her infection and support her. One day she decides to talk openly about her infection in a school assembly. The other students, who were not yet aware about it, are impressed by her strength and braveness and her friends are very proud of her. The message of this story is entirely positive and intends to encourage young people to stand up against stigma and discrimination. 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 101 <?page no="102"?> 28 According to the UNICEF Sixth Stocktaking Report, there were around 1 million “chil‐ dren who have lost one or both parents due to AIDS” in Uganda in 2012 (UNICEF, 2013, p. 81). There is actually still a lot of stigmatisation linked to HIV / AIDS worldwide. Frequently it serves as a means to turn infected people into ‘the other’. Those who are infected or who have an HIV -positive family member often face denial and segregation. Sometimes HIV -positive people are feared by others; many people do not know how to deal with a person who is infected. The topic of stigma is also focalised in some of the Ugandan narratives. In, I Will Miss Mr Kizito (Sempebwa, 2005), for example, Mr Kizito is dismissed from his job as a teacher because he is HIV -positive. In the novella Voice of a Dream (Namukasa, 2006), Nanfuka and her siblings face exclusion from community because their father has AIDS . As Strauhs (2013, p. 173) states,“[t]he moment AIDS marked the body of her [Nanfuka’s] father […] not only stigmatized her father but in fact pushed her whole family, including Nanfuka - once the shining star of her village - to the periphery of the village community”. Nanfuka and her family become the secret “gossip charts” (Namukasa, 2006, p. 56) in the village. HIV / AIDS is not only an issue that affects individuals but families and whole societies. This becomes apparent in the fact that the HIV / AIDS epidemic cre‐ ated many orphans in Uganda. It is amongst the countries with the highest numbers of children orphaned by AIDS . 28 In a situation when the parents are dead, support is usually provided by the extended family in Uganda. It is the responsibility of the aunt, uncle or grandparents to care for the orphaned chil‐ dren. AIDS is, however, also a common factor behind child-headed households in the country (Witter, 2002, p. 64). The topic of children raising their own sib‐ lings is dealt with in Voice of a Dream. Nanfuka’s life changes all of a sudden when her father dies from AIDS and her mother abandons the family, leaving her alone with her four younger siblings. Nanfuka cannot go back to school but she has to care for her brothers and sisters now. She is responsible for them and the family’s income. Her only remaining relative nearby, Aunt Naka, does not assist Nanfuka in anyway, but instead wants to marry her off as soon as possible. She intends to make money with the land her brother left his children. The novella, therefore, also reflects upon the ineffectiveness of some traditional support structures (i. e. extended family) in the context of HIV / AIDS . 4.4.2.4 Empowering the Girl Child Since the foundation of the Ugandan Women’s Writers Association FEMRITE by Honorable Mary Karoro Okurut in 1995, women writing gained in impor‐ tance in Uganda. The mission of the NGO is “to build a sustainable platform for 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 102 <?page no="103"?> 29 The construction of African women as mother figures is also referred to as the ‘Mother Africa’ trope (see Stratton, 1994, pp. 39-55). Ugandan women to contribute to national development through creative writing” ( FEMRITE , n.d.). It wants “to create an enabling atmosphere for women to write, tell and publish their stories” (Twongyeirwe, 2009, p. xiii). FEMRITE organises activities such as weekly book clubs, workshops and radio or televi‐ sion programmes. It works together with schools and teachers and tries to pro‐ mote a reading culture in the country (Kruger, 2011, p. 6). The association also has a small resource centre and a publishing unit. The support network of the organisation has shaped the careers of the writers. By now, many of the members of FEMRITE have gained national and even international reputation and have won prestigious literary awards (ibid., p. 3). In Ugandan women’s writing, readers are exposed to new topics and experi‐ ences which were not common in Ugandan literature before. Female protago‐ nists, who were formerly underrepresented in Ugandan writing, are increas‐ ingly used in the texts. In addition, female vulnerability and female silence enforced by society, but also female strength and revolt against conventions, are focalised. Moreover, established stereotypes and gender inequality in society are attacked and the women writers make a clear “power bid” (Kiyimba, 2008, p. 219). In traditional Ugandan society, women were known as “carriers of ‘tradition’” (Kiguli, 2007, p. 171). They were usually considered responsible for the up‐ bringing of children which included the telling of stories. 29 Thus, it is not sur‐ prising that most writers of Ugandan children’s fiction are actually women; indeed, the very first writer who wrote for children in Uganda, Barbara Kimenye, was a woman. Ugandan women writers write about various topics; frequently, however, their narratives focus on the girl child. They, for example, talk about girl child education, teenage pregnancy, young adult marriage, sexual abuse by adults and the issue of sugar daddies in their stories. Ugandan women writers can be con‐ sidered to have a different approach to writing about women’s topics than their Western counterparts. They see things, as the Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta expressed it, “through an African woman’s eyes” (2007, p. 553). Emecheta re‐ marked at a conference: if I am now a feminist, then I am an African feminist with a small f. In my books I write about families because I still believe in families. I write about women who try very hard to hold their family together until it becomes absolutely impossible. (Ibid.) 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 103 <?page no="104"?> 30 Njabala is a folktale from Buganda about a young girl who was spoilt by her mother because she did not teach her how to do housework. Soon after her mother had died, Njabala got married. Since she was not able to look after the household of her husband, he threatened to chase her away. Njabala then called her mother for help and her mother returned as a ghost to teach her how to do housework. One day, however, her husband found out that it was not Njabala who was cultivating the field but her mother and he chased her back to her father (Ssewankambo, 1998). 31 The interview was conducted on March 27, 2014 in Kampala. I want to illustrate this with an example. In a group interview with UCWIA , when confronted with the question whether they consider folktales like Nja‐ bala 30 that portray Ugandan women in an unfavourable light as still relevant for children today, the women writers present answered in the affirmative. They stated that they consider folktales which teach girls how to behave like “African women” as very important. Rose Rwakasisi explained: We want our girls to grow up as African women, educated or not. […] And for us now, we are worried. The boys today are not developing into African men and the girls not into African women any longer. And that’s why we try to bring them back to the African way. 31 There are, however, also many Ugandan narratives whose major aim it is to empower the girl child. I Will Not Fail (Kisubi, 2008), for example, tells the story of Namukose who grows up in a society that does not approve of girls going to school. In a village meeting, comments such as “You don’t gain anything by educating a girl. The only people who gain are the family she will get married into.” (ibid., p.2) or “You want to educate girls? Don’t you know that a girl’s place is in the kitchen? Why waste time and money on a girl? ” (ibid.) are made. The introduction of Universal Primary Education in Uganda still gives Namukose the chance to go to school and she is a very successful student. Constantly en‐ couraged by various strong women, i.e. her mother, her class teacher and Dr. Robinah Kalembe, a head of faculty at Makerere University, Namukose man‐ ages to complete primary school as the best student at her school and wins a scholarship that takes her through secondary school and university education. Despite the gender stereotypes and setbacks Namukose faces, she succeeds in achieving her dreams. Namukose may, therefore, serve as a role model for girls who read the novella. In the author’s note, Kisubi states that the narrative intends to be “an inspiration to all girl-children from all walks of life, from every community, and from every society where a girl has the same challenges in life and should be given the same opportunities” (ibid., p. iii). 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 104 <?page no="105"?> 4.4.2.5 Child Soldiers From 1987 to 2006, hostilities between the National Resistance Army ( NRA ), later Uganda People’s Defence Force ( UPDF ), and Lord Resistance Army ( LRA ) caused terror and suffering in Northern Uganda. The LRA has been responsible for the abduction of thousands of civilians, mainly children, thousands of mu‐ tilations and killings. In addition, the NRA / UPDF has been accused of abducting and recruiting children in the army. Almost two million people lost their homes and have been displaced during this war. People were forced by the Ugandan government to live in crowded Internally Displaced People’s ( IDP ) camps with inadequate facilities, where again many people died of malnutrition and illness. What adds particular viciousness and callousness to this war, is the fact that it involved child soldiers (see Kobusingye, 2010; Tripp, 2010). In the last few years, a growing number of films and literary texts on the issue of child soldiers in Africa were published in the West. Many of these publications approach the issue from a Western perspective, a fact that is viewed as prob‐ lematic by various scholars. Rosen (2009, p. 111) points out that there are ten‐ dencies of seeing Africa with “Conradian eyes” in Western discourse about war: The general Western discourse about war in Africa, whether precolonial, or postco‐ lonial, has remained remarkably consistent since the middle of the nineteenth century. In this discourse, warfare in Africa - in contrast to warfare in the West - is invariably cast as irrational and meaningless. Looking into “Northern” representations of African child-soldiers in films such as Lost Children (Ahadi and Stoltz) and Blood Diamond (Zwick), Martins (2011) criticises the oversimplification of African conflicts in those media. Further‐ more, she looks at it as problematic that in Blood Diamond a white hero and an American journalist play an important role in saving a child soldier’s life whereas many of the Black people are portrayed as entirely evil. African authors and directors such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ahmadou Kourouma, Emmanuel Dongala and Newton I. Aduaka, “present a significantly more varied spectrum of ap‐ proaches to the child-soldier issue” (ibid., p. 7), she argues. According to her, they give more background information and situate the narratives in their his‐ torical context. Martins concludes her comparative analysis of “Northern” and “Southern” representations of child soldiers in the following way: The differences between child-soldier representations from the North and the South clearly show how a northern construction of Africa has replaced Africa and the Af‐ ricans and made them non-existent on the other side of an invisible abyssal line. […] The representations from the South are more ambiguous and leave many questions unsolved. However, that in their wider variety and in their questioning of the neoco‐ 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 105 <?page no="106"?> 32 Kony 2012 is a 30-minute video which was produced by the organisation Invisible Chil‐ dren to make Kony, a rebel leader of the LRA, globally known so that he could be arrested in 2012. The video depicts the atrocities of Kony and the LRA during the last twenty years. Much of it, however, also focuses on the film director’s son and his re‐ action to the information about Kony. The video was watched by millions of Americans and also reached other parts of the world, such as Germany. It asks people to become involved in the process of bringing Kony to justice. The video was criticised for a lack of background knowledge on the conflict in Northern Uganda. The factors which gave rise to the LRA are completely neglected in Kony 2012. Besides, Ugandan / African per‐ spectives are missing in the video: “Their absence may reinforce the negative and er‐ roneous stereotype of Africans as lacking agency, of not having the will or capacity to act in their own interest” (Brown, Metzler, & Root, 2012, p. 145). Thus, Kony 2012 may be considered to be underlining or even creating stereotypes about Africa. lonial stance of western stereotyped constructions, they are proof of the existence of a counter-hegemonic discourse that must be taken into account. (ibid, p. 11) There is a considerable body of fiction by Ugandan writers that deals with the issue of child soldiers and war, for example, No Hearts at Home (Oryema-Lalobo, 1999), “Strange Fruit” (Arac de Nyeko, 2005b), “Butterfly Dreams” (Lamwaka, 2010a). Many of the texts are written from a child’s perspective and focus on the experiences of child soldiers but most of them are addressed to an adult read‐ ership. Caine Prize winner Monica Arac de Nyeko (2005a) has written a novella for children which tells the story of the abduction of school children in Northern Uganda: Children of the Red Fields. In my eyes, Children of the Red Fields provides a counter-discourse to the way the issue of child soldiers in Uganda is often portrayed in Western media (e.g. Lost Children or Kony 2012  32 ). Though the novella talks about the atrocities committed by the Lord Resistance Army, it does not give a one-sided view of the conflict. Unlike many Western representations, for example, it does not completely ignore the role the Ugandan government plays in the conflict. In the novella, the government soldiers are presented as incapable of protecting the students at school and as corrupt. Despite the fact that it does not explain the origins of the conflict in Northern Uganda, the novella, therefore, provides a glimpse into the very complex nature of the conflict. Furthermore, the child soldier issue is not the only focus of the narrative. Though the backdrop of the story is the conflict in Northern Uganda, other topics are also addressed in the novella, for example young adult love, friendship and jealousy. It therefore portrays both the unimaginable as well as issues young people from all around the world may easily relate to, thus making it easier for these readers to empathise with the characters involved. 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 106 <?page no="107"?> Monica Arac de Nyeko’s novella shows how children are affected by the war in Northern Uganda. Although they are victims who are completely and utterly at the rebels’ mercy, the young people in the novella are portrayed as very strong. Despite the horrible situation they find themselves in, they do not give up hope but still make plans for their future. Hence, they are portrayed as both powerless and powerful actors. 4.4.3 Potential of Texts for Cultural and Global Learning Ugandan children’s fiction offers much potential for cultural and global learning. Due to their multi-layered nature, folktales are relevant for students at different language and age levels. Because of their characteristic discourse structures such as repetitive plots, binary opposites, sets of stock characters and formulae, they are easy to understand. Folktales published for children often also make use of simple language and include contextualising illustrations. Thus, they are acces‐ sible to students with a low level of language proficiency. Still, some of their deeper meanings can only be understood by older readers. Thus, they provide a rich resource for the foreign language classroom. Furthermore, folktales treat universal themes and have many analogies across geographical and cultural boundaries. Therefore, readers can easily relate to them: Obwohl es nicht Fuchs und Rabe, sondern Leopard, Moskito und Krokodil sind, die hier törichtes oder schlaues Verhalten an den Tag legen, moralische Grundwerte bes‐ tätigen oder als ‘Trickster’ außer Kraft setzen, stellen sich beim Lesen schnell Bezüge zur eigenen Kultur ein. [Although it is not the fox and the raven but the leopard, mosquito and crocodile who act in a foolish or clever manner, confirm moral values or suspend them as ‘trickster’ figures, connections to one’s own culture may quickly be made while reading.] (Schulze-Engler, 1993, p. 7; my translation) According to Fayose “[l]iterature helps children towards a fuller understanding of the common bonds of humanity” (1995, p. 4). Still, folktales also give insights into cultural particularities and perspectives different from ‘self ’. Whereas children in Uganda are quite familiar with folk‐ tales from the West (e.g. “Snow White” or “Cinderella”; see Chapter 4.2), rarely do children in the Global North get exposed to folktales by African writers. Making Ugandan folktales accessible also to young people in the West thus in‐ troduces them to a counter-discourse. As Bosma (1992, p. 15) observes, “[i]f you truly wish to understand the people of the world, you must read their stories - the stories handed down from generation to generation”. 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 107 <?page no="108"?> 33 The interview was conducted on July 8, 2014 at Fountain Publishers in Kampala. Folktales, however, also require critical reading. In the opinion of Magos (2012, p. 195), “no one can dispute the existence of strong stereotypes as a char‐ acteristic of their content”. Stereotypes that are portrayed in the tales may be used as starting points to discuss processes of ‘othering’. The analysis of stereotypes for the ‘other’ which are conveyed through folktales may help students understand the causes and means through which stereotypes are formed, and reflect on those stereotypes which affect, often subconsciously, their views and attitudes. Through such a procedure, folktale stereotypes can function as an effective teaching tool for the identification and combating of stereotypes. (Ibid., p. 196) Moreover, Ugandan children’s fiction in a realistic mode promises to be pro‐ ductive in the context of cultural and global learning in the EFL classroom. Many issues of growing up are universal but young people in Uganda also encounter joys and challenges particular to their situation. Reading about young people from different backgrounds, from urban and rural areas, boys and girls with different aspirations and dreams, enables students in Germany to get a broader picture of adolescence in an African country. The Ugandan writer and editor Julius Ocwinyo points out in an interview that he believes reading Ugandan children’s fiction provides children in Germany with counter-representations of what they usually read: I think, it would give them [children in Germany, my note] an insight in what the world here is like but also in what we are interested in, what our concerns are and also what we actually like to read about. I find it particularly annoying that in the West there is no balance in the presentation of African countries. I have travelled outside the country and one of the first questions I have always been asked is ‘Where you live, are there a lot of elephants and lions? ’ I have never seen a lion myself. In many Western children’s books about Africa, however, Africa is presented like that. A lot of things are wrong, actually. 33 Many of the Ugandan narratives deal with topics that are frequently referred to as ‘global’ in foreign language didactics (see Chapter 2.8): HIV / AIDS , gender issues and child soldiers. Usually students are exposed to information on these topics only from Western perspectives. In the news, students are, for example, confronted with reports about the devastating effects of the HIV / AIDS epi‐ demic in African countries and the use of children in wars in Africa. Rarely, however, do they hear from those people who are affected by the epidemic or 4 Ugandan Children’s Literature 108 <?page no="109"?> war directly. The fiction that has been selected for integration in this study addresses these topics from a Ugandan perspective. It answers questions chil‐ dren in Uganda are interested in and shows how young people in Uganda deal with these issues. Furthermore, the variety of different texts illustrates that there is also no homogenous Ugandan discourse but that it is multifaceted instead. With reference to one of the so called ‘global topics’, HIV / AIDS , Downing (2005, p. 29) remarks that AIDS is one reason the West pays attention to Africa, but that attention is in the form of rescuing, not learning. The West doesn’t seem to realize that there are African discourses of AIDS fundamentally different from the Western discourses. Reading Ugandan fiction on topics such as HIV / AIDS , child soldiers and gender issues may contribute to a shift of focus and hence foster students’ learning process. 4.4 Selected Genres, Topics and Titles 109 <?page no="110"?> 5 Research Design and Methodology Having given an overview of the status quo in the relevant fields of foreign language didactics and an introduction to the literary basis, i.e. Ugandan child‐ ren’s fiction, the following chapter focuses on the research design and method‐ ology of the empirical study. It gives insights into the research questions, sample, instrumentation, procedure of data collection and method for data analysis. 5.1 Previous Studies and Focus of the Present Study Until today only a small number of empirical studies in the field of literary didactics in Germany have been conducted which give insights into cultural learning. The three major studies (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild, 2010a), all look into the mental processes of students, when en‐ gaging with literary texts in the foreign language classroom. Since they offer important contributions to the field to which the present study intends to con‐ nect, they require further elaboration at this point. Burwitz-Melzer (2003) is particularly interested in getting insights into the suitability of certain texts, text introduction methods and task types for the understanding of the other (Fremdverstehen) and intercultural learning. In her study, she combines teachers’ questionnaires, observation of lessons and retro‐ spective interviews with teachers and students about recorded lessons. As a result of her study, she comes up with a task typology that may be applied in the foreign language classroom. Moreover, she finds that a reflec‐ tion / meta-phase is of particular importance in the context of intercultural learning. Freitag-Hild (2010a) takes a similar approach, both concerning the theoretical background and the research methodology. Her research aims at finding out to what extent selected literary texts and task types trigger interand transcultural learning and comprehension processes. Taking also transcultural learning into account, Freitag-Hild’s study is based on a wider concept of culture than that of Burwitz-Melzer, yet a central element of her analysis is to look into Perspekti‐ venübernahme [adoption of perspective] by the students. This indicates that her research may also be ascribed to a rather hermeneutic approach to under‐ standing otherness. Similarly to Burwitz-Melzer, Freitag-Hild also observes les‐ <?page no="111"?> sons, analyses learner products and conducts retrospective interviews with the students and teachers about videotaped lessons. In her results, she points out that the texts offered various possibilities for identification and changes of per‐ spectives for the students beyond cultural borders. She proposes several teaching principles (“Multiperspektivität, Dialogizität und Reflexivität [multi‐ perspectivity, dialogue and reflexitivity]” (ibid., pp. 60-62)) and a task typology for interand transcultural learning with fiction in the EFL classroom. Fäcke (2006) analyses the mental processes of ten primarily monoor bicul‐ turally socialised young adults engaging with a literary text they are reading in their French or Spanish class. She gains insight into these processes by asking the participants to think aloud, analysing their reading diary entries and inter‐ viewing them. By focusing on the subject, taking into account the various con‐ texts students draw on in their meaning creation process and putting particular emphasis on their socialisation, she argues from a deconstructivist perspective. She assigns the learners’ responses to different stages of (transcultural) under‐ standing / openness. The results of her study show that the primarily monoor bicultural socialisation of the students plays an important role in how they deal with the text. In her study, the references of students with a bicultural back‐ ground to their own culture and ethnicity differ to those of students who are primarily monoculturally socialised (ibid., pp. 213-214). The present study intends to add to the field of literary didactics in the context of cultural and global learning in various ways. For one, the focus on Ugandan children’s fiction contributes to an extension of the canon as urged by various scholars. In the manner of the empire writing back to the centre (see The Empire Writes Back by Ashcroft, Griffiths, & Tiffin, 1994), these texts are set against a Eurocentric, Western perspective on an African country. They give insights, for example, into Ugandan perspectives on certain ‘global’ issues such as HIV / AIDS (see Chapters 4.3 and 4.4.3). Referring to Kenyan and Ugandan women’s literatures, Strauhs (2012, pp. 93-94) states: “To cultural outsiders, studying these contemporary literatures can contribute to a sound under‐ standing of the continent and its peoples in times when the image of Africa is still conflicting”. As is illustrated in the quote, literature by African writers may be ascribed the potential to deconstruct existing negative and one-sided per‐ spectives on the African continent. This is particularly important for TEFL since African countries are still widely ignored in this context. Curricula and school books hardly touch upon content related to the African continent. Amongst students in Germany a rather limited, one-sided and negative image of Africa prevails (Reichart-Burikukiye, 2001; Schmidt-Wulffen, 1998; Tröger, 1993). In‐ tegrating texts of the type analysed in Chapter 4, may meet some of the demands 5.1 Previous Studies and Focus of the Present Study 111 <?page no="112"?> that are raised by scholars in the field of postmodernism and postcolonialism. It may also encourage teachers and educators to make use of children’s fiction of various origins in their classroom. In addition, my study intends to give further empirical insights into the mental processes of students who engage with literature in the foreign language. Whereas the studies of Burwitz-Melzer (2003) and Freitag-Hild (2010a) may rather be ascribed to an efficacy study design since they evaluate concrete teaching situations and learning processes in the context of inter-/ transcultural learning, my study, similarly to that of Fäcke (2006), looks into individual cases. In line with Fäcke, I argue from a constructivist perspective and aim to recon‐ struct how the individual students engage with the literature. In contrast to Fäcke’s study, however, my research focuses on the intermediate level of sec‐ ondary school education (Year 9). Furthermore, it also looks into mental pro‐ cesses with reference to global topics. As my study uses the framework of an extensive reading project, an overview of studies conducted in the field of extensive reading needs to be provided as well. Empirical studies that focus on extensive reading in a foreign language (Biebricher, 2008; Carrell, 1998; Elley, 1991; Elley & Mangubhai, 1983; Kirchhoff, 2009; Kolb, 2013; Krashen, 1993; Krashen, 1997) examine the impact this reading style has on students’ reading competence in a foreign language, on students’ reading motivation or on their general language proficiency. Bamford and Day (2004, p. 1) summarise some of the effects of extensive reading that are men‐ tioned in the respective scholarship: Good things happen to students who read a great deal in the new language. Research studies show they become better and more confident readers, they write better, their listening and speaking abilities improve, and their vocabularies get richer. In addition, they develop positive attitudes toward and increased motivation to study the new language. As far as I am aware, cultural or global learning in connection with extensive reading has not yet been widely researched. Given the potentials of literary texts for cultural and global learning which are commonly listed by scholars (see also Chapter 3.2.), this is rather surprising. A literary text is considered to provide students with opportunities to engage with otherness and different perspectives. It may even lead to changes of perception, it is argued. When students read widely, the amount of possibilities for negotiating otherness also increases and this can have an effect on their cultural or global competence. An empirical investigation of these assumptions is also a major aim of this study. 5 Research Design and Methodology 112 <?page no="113"?> 5.2 Research Aim The intention of this research project is to look into mental processes of Year 9 students in Germany who read Ugandan children’s fiction within the scope of an extensive reading project. It is analysed how students tackle this literature, what significance different contextual factors have on their reading process, and also the potential and limitations of extensive reading projects for cultural and global learning. Both the students’ expectations before the project and their experiences and reflections during and after the reading process are taken into account. For this purpose, I draw on constructivist learning theories (see also Chapter 2.6). According to constructivist learning theories, learners actively construct their own subjective representations of reality; new information is linked to prior knowledge: “What we already know will interact with new perceptions and explain these perceptions” (Müller, 2000, p. 45). Taking this into considera‐ tion, it is important to get an insight into students’ prior knowledge in this study. Since the concept of knowledge is very complex, a full account of students’ prior knowledge cannot be given. The present study intends to provide a glimpse into students’ associations and expectations regarding Uganda and Ugandan child‐ ren’s fiction before reading the narratives. A second context which can be seen to have an impact on the students’ mental processes in an extensive reading project is their reading background, i.e. their 5.2 Research Aim 113 <?page no="114"?> 1 Reading competence refers to the ability of reading a text, processing and understanding it. There are different factors that have an influence on this competence: the text, the reader and reader-text-interaction. Concerning the text, the linguistic level, e.g. its se‐ mantic density and cognitive structure as well as its attractiveness in terms of inter‐ esting aspects (“Interessantheit”) play an important role (Biebricher, 2008, pp. 22-24). Reader-related components are knowledge (e.g. grapho-phonological, syntactical, se‐ mantic, contextual knowledge) and various skills and strategies (e.g. problem solving, drawing conclusions). In addition to these cognitive components, holistic models of reading competence also include emotional-motivational aspects (see reading motiva‐ tion, next footnote). The concept of reader-text-interaction gained in importance with the emergence of reader response theory. This theory assumes that a text has no meaning before a reader constructs it. Dependent on the individual experiences and knowledge of the reader, the understanding of a text may, therefore, vary (ibid., pp. 26-28). Alongside reading competence, the term ‘reading literacy’ is used in language learning discourse. It has gained in importance in Germany through international com‐ parative studies of education. In the PISA study (OECD, 2015, p. 49), it is defined as “understanding, using, reflecting on and engaging with written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, develop one’s knowledge and potential, and participate in society”. Thus, reading literacy is a rather function-oriented concept, pointing to the relevance of reading for everyday matters. 2 Reading motivation refers to emotional-motivational components that have an impact on reading behaviour. Day and Bamford (1998) propose four aspects that have an in‐ fluence on the students’ reading motivation: materials, reading ability, attitudes towards L2 reading and sociocultural environment. They draw on expectancy-value theories (e.g. Eccles et al., 1983; Feather, 1982) and suggest that when L2 readers perceive the materials as interesting and appropriate, they are more likely to engage in reading. Secondly, they state that low reading ability means low expectation of success and consequently a low reading motivation. The two scholars also assert that the more positive students’ attitudes towards reading in a second language are, the better they perceive its value and are therefore more motivated to read. The last component of their model focuses on the sociocultural environment which assumes that the students’ en‐ vironment, i.e. family, friends and teachers, has an impact on the students’ reading behaviour. However, for Day and Bamford, of all the components, the attitudes towards L2 reading and the reading materials exert the greatest influence on the students L2 reading motivation. reading competence 1 and reading motivation 2 . Language difficulties which in‐ hibit the students’ understanding, for example, need to be considered. Further‐ more, the general attitudes that the students have towards reading literary texts and their emotions towards the texts they read in the project have to be looked into. These emotions may refer to different aspects of the narratives, i.e. the language or writing style, the plot, the characters or the moral / lesson / theme. Another context which requires inclusion in this study is the students’ bio‐ graphical background. According to social constructivism (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Rogoff, 1990), learners cognitively develop in the context of education and socialisation. Personal experiences may influence the way a student reads a text 5 Research Design and Methodology 114 <?page no="115"?> and, in reverse, a text may initiate reflections upon self. Therefore, information concerning the biographical background of the students needs also to be taken into account. Concerning the mental processes of the students, I am particularly interested in the following questions: • To what extent do the students construct / deconstruct knowledge and attitudes? • To what extent do they draw comparisons and which similarities and differences do they construct? • What in the texts is ‘foreign’ to them, what do they mark as ‘other’? • Which strategies do they unconsciously or consciously make use of in the reading and understanding process? • To what extent and how do they reflect? • To what extent do their reflections focus on ‘self ’; e.g. their own prior knowledge / norms / stereotypes? Particular emphasis in this study is put on students’ mental processes with ref‐ erence to so called ‘global topics’, i.e. HIV / AIDS , child soldiers and gender is‐ sues (see Chapter 7.3). 5.3 Qualitative Research Design A qualitative research design is adopted for this study. As Flick (2014, p. 22) points out, “[q]ualitative research is oriented towards analysing concrete cases in their temporal and local particularity and starting from people’s expressions and activities in their local contexts”. Qualitative studies are particularly pro‐ ductive when there is not yet much known about the object of research (ex‐ ploratory study) and when researchers are interested in the personal back‐ ground of individuals and the ways in which these construct meaning (ibid., pp 12-13). As Flick (ibid., p. 16) further states, “[q]ualitative research takes into account that viewpoints and practices in the field are different because of the different subjective perspectives and social backgrounds related to them”. A qualitative study, therefore, gives insights into subjective meanings and also demonstrates the variety of perspectives which exist. The aim of the present research is not the confirmation or determination of ex-ante hypotheses, but instead the exploration of a rather unresearched field. My study looks into subjective perspectives of Year 9 students in Germany on Ugandan children’s fiction and analyses them against the personal background 5.3 Qualitative Research Design 115 <?page no="116"?> 3 This town has approximately 30,000 inhabitants. 4 This city has approximately 300,000 inhabitants. of the individuals.The focus of the research is, therefore, on the case and its specific features. In the second part of the analysis, I then establish some gen‐ eralisable statements by comparing the various cases. Nevertheless, the research project does not claim to be representative; it focuses on the participants of my study. Therefore, opting for a qualitative research design was meaningful in this context. 5.4 Participants Since it is not the aim of my study to generalise, it is irrelevant to what extent the students who participate in the study are representative of a wider group. Therefore, purposive sampling in which “researchers hand-pick the cases to be included in the sample on the basis of their judgement of their typicality or possession of the particular characteristics being sought” (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011, p. 156) was undertaken. The selection of participants for the study had to be carried out at different stages of the research project. As a first step, the school level at which the re‐ search project was conducted had to be chosen. Until then, the majority of em‐ pirical studies that looked into literature and cultural learning in the EFL class‐ room had worked with higher grades of secondary school (Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild, 2010a). In order to widen the scope of research in this field, I there‐ fore intended to focus on lower or intermediate levels of secondary school. The linguistic level of the majority of books and stories from Uganda that were available and considered as suitable (see Chapter 4.1 and 4.4) required that the students participating in the study had an elementary or threshold level of Eng‐ lish language proficiency (A2-B1). Therefore, Year 9 of grammar school (Gym‐ nasium) was selected as the sample group. Secondly, the classes participating in the research project had to be chosen. In this context, personal contacts to schools on my part as the researcher played an important role (see Chapter 5.5). Of the two schools that participated in the research project, school A is located in a small town 3 in Baden-Württemberg and school B in a city 4 in Bavaria. Fur‐ thermore, it is interesting to note that school A maintains an educational part‐ nership with a school in Uganda which involves penfriend correspondence, regular fundraising activities and volunteer stays in Uganda. The students from this school could, therefore, be expected to have already come into contact with 5 Research Design and Methodology 116 <?page no="117"?> 5 The ‘migration background’ served only as a first indicator for the cultural background of the students. Decisive for the determination of their cultural background was rather whether the students described themselves as primarily monoor biculturally socialised in the interview (see Chapter 7.1.3). the country Uganda within the framework of the partnership. School B, how‐ ever, does not have a partner school in a country of the Global South. There were also eight students ‘with a migration background’ 5 among the students participating in my study. This was considered important, since previous studies (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003, p. 137; Fäcke, 2006, p. 213) had shown that students who were raised biculturally reacted differently to the literary texts than those who were raised monoculturally. The majority of the 49 students of the two Year 9 forms, in which the reading project was conducted, could be motivated to take part in the study. Only four students did not give their permission for the analysis of their responses. Thus, the research project was conducted with 45 Year 9 students, 23 girls and 22 boys, who got engaged to a different extent in the study. One student read 14 novels and short stories, two students, on the other hand, did not read any of the texts provided. Some students wrote very long reading diary entries, others only very short, fragmented sentences. From these 45 students participating in the study, 24 were additionally interviewed. These cases were selected by the criterion of maximum variation. In maximum variation sampling “samples are chosen that possess or exhibit a very wide range of characteristics or behaviours respec‐ tively, in connection with a particular issue” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 157). Students with various biographical backgrounds (e.g. students ‘with’ and ‘without a mi‐ gration background’), diverse types of reading socialisation (e.g. experienced and less experienced readers) and distinct responses to the literary texts (e.g. rather positive and rather negative reactions) were, therefore, chosen for the interviews. Some students, however, did not want to participate in the inter‐ views and thus they could not be selected. Others, who were not chosen for the interviews in the first place, explicitly expressed the wish to be interviewed. To acknowledge their willingness and so as not to demotivate them, interviews were also conducted with these students. Thus, volunteer sampling (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 160) also played an important role here. Finally, twelve students were chosen for an in-depth case analysis (see Chapter 6.1). Also here, the criterion of maximum variation was applied in order to consider a wide spectrum of re‐ actions and ways of dealing with literary texts (see Fäcke, 2006, p. 83; Küppers, 1999, pp. 134-135). 5.4 Participants 117 <?page no="118"?> 5.5 Research Instruments Within the framework of qualitative inquiry strategy, triangulation between methods (Denzin, 1970) was applied in this study. As Cohen et al. (2011, p. 197) note “[t]riangulation between methods involves the use of more than one method in the pursuit of a given objective”. In the case of my research project, I made use of three different data collection methods: survey studies, diary studies and interviews. This approach of combining various research instru‐ ments provides a means of checking validity as it adds other perspectives on the issue and thus gives a deeper insight into the subject matter (Flick, 2014, p. 184). In the next section, the three different data collection methods that were used in my study are presented along with reasons for their selection and chal‐ lenges they entail. 5.5.1 Questionnaires A semi-structured questionnaire with mainly open items was used at the be‐ ginning and at the end of the reading project. According to Cohen, Manion et al. (2011, p. 382), “[t]here is a clear structure, sequence, focus” in semi-structured questionnaires “but the format is open-ended, enabling respondents to reply in their own terms”. In my study, the number of open questions predominated because the re‐ search project does not primarily aim at measurement and generalisation but at the perspectives of individual cases. Only socio-demographic data were col‐ lected through closed questions, and strength of response (e.g. to what degree they enjoyed reading) was indicated by the students on Likert scales. The re‐ sponses to these items were later statistically analysed and compared across participants. Open questions permit free, individual answers and do not limit the partici‐ pants in their responses by means of pre-set categories. Thus, they may provide the researcher with comparatively deep answers. As Cohen et al. (2011, p. 392) note, “an open-ended question can catch the authenticity, richness, depth of response, honesty and candour which […] are the hallmarks of qualitative data”. It has to be acknowledged, however, that the open character of questions can also overstrain the respondents because writing down their answers requires time and reflection. Another challenge posed by questionnaires with open ques‐ tions is that the qualitative nature of the data makes comparison between re‐ spondents difficult and, therefore, the process of analysis complex (ibid., p. 382). Thus, open or word-based questionnaires are particularly suitable for 5 Research Design and Methodology 118 <?page no="119"?> smaller samples and for studies which require personal, individual comments (ibid., p. 392), as in the case of my research project. In order to make sure that all the students understood the questions and were able to write down their responses, the questionnaires in my study were given in German. They were completed in silence in the classroom in my presence. This was helpful because uncertainties could be addressed immediately and it also ensured a good response rate. All 45 students who participated in the study completed the first questionnaire; only one student failed to hand in the final questionnaire because he was absent in the last lesson. The first questionnaire (see Appendices A and B), which was completed be‐ fore the reading project started, asked for students’ associations and expecta‐ tions concerning Uganda and their interest in the country. The students were asked to write down their associations with Uganda, list a few sources for their information about African countries, name aspects concerning Uganda they are particularly interested in and state whether and why they would (not) partici‐ pate in a student exchange with a Ugandan school. In addition, the questionnaire inquired after the reading preferences of the students and their expectations regarding Ugandan children’s fiction. The students were asked to what degree they enjoyed reading literary texts in German and English in their free time and for the frequency with which they read such texts in the two languages. Students were also questioned for topics / literary genres they are most and least inter‐ ested in and asked for their expectations concerning Ugandan children’s fiction. Furthermore, socio-demographic data about the students were obtained through the first questionnaire. The students were asked for their sex, year of birth, age, nationality, their own / parents’ country of birth, the language they first learnt and the language spoken at home. The final questionnaire (see Appendices C and D) was completed after the reading project. In this questionnaire, students were asked to reflect upon the reading project and the books they had read. They were encouraged to suggest improvements for the extensive reading project and to elaborate on the narrative text they liked the best or disliked the most. Questionnaires were used in this study because they are target-oriented and economical in terms of time. Given time-constraints it would not have been possible to interview all the students who participated in the extensive reading study before and after the study. Questionnaires make it “possible to get a range of responses from many people on a limited number of items” (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 319). In my study, they permitted insights into the prior knowledge, expectations and reflections of all 45 students. Furthermore, responses in ques‐ tionnaires are often more honest and authentic than in interviews and thus more 5.5 Research Instruments 119 <?page no="120"?> reliable. As Cohen et al. (2011, p. 395) state, “the lack of face-to-face contact between the researcher and the respondents in a questionnaire might facilitate responses to sensitive material”. Another argument in favour of questionnaires is that when they are used with interviews, the two research instruments com‐ plement one another very well. You may sometimes wish to employ a research design in which you first use ques‐ tionnaires to get a broad cross section of information or opinions. You could subse‐ quently use interviews to get more detailed data from a subgroup of your sample. (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 319) After collecting data through questionnaires and reading diaries, I made use of the “sample-resample procedure” (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 319) and interviewed 24 of the 45 participants in the study to get more detailed information concerning the subject matter from them. There are two major problems researchers face when using questionnaires in a study. First of all, even questionnaires with predominantly open questions can only ask for a limited amount of information. Participants cannot explain their thoughts and feelings in detail. Therefore, questionnaires do not provide very deep data and there is need for validation with other research instruments. Another problem, which, however, also applies to other research instruments is, that it is not possible to tell how accurate, truthful and realistic participants’ responses in questionnaires are: Respondents give inaccurate answers for a number of different reasons. They give inaccurate answers both consciously for reasons of their own, and also without any conscious realization that the information they are giving is inaccurate. The re‐ searcher must be aware of these inaccuracies, try to minimize them and, where nec‐ essary, take into consideration the bias and inaccuracy in the data. (Brace, 2008, p. 195) Respondents might forget to include important information in questionnaires, or deliberately withhold it, exaggerate or lie. The latter often occurs when social desirability bias arises. Although the anonymity of questionnaires eliminates much of the bias, they are not completely resistant to it and this has to be con‐ sidered by the researcher. 5.5.2 Reading Diaries To gain insights into the students’ reading experiences, I made use of diary studies (Bailey & Nunan, 1996; Bailey & Ochsner, 1983; Nunan, 1994). Over a period of three months, the students noted down their anticipations and re‐ 5 Research Design and Methodology 120 <?page no="121"?> sponses to the literary texts in reading diaries which were later systematically analysed. Since the 1980s, with the upsurge of reader response criticism, personal re‐ cords which accompany the reading process gained in importance in literature classes, also in the EFL context in Germany (Anton, 2014; Bray, 2002; Hermes, 1997; Krück & Loeser, 1997; Mosner, 1997, 2000). They intend to put the reader in the centre of the reading process and focus on individual reading experiences; fostering both a reflective and creative way of dealing with literary texts. In‐ creasingly they are also used as research instruments in various studies in for‐ eign language didactics (see Fäcke, 2006; Krück & Loeser, 1997). As Nunan (1994, p. 118) asserts, diaries “are important introspective tools in language research”. They give a first-person account of a learning experience which is documented through the personal entries in these records. The entries can then be “analyzed for recurring patterns or salient events” (Bailey, 1990, p. 215). Thus, they provide insights into the learning process of the record writer. They can be studied by the diarist her- / himself or by someone else, for example, by a researcher (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 293). Cohen and Hosenfeld (1981, p. 286) differentiate between three different types of introspective data collection: concurrent introspection, immediate retrospec‐ tion and delayed retrospection. In diaries, all three types may be applied. McDo‐ nough and McDonough (1997, p. 122) note that a diary “is not only a re-creation of immediate experience but also a written record”. In reading diaries, readers at times react spontaneously to what they are reading but the writing process also retards the reading process and thus promotes reflection. Im individuellen Leser-Tagebuch [sic] selbst stehen impulsive und reflexive Anteile nebeneinander. In schnellen spontanen Einträgen kann der Leser Eindrücke gelegen‐ tlich so festhalten, wie er sie während der Lektüre wahrgenommen hat. Durch die Versprachlichung ist er in der Regel jedoch gezwungen, über den zu formulierenden Gedanken zu reflektieren, wodurch zusätzliche kognitive Prozesse in Gang kommen. [In the individual reader diary itself, impulsive and reflective parts stand side by side. In fast, spontaneous entries the reader can occasionally capture impressions in the same way s / he perceived them during the reading process. By putting it into language, s / he is, however, forced to reflect upon the thoughts which are formulated, through which additional cognitive processes are triggered.] (Mosner, 2000, p. 85; my transla‐ tion) Diary studies in general exhibit a low degree of monitoring by the researcher. They “leave it to the informants to decide what, how much, when and how they provide introspective reports” (Færch & Kasper, 1987, p. 16). Nevertheless, 5.5 Research Instruments 121 <?page no="122"?> varying degrees of structuring can be discerned in such studies. Some forgo any type of guidelines whereas others give guiding questions the record writers can tackle in their responses. In this research project, I opted for a reading diary with facultative guiding questions and a pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading section. Guiding questions and prompts offer students support in formulating written responses to the text and they also encourage students to take the endeavour seriously (Mosner, 2000, p. 82). Nevertheless, it has to be acknowledged that they can re‐ strict students in their responses. The pilot phase of this research project showed that the majority of the students who were not provided any guiding questions and only asked to note down their responses to the text in the form of an open-ended narrative, wrote very short and shallow reading diary entries. The students who received prompts and questions, on the other hand, wrote more detailed entries in their diaries. Thus, I decided to provide the students with guiding questions and prompts in my study. However, to keep the level of ex‐ ternal influence low, only open questions were formulated. Besides, the students were informed that the questions should be understood as stimuli and that they were not required to answer them all. Instead, they could also go beyond the questions and write about other reading experiences they encountered. There‐ fore, they served as guidelines but the students were still free to decide what to write in their reading diaries. The students made their reading diary entries in German. The decision to choose this language was consciously taken because all the students partici‐ pating in the study were fluent in this language. The limited English proficiency of some of the learners might have led to difficulties in expressing their thoughts and emotions in the target language which in turn could have influenced their responses (see Fäcke, 2006, p. 73). Thus, all diary entries, with exception of the creative tasks in the post-reading section, were written in German. The re‐ sponses to the creative writing tasks were done in English because these tasks required working with the English texts, i.e. writing another ending for the story, changing the narrative perspective of the story or writing a letter to one of the characters. The students were asked to write in their reading diaries before, while and after reading the literary text (see Appendices E and F). Before reading, the students could, for example, describe their expectations concerning the text or elaborate on their prior knowledge about the topic as it was reflected in the title or the book cover. Thus, the students were encouraged to activate schemata prior to reading which could aid their understanding process during reading. Entries in this section of the reading diary intended to make students’ expect‐ 5 Research Design and Methodology 122 <?page no="123"?> ations visible for the researcher and give further insights into the students’ prior knowledge. During the reading process, the prompts in the reading diary aimed at obscurities the learners came across while reading, the emotions which the literary text evoked in the readers and their favourite quotes of the narratives. In this part of the reading diary, the students were encouraged to think about what is happening in the story and to simultaneously note down their thoughts and feelings. The intention here was to provide insights into the reader’s thoughts and feelings which emerged during the reading process. In the ‘after-reading’ section of the diary, the students were then encouraged to ret‐ rospectively reflect on their reading, on expectations that might have been con‐ firmed or changed, and on aspects they particularly liked about the text and those which they disliked. They could also compare the content of the text with their own lives. Moreover, they were encouraged to move beyond the text and their own reactions and reflect upon their reading process. They could, for ex‐ ample, note down whether the text was difficult for them and why this might have been the case. Thus, the focus of this section of the reading journal was placed on the reader’s retrospective reflection of the reading process. Other post-reading activities consisted of text specific tasks. For each text, I provided two analytical and two creative prompts from which the students could choose. These tasks differed from text to text and required detailed understanding of the text. The analytical tasks focused on the meaning of certain paragraphs, the actions of characters and the reader’s own opinion concerning these parts of the text. The creative writing tasks (e.g. letters by characters, dialogues between characters, etc.) required imagining, empathising, and comparing. There are several reasons why reading diaries are used in this study. First of all, they can document the whole reading experience of the students, whereas other introspective methods of data collection such as thinking-aloud commen‐ taries are usually only able to focus on short texts or parts of longer texts. Thus, reading diaries give insights into the students’ reading process of longer literary texts (Fäcke, 2006, p. 73). Moreover, reading diaries which are written over a longer period of time also make students’ progress during the reading process visible (Mosner, 2000, p. 93). In case of the extensive reading project which was conducted over a period of three months, the documentation of students’ re‐ sponses gave insights into the developments students went through while reading different texts of Ugandan children’s fiction. Another argument in sup‐ port of reading diaries as research instruments is the low degree of structuring and monitoring by the researcher. This may encourage students’ autonomy and confirm their anonymity, which in turn might lead to more open and honest answers than, for example, in thinking-aloud commentaries. Diary studies in 5.5 Research Instruments 123 <?page no="124"?> general also leave room for individuality and thus they “can give teachers and researchers insights on the incredible diversity of students to be found even within a homogenous language classroom” (Bailey, 1983, p. 98). Making use of reading diaries as research instruments, however, also con‐ fronts the researcher with a number of problematic aspects. It is, for example, frequently criticised that diary entries do not necessarily reflect “what was really going on at the time the recordings were made” (Nunan, 1994, p. 123). Since the students are aware that their diaries are read by the researcher, they may address their responses to her / him. They may, for example, exaggerate or withhold data and present their responses in such a manner that they think is viewed favour‐ able by the researcher. When evaluating the responses of the students, therefore, influences of social desirability have to be considered. However, it has to be noted that as in the case of questionnaires the lack of face-to-face contact be‐ tween the researcher and the students might facilitate responses to sensitive matters better than the direct contact in, for example, an interview. Another aspect which can be both advantageous and problematic is the low degree of structuring and control of reading diaries. Writing reading diary entries requires much time and commitment, which some students wish to avoid. This also be‐ came apparent in my study as a number of students wrote very short diary entries and two students did not write any entries in their reading diaries at all. 5.5.3 Interviews To validate the data which were collected via the questionnaires and reading diaries, and to gain a deeper insight into the students’ reading experiences, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Since the primary aim of this re‐ search project is not to measure responses and make generalisations from data but rather to capture the uniqueness of the individual case, a rather open-ended interview format was required. I therefore made use of guiding questions but still followed topical trajectories which strayed from the guide whenever nec‐ essary: Semi-structured interviews are based on a set of prepared, mostly open-ended ques‐ tions, which guide the interview and the interviewer. This interview guide should be applied flexibly and leave room for the interviewee’s perspective and topics in addition to the questions. (Flick, 2014, pp. 197-198) According to Nunan (1994, p. 150), benefits of the semi-structured interview are that on the one hand “it gives the interviewee a degree of power and control over the course of the interview” and on the other hand “the interviewer a great 5 Research Design and Methodology 124 <?page no="125"?> deal of flexibility.” Therefore, it may permit a profound and deep insight into peoples’ lives. In order to enable the students to talk freely about their experiences, the interviews were conducted in German. The setting was a classroom and the teacher was not present during the interview. The interviews were tape-re‐ corded and I took additional notes. Questions in the interviews were open and thus allowed expansion and elab‐ oration in the students’ responses. In order to facilitate comparability of the responses across the interviewees the questions were arranged in topic areas and a number of standardised questions were addressed in all interviews. I made use of an interview guide in which the topics and issues to be covered in the interviews were listed. This outline “increases the comprehensiveness of the data and makes data collection somewhat systematic for each respondent” (Patton, 1980, p. 206). At the same time, it facilitates that interviews “remain fairly conversational and situational” (ibid.). In the information phase, the interview partners were thanked for their par‐ ticipation and offered something to drink, after which the purpose of the inter‐ view was explained. The students were assured that their anonymity would be protected and it was stressed that there were no right or wrong answers to the questions. The informants were encouraged to talk from their own perspectives and experiences. In addition, the students were informed about the time frame of the interview and invited to take their time and talk about their experiences in detail. The topic areas listed in the interview guide were then addressed. The fol‐ lowing example of an interview guide used with Rebecca (case 11) may illustrate the procedure further: 1. Biographical data: personality and family, hobbies, experiences with lan‐ guages and cultures 2. General experiences in the reading project: reflections upon expectations 3. Responses to individual books / stories: most impressive and least im‐ pressive text, encounters with foreignness, empathy with characters 4. Global topics: HIV / AIDS , child soldiers, gender issues 5. Conversations about literary texts with others 6. Further suggestions for reading project 7. Reflections upon changes in perspectives 8. Reflections upon school partnership with a Ugandan school The interview was chosen as a research instrument for this study because it produces data with greater depth than other data collection methods (Cohen et 5.5 Research Instruments 125 <?page no="126"?> al., 2011, p. 411). In an interview, opportunities for explaining ambiguities, making clarifications and elaborations are given. This helps to make the indi‐ vidual perspectives of the different subjects visible. On the other hand, interviews are open to subjectivity and interviewer bias (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 411). Therefore, the person who is interviewing has to recognise her / his own bias and has to avoid “being judgemental” (Patton, 1980, p. 421). According to Nunan (1994, p. 150), “one source of bias is the asym‐ metrical relationship between the participants”. Interviewer and interviewee do not have the same rights and power and this may affect the interview. Therefore, the researcher should show maximum respect in an interview. Another source of bias can be the lack of anonymity of interviews. Because of the face-to-face contact with the researcher, interviews are particularly susceptible to social de‐ sirability bias. Sudman and Bradburn (1982, pp. 32-33) list a number of topics which are desirable and therefore often over-reported in interviews: being a good citizen (e.g. voting, taking a role in community activities), being a well-in‐ formed and cultural person (e.g. reading newspapers), fulfilling moral and social responsibilities (e.g. giving to charity). Topics such as illness and disabilities, illegal or contra-normative behaviour and financial status on the other hand are rather underreported in interviews, Sudman and Bradburn explain. The re‐ searcher has to be aware of this social desirability bias and consider it in her / his analysis. 5.6 Procedure The present chapter gives an overview of the research procedure. It elaborates on the preparations that were needed, provides a short insight into the pilot phase and finally explains the design of the extensive reading project. 5.6.1 Preparations To prepare for the reading project study, I first established contact with the head teachers of the two schools. Both head teachers gave their permission to have one of their Year 9 forms participate in this study. The two teachers in cooper‐ ation with whom the reading project was conducted were not known to me beforehand. After being introduced to the basic principles of the reading project, their interest in the project was triggered and they agreed to participate with their Year 9 form in the study. Their willingness to work so closely with me is 5 Research Design and Methodology 126 <?page no="127"?> highly appreciated, especially since no compensatory measures other than an insight into the management of extensive reading projects could be provided. After briefing the teachers, the first contact with the students was established and they were familiarised with the project as well as the data protection reg‐ ulations. In a letter, both the students and their guardians were informed about the aims and procedures of the research project. Furthermore, they were told that they could withdraw from participation at any stage of the study. Forty-five students of both classes and also their guardians gave their written informed consent for participation in the study. This also included their permission for the recording of the interviews. 5.6.2 Piloting Pre-testing of research instruments is crucial to their success; it increases their reliability, validity and practicability. Therefore, before the questionnaires and reading diaries were used with the participants of my study, I piloted them. The questionnaires were completed by 50 Year 9 students in two different schools. The pilot phase helped to check the clarity of the questionnaire items and gave feedback on the types of questions I asked. The results encouraged me to change some of the formerly closed items into an open format instead. More‐ over, it gave me a picture of the time which is required to complete the ques‐ tionnaire which was essential for planning the first lessons of the research project. A group of ten Year 9 students from school A, in which my study was con‐ ducted, volunteered to pilot the reading diaries. Each of them read one of the narrative texts and noted down her or his reading experiences in the diary. I also included a short questionnaire in the diaries on which students could write their feedback concerning the reading diary. The results showed, inter alia, that the summary of the story or novel which I had asked the students to write could be omitted and that the prompts and questions listed in the reading diary should be numbered so that students would be able to answer them more easily. On the basis of those comments, the reading diary was refined. 5.6.3 Reading Project Design Over a period of 3 months (February 2015-April 2015 school A and May 2015-July 2015 school B) the students were reading Ugandan children’s fiction. Their reading expectations and experiences were noted down in questionnaires, reading journals and expressed in interviews. 5.6 Procedure 127 <?page no="128"?> 6 These texts were adapted from a Ugandan Social Studies school book for Primary Five (Twinomujuni, Twinomuhangi, Munywa, & Ajuru, 2013). Before the reading project started, I introduced myself to the students. Then the class was briefly familiarised with Ugandan geography and history. Due to time constraints, only four school lessons could be used for the introduction phase. These lessons were carried out in cooperation with the English teachers. In the first lesson, students received a worksheet with several questions con‐ cerning the geography of Uganda. They had to find the respective answers by studying three different maps which were taken from a Ugandan school book (Tumuhairwe, 2013) and gave an overview of (1) the physical features, (2) the administrative districts, and (3) Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. In lessons two and three, the students worked in groups and read a short text 6 about one stage of Ugandan history. Group A dealt with early history ( AD 1000-1700) and group B looked into the history of traders, explorers and missionaries (1800-1900). Group C addressed the period of colonialism (1890-1962), whereas group D dealt with post-independence (1962-today). In order to get a general overview of Ugandan history, the students were then asked to fill in some of the most important dates on a timeline of Ugandan history. In the next lesson, the students were introduced to the reading project pro‐ cedure. They were provided with a book box containing 90 Ugandan children’s stories and novels, 18 different titles with five copies of each. The stories and books had already been categorised by their linguistic level and assigned with a green dot (easy linguistic level), yellow dot (medium linguistic level), red dot (difficult linguistic level) by me. The following criteria were considered in this process: semantic density, cognitive structure, presentation (e.g. font size) and length of the text (Biebricher, 2008, p. 23). The book box was put in the classroom and two students were appointed classroom librarians so that the students could borrow books at any time, independently of their English lessons. The students were instructed to pick a story / novel according to their own interest and mastery of the English language from the box and to note down their reading expectations and experiences before, while and after the reading process in reading diaries. In the period of three months, the students were expected to read at least three different texts. They were provided with a reader pass on which they collected their teacher’s signature whenever they handed in a reading diary. After having read a certain number of narratives (three, five or ten), the students earned a small prize, which motivated them also extrinsi‐ cally to read more. It was pointed out that the students could put down a book 5 Research Design and Methodology 128 <?page no="129"?> 7 The feedback was given in the form of short written appreciations of the reading diary entries and / or encouragements to reflect more. The reading diary entries were not corrected and not marked. they did not like and they were encouraged not to look up every unknown word in the dictionary. Most of the reading process took place outside the classroom, as part of the students’ homework / free time. But once a month a reading lesson was held in class with the teacher. In their reading lessons, the students could continue reading the narrative they had started reading at home and also ask questions concerning the reading project in general. Once a month the students received my feedback on their reading diaries. 7 At the end of the project, two lessons were provided in which some of the questions students had put down in the reading diaries and which had not yet been answered were addressed. Students could reflect upon the reading project and talk about their reading experiences. The project was concluded with a parents’ evening at which the students presented some of their favourite stories in a creative way (e.g. in a short film, a talk show, etc.) and so gave further insights into their reading experiences. For legal reasons, these learner products could, however, not be included in the analysis. 5.7 Data Analysis The present chapter gives an overview of the data analysis process. The data was first prepared for analysis, i.e. typewritten and transcribed, after which thematic coding (Flick, 1996) was applied. Further insights into the data analysis procedure are given in the following. 5.7.1 Data Preparation Before analysing the data, the questionnaires and reading diaries had to be typewritten and interviews transcribed. In order to meet the high demands of empirical research, it is necessary to follow rules for interview transcription. The system of rules which is applied by the researcher always depends on the aim of the research project (Kuckartz, Dresing, Rädiker, & Stefer, 2007, p. 27). Moreover, it has to be considered that transcribing a text always implies that some information gets lost: 5.7 Data Analysis 129 <?page no="130"?> Transcriptions inevitably lose data from the original encounter. This problem is com‐ pounded, for a transcription represents the translation from one set of rule systems (oral and interpersonal) to another very remote rule system (written language). (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 426) Thus, careful considerations are required about what type of transcript is needed as a basis for later analysis. In the case of my research project, the focus was on the content; what the students actually said in the interviews. But in order to analyse their mental processes further it was also of interest, how they said it. Therefore, non-verbal communication such as pauses, laughter, sighs and em‐ phases on words were also transcribed. Furthermore, mistakes which the stu‐ dents made in their expressions were not corrected, misspellings are, however, indicated with [sic]. Other features which were not in the focus of interest such as intonation or dialect and the exact length of pauses were omitted. Including them would only have made the text too complex and thus distracted from the essential interest of the study. My transcription system was based on the following transcription rules adapted from Kuckartz et al. (2007, pp. 27-28) and Dresing et al. (2015, pp. 29-31): 1. Literal, not phonetic transcription is used. Dialects are not transcribed. 2. Approximations to written standard are made (e.g. contractions are not transcribed). 3. Words or sentences which are discontinuous or stutters are transcribed and indicated by an oblique stroke / . 4. Word doublings are always transcribed. 5. Pauses are indicated by suspension marks in parentheses (…). 6. Affirmative utterances by the interviewer (mhm, aha, etc.) are not tran‐ scribed if they do not interrupt the flow of speech of the interviewee. 7. Words which are emphasised are CAPITALISED . 8. Non-verbal comments are transcribed in brackets (lacht [laughs], seufzt [sighs]). 9. Incomprehensible words are indicated as follows (unv. [inc.]). 10. Inserted comments by the researcher are put into square brackets [zeigt auf “ JJ ” [points at “ JJ ”]]. In every transcript, the interviewer was marked by “I” for interviewer and the interviewed person by “P” for participant. After the transcription was com‐ pleted, the texts were anonymised. All students’ names in this study are pseu‐ donyms. 5 Research Design and Methodology 130 <?page no="131"?> 5.7.2 Structure of the Data Analysis Phase The analysis of my data is based on principles of thematic coding (Flick, 1996, 2014, p. 423). In this approach, data analysis is applied in two stages: First, in‐ dividual cases in the study are described and a system of categories is developed for them. Then, gradually, categories are cross-checked and a thematic structure across cases emerges. After analyzing the first cases, you then cross-check the categories and thematic do‐ mains identified for each case. From this cross-checking a thematic structure results; this will then underlie the analysis of further cases in order to increase their compa‐ rability. (Flick, 2014, p. 425) Following this principle, I first focused on the individual cases of my study which I selected for in-depth analysis. Here, I analysed the data gained through the different data collection methods separately and then triangulated them for val‐ idation. I looked for patterns, inconsistencies and unanswered questions in the material of the individual cases. The responses and my interpretation of these cases are presented in the first part of my results (see Chapter 6.1). Then, in the second part of my results (see Chapter 6.2), themes and patterns across individ‐ uals are displayed. For this section, I compared the cases and analysed corre‐ spondences and differences between them. Here, I also included responses of cases which had not been selected for in-depth analysis to add other perspectives to the issue. The results in this part are presented according to their relevance to particular themes and research questions. The advantage of this multi-stage procedure is that it both allows deeper insights into individual cases and comparisons and amalgamation of key issues across all cases. Since my study focuses on the uniqueness of the individuals, it is important that the whole picture of the cases is presented and the coherence of the individual’s responses is preserved. By looking into individual cases first, the study “remains sensitive and open to the specific contents of each individual case and the social group with regard to the issue under study” (Flick, 2014, p. 428). At the same time, however, this procedure helps to gain a wider view on the subject matter by looking at the thematic structure across cases. 5.7.3 Coding Procedure Thematic coding focuses on recurring patterns (themes) across data and resorts to open and selective coding. Thus, it is an inductive approach which combines ideas of thematic analysis and grounded theory (Flick, 2014, p. 423). In grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), coding is an analytical process which aims at 5.7 Data Analysis 131 <?page no="132"?> generating theory. Codes are usually data-driven; they derive directly from the material. Coding consists of three steps: open, axial, and selective coding. In thematic coding, only open and selective coding is applied. In the present study, open coding was used in the first exploration of the data. Strauss and Corbin (1990, p. 74) define it as “the analytic process by which con‐ cepts are identified and developed in terms of their properties and dimensions”. In open coding, first the data are closely examined for relevant passages and similar concepts are then grouped together to form categories. More than one code may hereby be attached to one statement. During this coding process, notes and memos are written which explain the content of codes and contain obser‐ vations and thoughts to further promote the development of theory. In order to gain a deeper insight into students’ responses, I particularly made use of in-vivo coding in this phase. In this way, I gradually built a categorisation system. My inductive coding procedure was, however, complemented by a deductive ap‐ proach. Many of the main categories in my coding frame directly result from the research questions and are therefore rather concept-driven. Thus, my coding frame both includes data-driven and concept-driven elements. In a second step, I submitted the data to selective coding. This is the final stage of coding in grounded theory and involves the identification of core codes which results in the formulation of theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). In thematic coding, the goal of selective coding is, however, “less at developing a grounded core category across all cases than at generating thematic domains and categories for the single case first” (Flick, 2014, p. 425). Finally, categories were cross checked and a thematic structure across all cases developed. To ensure a higher degree of transparency, I want to illustrate my coding procedure with an example. Niko makes the following statement in the inter‐ view: Ich dachte vorher, dass die/ dass man bei den Autoren vielleicht ein bisschen erkennt, dass die die englische Sprache vielleicht nicht so beherrschen, weil ich dachte immer, da unten wird das nicht so gelernt. Da unten ja (lacht). Da wird das nicht so wichtig genommen oder da ist die Schulbildung halt nicht so einfach wie hier, dass man ir‐ gendwie in die Schule geht und so. Aber ich finde das kann man halt nicht herauslesen, keine Chance, dass es irgendwie/ dass es irgendwie jetzt nicht Engländer oder Amer‐ ikaner sind, die das schreiben oder Leute, die halt die englische Sprache super studiert haben zum Beispiel, sondern da erkennt man gar nichts. Also das finde ich, äh/ hat mich überrascht. Ich hätte davor gedacht, dass sind so ja gebrochene Geschichten, die man dann so anbietet, aber das war halt nicht so, also (…) [I thought before that one may notice that the authors do not have a good command of the English language because I always thought that they do not really learn that down there. Down there 5 Research Design and Methodology 132 <?page no="133"?> 8 I have translated all the direct quotes taken form the questionnaires, reading diaries and interviews of the students from German into English. The English translations do not reproduce the exact structures of the German originals but focus primarily on the content instead. Therefore, interjections, word doublings, pauses, mistakes, etc. which the students make in their expressions and also non-verbal comments or comments that were inserted by me are only translated when considered important for the meaning of the sentence. It has to be noted that the translation of the students’ quotes is not unproblematic as it already involves an interpretation of the data. In the research process, deviating translations of sentences may arise and need to be reflected upon and discussed. This can, however, also be of benefit for the research process because it necessitates a close analysis of the statements. 9 CATEGORIES are written in capital letters in this study. (laughs). There it is not taken seriously or the school education there is not that easy, that one may go to school and so. But I think you cannot discern, no chance that it is not an English or American person writing it, or people who have studied the language very well, for example, but you don’t notice anything. Well, I think that surprised me. I thought before that broken stories would be offered to us but this was not the case.] (Interview; my translation 8 ) In the first phase of analysis, I applied the codes ‘surprise about good English’, ‘irritation / amusement about his own expression’ , ‘to speak English well not considered important in Uganda’, ‘to get a school education in Uganda more difficult than in Germany’, ‘American or English English as norm’, ‘expectation of narratives in broken English’ to this passage. Later on in the coding process, these codes were rearranged and grouped together to the following main cate‐ gories: PRIOR KNOWLEDGE , NORM , PERTURBATION , COMPARISON and REFLECTION . 9 Multiple assignments of one code to different categories were possible. In my data analysis process, I made use of MAXQDA 11 (2012). This software was employed at various stages: I used it to store the different documents, for coding, memo writing, theory building and finally for data display. Particularly for the retrieval of thematically relevant sections of the texts, MAXQDA 11 was very helpful. All the text coded the same way could quickly be collected and then the core code determined. In addition, I made regular use of lexical searching which is a useful tool in MAXQDA 11 for finding occurrences of key terms and examining the context in which they are mentioned. Also the Code-Matrix-Browser with the help of which codes in the text may be displayed visually proved helpful. From the created matrix it was then possible to extract information, for example, to find out which of the cases has many or few coded segments for a certain category. 5.7 Data Analysis 133 <?page no="134"?> 10 Both scholars research in the field of intercultural learning (see Kianiparsa, 2015; Vali, 2015). 5.8 Critical Reflection upon Study Design My research project requires critical reflecion concerning various aspects. A major concern when analysing qualitative data is the subjectivity of interpre‐ tation. Data is very rich and therefore necessitates selection and ordering by the researcher. In addition to this, the interpretation may involve personal bias: In selecting, organizing, analysing, reporting and interpreting data the researcher is faced with several decisions and issues. For example, there is a risk that, since data and interpretation are unavoidably combined (the double hermeneutic), the subjective views of the researcher might lead him or her being overselective, unrepresentative and unfair to the situation in hand in the choice of data and the interpretation placed on them. (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 540) The issue of researcher bias can be addressed by the determination of an inter‐ coder agreement, which is “an index of the consistency with which different people categorize the same data. […] A simple percentage is calculated by di‐ viding the number of times upon which coders agree by the total number of items that were coded” (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 428). In general, a consistency of 85 % is expected to reach an intercoder agreement. As I consider this approach to be rather quantitative in nature, which does not comply with my open ap‐ proach, an intercoder agreement as the above definition describes it was not calculated in my study. Instead, an agreement between researchers was reached in the following way: A second and a third person, Parnaz Kianiparsa and Sara Vali 10 , looked through the whole data and my interpretations. While doing so, they commented on issues they would have interpreted differently and pointed to aspects that could be added or omitted. In a second step, we discussed dis‐ crepancies and uncertainties. This procedure may be referred to as dialogic val‐ idation in the research group (see Fäcke, 2006, p. 273). Even if interpretations of data are discussed in a group of researchers, it is still considered important that the researchers remain alert to their own poten‐ tial bias. Particularly when applying a postcolonial perspective to cultural and global learning, it is regarded essential to be aware of one’s position (in my case white, Western, female) and to reflect upon it. I am aware of my own cultural determination and tried to remain conscious of the subjectivity of my interpre‐ tations during the process of data analysis. The second and third researcher, Kianiparsa and Vali, who looked through the data have a Middle Eastern back‐ 5 Research Design and Methodology 134 <?page no="135"?> ground and could, therefore, add non-Western perspectives to the interpreta‐ tions. Despite the necessity of reflecting upon problematic aspects linked to the principle of subjectivity, it is, however, also important to point to the benefits of a subjectivist approach in research. Particularly against the background of constructivist approaches to understanding, which question the belief that the world can be experienced objectively (see Chapter 2.6), subjectivity is seen as a source of knowledge that may be drawn on to better understand the subject of a study. Therefore, the subjectivity of a qualitative study may be a potential weakness which requires reflection but it is also an immense strength. Furthermore, the factor of social desirability is frequently brought up when limitations of empirical studies are probed. Alter (2015, p. 14) criticises that “scholars seem to assume that students’ answers in the classroom reflect their unfiltered interand transcultural competences detached from teachers’ or so‐ ciety’s expectations”. She points out that students express themselves in a dem‐ ocratic and institutionalised environment and therefore their answers are sub‐ ject to social desirability. I agree that the problem of social desirability is inherent in all empirical studies and particularly in studies that involve the analysis of students’ attitudes. Still, I believe that this should not be the reason for neglecting research in this field. Empirical studies are essential for the further development of cultural and global learning. The risk of social desirability may be reduced through certain factors such as guaranteed anonymity and the choice and com‐ bination of certain research instruments, which I tried to take into account in my research project. Nevertheless, I am aware of potential biases and remained conscious of them during the analysis and interpretation of the data. In the case of my research project, the controversial debate on the assessment and evaluation of cultural competences also necessitates elaboration. It is fre‐ quently criticised that frameworks and curricula list intercultural (communica‐ tive) competence as a core competence of education but neither offer further descriptions nor subdivide it into different levels (see Hu, 2008). Cultural com‐ petences are very complex and located on cognitive, affective and pragmatic levels. Whereas knowledge may be assessed fairly easily, the evaluation of skills and attitudes is very difficult. The aim of the present study is, however, not to measure students’ cultural or global competence and assign them to certain levels but rather to gain insights into their individual ways of dealing with the texts. 5.8 Critical Reflection upon Study Design 135 <?page no="136"?> 1 For a better readability of the text, I decided against numbering the 89 questionnaires, 197 reading diaries and 24 interviews in my study and also against providing line num‐ bers for the quotes that I have extracted from the documents. Instead, I give the par‐ ticular student as a reference and point to the document I have taken the quote from (e.g. Niko, reading diary for “JJ”). In cases in which I consider it important to make it transparent when in the reading process a student has uttered a certain statement, I refer to the page of the reading diary or explain that this expression has been made at the beginning or the end of the interview, for example. 6 Research Findings: Cases The next two chapters focus on the findings of my research. First, I will present the twelve case analyses that were conducted and then, in Chapter 7, the dif‐ ferent cases are compared and the thematic structure across cases is focalised. Detailed case analyses have been conducted for twelve participants of this study. Each case analysis is introduced with a quote that is considered repre‐ sentative for the individual case. Furthermore, the case analysis contains a case description which includes biographical information about the student that is important in the widest sense with regard to the research question. It also entails information concerning the reading background, i.e. reading competence and reading attitudes of the student and her / his prior knowledge. Prior knowledge here refers to the students’ associations and expectations regarding Uganda and Ugandan children’s fiction before starting the reading project. In addition, the student’s mental processes, i.e. construction, deconstruction, comparison and reflection processes, are presented. Some of these processes focus on so called ‘global topics’ such as HIV / AIDS , wars involving child soldiers or gender issues. The case analyses are not presented in a particular order, the sequence is instead random. The Table 1 in Chapter 6.13 provides an overview of all the twelve case analyses that were conducted. 6.1 Niko “NORMALE Denkweise, also normal, wenn ich jetzt von meiner ausgeh [NORMAL way of thinking, well normal, when I base it on mine]” (interview) 1 <?page no="137"?> 2 Concerning the cultural background of the students, I primarily rely on the description of the students in the interview, i.e. whether they describe themselves as monoculturally or biculturally socialised (see also Chapter 7.1.3). 6.1.1 Case Description Niko is 15 years old. He is an only child and lives with his parents in a small city in Bavaria where he attends school B. He describes himself as monocultural 2 regarding his family background. Niko likes sports: He takes lessons in taek‐ wondo and enjoys playing basketball in his free time. Niko is interested in languages, particularly in the English language because it is spoken widely across the globe. He is not enthusiastic about French for the reason that he dislikes the sound of the language. But he also likes Latin due to his interest in the ancient Roman culture. In addition, Niko speaks some Greek. He has many Greek friends and regularly spends his holidays in Greece. He enjoys travelling in general; besides Greece he has visited Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic on his holidays but he has never been outside of Europe. 6.1.2 Reading Background Niko does not like reading and does not read frequently. Responding to the questionnaire, he indicates that he is interested in science-fiction and that he does not like love stories or books that are too thick. In the interview, he states that if he reads, he reads mainly newspaper articles; he only reads books when he is forced to do so. He is of the opinion that the plot of a book is often pre‐ dictable and he does not like that: Hm, also ich finde, dass dieses vorher/ dass das so vorhergesagt ist. Also ein Buch ist ja, sagen wir mal/ wenn man jetzt nicht gerade irgenwie so etwas Komisches liest, dann ist es ja, dann ist ja klar, dass es sozusagen ein Happy End wird, kann man sagen und deswegen ist es für mich so, dass es eigentlich klar wird, wenn es heißt, ja am Anfang passiert das und das, dass es dann am Ende wieder gut wird. [I think that a book is predictable. If you do not exactly read something strange, then it is clear that it has a happy ending and, therefore, it is clear for me that when something happens at the beginning, in the end it will be fine again.] (Interview) Niko has never read a literary text in English before, only “Dokumentationen [documentaries]” (first questionnaire) and scientific books and he indicates in the first questionnaire that he does not like reading in English. During the reading project, he expresses no difficulties in understanding the texts. Niko read three short stories (“ JJ ”, “First Kiss” and “The Hair Cut”) and one short 6.1 Niko 137 <?page no="138"?> drama (A Testing of Strength) but he only handed in two reading diaries. His reading diary entries are very short and rather shallow. He is oriented towards the guiding questions and answers most of the questions with only a single sentence. In the interview, Niko clarifies many of his responses in more details and shows that he has dealt with the texts in more depth than it appears in the reading diaries. Although Niko does not express himself in an overtly enthusiastic manner in the reading diaries and the interview, a general appreciation of the texts becomes apparent. Despite his indication that he does not like reading love stories, Niko states that he enjoyed the short story “ JJ ” most of all the narratives that he read in the project. He first expected a “typische Liebesgeschichte [typical love story]” (reading diary p.1). After completing the story, however, he discovered that it has a deeper meaning because of Julie’s illness and therefore he describes it as rather uncommon (reading diary, p. 3). He likes it for this deviance and partic‐ ularly admires the positive reactions of Julie’s friends to her revelation that she is HIV -positive. In addition, he appreciates the fact that its plot is quite straight‐ forward: “Die Handlung ist angenehm, da sie sich auf wenige Personen beschränkt und sich durchgehend mit der Beziehung zwischen J & J befasst. [The plot is en‐ joyable because it focuses on just a few people and deals with the relationship between J & J throughout]” (reading diary for “ JJ ”). In the final questionnaire, Niko states that he liked the reading project in general. He particularly enjoyed the introduction lessons and also evaluates the texts as “sehr interessant [very interesting]”. 6.1.3 Prior Knowledge and Expectations Before the reading project started, Niko imagined the Ugandan way of life as rather simple (“einfache Lebensweise [simple life-style]”(first questionnaire)). Other associations that he had concerning Uganda were “freundliche Menschen, tropisches Klima, wenig Wasser, viele Kinder, Schwarzhäutige [friendly people, tropical climate, little water, many children, black-skinned people]” (first ques‐ tionnaire). He also notes in the first questionnaire that he is particularly inter‐ ested in getting to know whether young people in Uganda are content with their situation despite being aware that other people are better off than them. In this statement, hierarchical thought structures become apparent since he seems to look at his own way of life as superior. In the first questionnaire, Niko indicates that he gets information about Af‐ rican countries from the news and that this is confined to catastrophes such as the outbreaks of diseases. He asserts that besides this, he practically never hears 6 Research Findings: Cases 138 <?page no="139"?> about African countries. Thus, Niko seems to perceive his knowledge about the African continent as rather one-sided and limited. 6.1.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Several times in the interview, Niko expresses his interest in cultural differences and an orientation towards cultural standards. In the first questionnaire, he shows interest in participating in a student exchange with Uganda because he would like to get to know this “fremde Kultur [foreign culture]”. He is particu‐ larly interested in African cultures because he hears so little about them, he states. Therefore, he considers this a unique opportunity. Furthermore, Niko likes the Greek way of life, perceiving it as very different from the rest of Europe. He is particularly interested in his observation that Greek people take their time and start working at 4 pm which he does not consider common for other parts of Europe. His focus of interest, therefore, seems to be on countries and cultures outside of Western Europe. Also with reference to African countries he is par‐ ticularly interested in comparing the life-style there with the one in Germany and in discovering (i.e. constructing) differences: Da interessiert es mich dann auch wie die so leben. Also diese Sachen so vergleichen, wo dann die Unterschiede sind, das finde ich schon interessant. Weil doch die Welt sich sehr unterscheidet, also (…) Man ist ja nicht in Deutschland und man geht jetzt nicht in einen dreißig Kilometer entfernten Ort, sondern das sind schon andere Sa‐ chen, das ist schon weiter weg und so. Andere Länder, andere Sitten alles. Also das ist schon interessant. [I am interested in how they live. Well, to compare things, where the differences are, I find that interesting. Because the world is very different. One isn’t in Germany and one doesn’t go to a place which is 30 kilometers from here but those are different issues, that is further away. Other countries, other customs. Well, that is interesting.] (Interview) To his surprise, Niko finds more similarities than differences between his own life and the lives of the characters in the narratives. In the interview, Niko ex‐ presses himself as astonished about the circumstance that the short stories he read deal with topics such as love which are also very popular in his own German setting. He expected narratives that describe what he calls the simple life in Uganda, such as stories about people working in the fields: Mit diesen Liebesgeschichten, das sind ja, wie soll ich sagen, dass sind ja/ das gibt es ja hier auch überall. Also wenn die sagen, ja so irgendwie die gehen auf das Feld und arbeiten zum Beispiel, dann wäre es etwas, das wäre dann anders, dann hätte ich keinen Bezug dazu gehabt. [Those love stories are pretty common here as well. If they 6.1 Niko 139 <?page no="140"?> talked about going to the field to work, then it would have been something different, something I would not have been able to relate to.] (Interview) Niko notes that it is exactly this embeddedness in a “normale Denkweise [normal way of thinking]” (interview) that makes it relatively easy for him to relate to the stories. Had the narratives talked about something that had appeared foreign to him, they would also have been less relevant to him. He also points out that it helps him to empathise with the characters when the situations described in the narratives could actually also be part of his own life in Germany. He indicates that during the reading process it was relatively easy for him to put himself in the position of the characters because what they experience is quite close to his own life: Also es ist alles sehr, ja so wie, wie wir es uns vorstellen, nicht so jetzt wie die eigenen/ mit eigenen Sitten […] Dadurch kann ich mich halt gut darauf hineinversetzen. Also, wenn jetzt die Situation fremder wäre, könnte ich es nicht so gut, zum Beispiel. Aber die Situation ist halt sehr an mein Leben, wie ich mir das normal, zum Beispiel, vor‐ stelle, angelehnt, deswegen ging das eigentlich gut oder so. [Everything is the way we imagine it, not really with its own customs. Because of this I can put myself in the position of the characters well. If the situation was more foreign, it would be more difficult. The situation is very close to my life, how I imagine it as normal and because of this it worked quite well.] (Interview) Niko indicates that he could particularly well empathise with Julie in “ JJ ” be‐ cause he can understand her urge to tell the others that she is HIV -positive. He thinks that he would have acted similarly in her position: Ja, weil die dann [unv.] also da waren ja verschiedene emotionale Situationen. Am Ende ging es ihr besser, weil sie das gesagt hat und weil alle hinter ihr stehen. Das kann ich schon verstehen, weil ich würde es glaube ich auch so/ Wenn das mich so bedrücken würde/ Ja, wenn ich so etwas hätte, das kann ich ja nur jetzt vermuten, aber dann würde ich bestimmt auch irgendwann/ Ich würde es ihnen schon erzählen wollen also (…). Einfach damit ich nicht immer so ein Geheimnis mit mir herumtrage und deswegen/ So hätte ich halt schon gehandelt/ Kann ich mich in die hereinver‐ setzen. [there were different emotional situations. In the end she feels better because she has said it and everyone supports her. I can understand that because I believe I would also/ I can only assume that I would also eventually want to tell the others. Just in order to not to have to carry around a secret any longer. I would have acted that way/ I can put myself in her position.] (Interview) He only had difficulties in understanding Flora in “The Hair Cut”, Niko explains. He finds it strange that the thirteen-year-old girl refuses to leave her room de‐ 6 Research Findings: Cases 140 <?page no="141"?> spite the fact that she smells of sweat. He is not sure whether this difficulty in understanding her may be grounded in cultural differences: Das Mädchen vom "The Hair Cut", die war ja/ die war dann so, ja,/ die hat sich so beklagt, dass sie nach Schweiß stinkt und alles, also (…). Das war halt komisch, dass sie trotzdem in ihrem Zimmer bleiben wollte, das fand ich schon ein bisschen (…) un/ ungewohnt. Also, das würde ich jetzt nicht von einer Dreizehnjährigen erwarten, zum Beispiel. Das konnte ich dann nicht so gut nachvollziehen. Oder vielleicht sind es auch bloß die anderen Sitten, aber konnte ich nicht gut nachvollziehen. [the girl of “The Hair Cut” complained that she smells of sweat and so on, well (…). It was strange that she still wanted to remain in her room, I found that unusual. I would not expect that from a thirteen-year-old, for example. I could not understand this very well. Or maybe these are the different customs, but I could not understand it well.] (Interview) Reflecting his understanding process, Niko therefore takes cultural differences into consideration but does not clearly attach the difficulties in his under‐ standing process to these differences. In another part of the interview, Niko describes the way Flora is treated by her mother and how she reacts to this treatment as “verschieden [different]”. It surprises him that “man die Tochter sozusagen mit diesem einfachen, verhält‐ nismäßig einfachen Sachen da, äh, wieder ruhig stellen kann. [one may calm the daughter down with compratively simple things]”. He would have expected more “Rumgezicke [making trouble]” by the girl and also that the mother would not have dared to break in the door. Though he describes this as different, he explains that he does not look at it as a difference based on culture. He would locate this difference rather on the individual family level: Das unterscheidet sich halt definitiv. Also das ist schon neu. Ich sage nicht kulturell jetzt aber für den Umgang mit der Familie so, dass sie da viel offener waren noch so und so weniger, ja, ich sage ja, weniger interessiert, was jetzt die Kinder wollen haben. [That is definitely different. Well, that is new. I do not say in a cultural way but with reference to family relations, well that they were more open and less, well, I say, less interested in what the children wanted.] (Interview) Thus, for Niko similarities between his own life in Germany and the life of the characters in the narratives aid the understanding of the text and the ability to empathise with the characters. He emphasises his interest in cultural differences but the similarities he constructs between the lives of the characters and his own life prevail. Many of the aspects that he describes as different or foreign in the narratives, he does not look at as grounded in culture. Instead, he locates the difference rather on the individual level. 6.1 Niko 141 <?page no="142"?> 6.1.5 (De)Construction and Reflection In the interview, Niko reflects upon his prior knowledge. He states that he ac‐ tually saw Africa as one homogenous unit before the reading project and that this has not really changed even after having read a number of Ugandan texts: Eigentlich ich habe nicht so viele Vorstellungen gehabt/ Ich habe dann nur/ Also ich habe/ ich muss sagen, ich habe Afrika für eins genommen. Also ist jetzt auch noch so, weil es gibt halt/ es gibt viele Länder, aber (…). [Actually I did not have much idea/ I have to say that I saw Africa as one. Well, it is still like that, because there are many countries but (…).] (Interview) Still, the reading project seems to have helped him to get a wider picture of Uganda. He asserts, for example, that when he had a look at the maps of Uganda in the introductory lessons of the reading project, it surprised him that there are actually big cities in the country: Also mich hat es trotzdem gewundert, wie viele Städte es da gibt, wie viele große und wie viele Leute da eigentlich drin wohnen. Ja, wenn man sich dann mal anschaut was meine Stadt ist und solche Großstädte, dann ist das schon etwas anderes. Also, das habe ich nicht gedacht. Ich habe gedacht, es gibt diese, diese/ was man halt so denkt, so diese Bauerndörfern und so Siedlungen von den Bewohnern da. Aber das sind ja dann doch richtige Städte, also richtig GROSSE Städte. [I was still surprised that there are so many cities, how many big ones and how many people live there. Well, when one is looking at my city and then such big cities that is something different. Well, I did not imagine that. I imagined that there are/ what one usually thinks of/ those farming villages and settlements of the people there. But there are real cities, well, really BIG cities.] (Interview) Niko also points out that it astonished him that Ugandan writers make use of correct English. Before he started to read, he expected texts in rather broken English. His expectation was grounded in an assumption that there is only in‐ adequate schooling in Uganda: Ich dachte vorher, dass die/ dass man bei den Autoren vielleicht ein bisschen erkennt, dass die die englische Sprache vielleicht nicht so beherrschen, weil ich dachte immer, da unten wird das nicht so gelernt. Da unten ja (lacht). Da wird das nicht so wichtig genommen oder da ist die Schulbildung halt nicht so einfach wie hier, dass man ir‐ gendwie in die Schule geht und so. [I thought before that one may notice that the authors do not have a good command of the English language because I always thought that they do not really learn that down there. Down there (laughs). There it 6 Research Findings: Cases 142 <?page no="143"?> is not taken seriously or the school education there is not that easy, that one may go to school and so on.] (Interview) After reading the texts, Niko believes that one cannot actually determine whether they have been written by an English or American writer or someone who has just studied the language. This statement suggests that Niko considers English (i.e. British) or American English to be the norm towards which other speakers of the English language are oriented. In addition, it implies that Niko is not aware of the fact that English is an official language in Uganda and there‐ fore serves as a second language for very many people in the country. In the final questionnaire, Niko points out that he got to know Africa and Uganda better in the reading project and that he now believes that “Afrika ist mehr als nur eine große Wüste [Africa is more than one big desert]” (interview). Niko frequently reflects upon the statements which he makes and occasion‐ ally reformulates or refines them. In the interview, he once refers to Uganda as “da unten [down there]”. This statement causes him to hesitate briefly. He re‐ peats it and laughs about it: “da unten wird das nicht so gelernt. Da unten ja (lacht) [down there. Down there (laughs).]” The phrase “da unten [down there]” rep‐ resents a rather Eurocentric perspective since it locates Uganda as further down from the position of the speaker. Niko’s reaction to his own utterance suggests that the phrase caused him to reflect upon the one-sidedness of this perspective. It could be that he is actually aware that “da unten [down there]” sounds rather patronising and depending on the individual viewpoint, Uganda can also be located “up there” or “over there”, etc. With this reflection, however, Niko may also have simply been responding to what he thinks the researcher or society was expecting from him (social desirability bias, see Chapter 5.8). In any case, this reaction clearly shows that Niko is aware of his own utterance and reflects upon it. His reflections about different ways of seeing the world show themselves more clearly in another statement when Niko remarks that the Ugandan nar‐ ratives he read are integrated in a “ NORMALE Denkweise [normal way of thinking]” (interview). This statement makes him reflect upon the term “normal” which he then describes as grounded in his own viewpoint: “Ich finde das integriert sich halt sehr so in die NORMALE Denkweise, also normal, wenn ich jetzt von meiner ausgehe. [I think that is integrated in a NORMAL way of thinking, well normal, when I base it on mine]” (interview). He, therefore, seems to be aware that what is normal to him may not be normal to others. Thus, for him normality appears to be relative and to depend on subjective perceptions. Elsewhere in the interview, Niko shows that he is conscious of the cliché that looks at Africa as one big, empty desert: “weil so stellt man sich vor, Afrika ist 6.1 Niko 143 <?page no="144"?> riesengroß und leere Wüste und so etwas, ja. Und so ist halt dieses Klischee, sage ich einmal [because one imagines that Africa is very big and an empty desert and something of that type, yes. That is the cliché I would say]” (interview). In a similar statement, it becomes apparent that Niko is also aware of his own bias and that he himself uses clichés as a reference point: Man hört halt, dass es/ ja gut es ist heiß überall und es sind auch einfache Verhältnisse so. Ja, so denke ich. Also, es ist ja jetzt nichts gegen die Bewohner da. [One hears that it is hot everywhere and people live in simple conditions. Yes, that’s what I think. Well, it is nothing against the people who live there.] (Interview) His apology that he does not intend to offend anyone with his statement sug‐ gests that he recognises the possibility of these generalisations being hurtful for the people living on the African continent. That Niko cannot detach himself completely from a cliché-influenced per‐ ception also becomes apparent when he replies to the question of how he had imagined Ugandan young adult fiction to be before the reading project with “[d]ass es mehr das Leben in Uganda zum Beispiel beleuchtet, weil das ja da viel einfacher ist [that it rather sheds light on the life in Uganda, for example, because this is much simpler]” (interview). Instead of questioning his own assumptions of a simple Ugandan life, this statement seems to suggest that he actually looks at the love stories that he read as not entirely authentically Ugandan. They do not fulfil his anticipations and therefore they seem not to portray real life in Uganda. In general, it becomes apparent, however, that Niko has a broader under‐ standing of culture than most of the other students who participated in the study. When Niko refers to the Greek culture, he explicitly states that he has culture with a small c in mind: Ja, gut mit Kultur meine ich jetzt nicht, muss ich dazu sagen, die, diese alten, vergangen Sachen, die alten Griechen und so etwas. Sondern eher die, ja die griechische Moral/ wie sagt man da, Moralität? Die griechische Lebensweise. [With culture I do not refer to the old, bygone things, the ancient Greeks and things like that. But rather the Greek moral/ how do you put it, morality? The Greek way of life.] (Interview) For him learning about cultures should go beyond mere facts, clichés and ster‐ eotypes. When he is asked in the interview which topics he would have liked to discuss in class before the reading project started, he replies that an introduction to the “Sitten in Uganda [customs of Uganda]” would have been interesting. He further explains that with “Sitten [customs]” he does not refer to clichés such as the one that everyone in Uganda owns a farm because “das kommt vielleicht 6 Research Findings: Cases 144 <?page no="145"?> auch negativ oder so [this might also be considered as negative]”. Instead he would have liked to get to know more about the Ugandan way of life, for example how different Ugandan people organise their lives. Niko seems, therefore, to be of the opinion that a culture should not be reduced to stereotypes. 6.1.6 HIV / AIDS Niko states that he is not directly concerned with HIV / AIDS . He remarks that luckily he does not know anyone who is infected with the virus. Before the reading project, he already knew that it is an incurable disease but in the short story “ JJ ” he got to know more about the way people actually deal with the infection, he asserts. He was surprised about Julie’s openness concerning her infection and admires her for that. In addition, he did not know before that HIV -positive people can live quite a normal life. He learnt dass die das Leben eigentlich trotzdem ganz normal gestalten, also dass das jetzt im Alltag vielleicht kein Problem darstellt, nur, wenn man eine Familie gründen will vielleicht.[…]. Es ist eher so, ich habe das und ein paar Leute wissen es oder wissen es nicht. […] Aber es ist jetzt kein Problem wie die Demenz, zum Beispiel […]. Dass vielleicht der Alltag trotzdem so/ der wird jetzt halt so einfach/ einfach dargestellt, als ob es nicht da wäre. [that they live their life quite normally, that it does not cause any problems in everyday life, only if one wants to have a family maybe […] It is rather like that, I have it and a few people know it or do not know it. But it is not a problem like dementia, for example. That everyday life is still so/ it is portrayed as if it did not exist.] (Interview) In his reading diary for “ JJ ”, Niko also reflects upon HIV / AIDS and stigma. With reference to Julie’s official admission in the school assembly and her initial fear that her classmates may now exclude her, he indicates that he can understand that people fear someone who is infected with HIV : Vielleicht denken manche sogar, dass sie sich anstecken könnten. Nahezu alle haben aber vermutlich Angst, weil sie anders ist und sie (wahrscheinlich) nur schlechte Sa‐ chen über HIV gehört haben. Ich finde diese Reaktion normal, aber trotzdem sehr schwierig für den Betroffenen. [Maybe some even think that they could get infected. Almost everyone is probably scared because she is different and they have (probably) only heard bad things about HIV. I consider this reaction as normal but it is still diffficult for those concerned.] He describes this reaction as normal and acknowledges the difficulties of un‐ derstanding someone who is different. He finds it rather surprising that Julie’s 6.1 Niko 145 <?page no="146"?> classmates react calmly to her official statement and remarks that the people in Germany would probably have reacted differently. Weil heute, wenn man das haben würde, ja, wie man halt da halt angesehen werden würde, von den anderen. Da [in der Kurzgeschichte] gab es ja, glaube ich, nur ein paar komische Blicke und der Rest hat sich sozusagen, hat das ja, be/ berücksichtigt und, ja, war damit zufrieden und hat das halt hingenommen, sage ich einmal. Und hier, ob das halt hier so wäre, ob man da nicht komplett ausgeschlossen würde, mehr als man davor zum Beispiel schon war. Könnte ich mir auch vorstellen. [Because today, if one was affected, how that one would be looked at by others. There [in the short story] were some curious glances and the rest just took it into consideration and were okay with it and accepted it, I say. And here, [I wonder] if it would be like that here as well or if one would be completely excluded more than one was before. I could imagine that.] (Interview) Despite acknowledging people’s worries, Niko does not express his own fears. In the interview, he states that people who are HIV -positive should not be pitied but morally supported. He indicates that he himself would not have a problem with someone who is HIV -positive; he would only respect that person. He as‐ sumes that in Julie’s place he would also have told his friends that he is HIV -positive “[e]infach damit ich nicht immer so ein Geheimnis mit mir herum‐ trage. [[j]ust that I do no longer have to carry around a secret]” (interview). Niko considers HIV / AIDS an important topic for young adult novels because young people should become aware that there are both good and bad things in the world, he points out. 6.1.7 Summary Niko’s mental processes are featured in frequent irritations and reflections. He perceives his knowledge about Uganda as limited and recognises difficulties in understanding ‘the other’. In addition, he reflects upon some clichés and his own bias. Niko also partly questions his own normativity and revises statements that he makes in the interview. In general, he is, therefore, quite reflective in his mental processes. In other instances, however, he remains caught in cliché-in‐ fluenced biases when, for example, he implicitly questions the authenticity of the Ugandan texts because they do not talk about the ‘simple life’ in Uganda. 6 Research Findings: Cases 146 <?page no="147"?> 3 The Phillipus Dienst is described on its website as a German-based registered association that strives to intensify the understanding among Christians, Jews and Arabs. It or‐ ganises, for example, prayer trips to Israel, youth exchanges and congregation part‐ nerships (Philipus Dienst, 2015). 6.2 Magdalena “Hey, das könnte ich sein! [Hey, that could be me! ]” (Interview) 6.2.1 Case Description Magdalena is 15 years old. She lives with a foster family in a small town in Baden-Württemberg and goes to school A. Her biological mother is mentally ill and she does not know her father very well; she has only seen him once or twice in her whole life. Magdalena describes her foster family as “nette Leute [friendly people]” (interview) who are very religious. She has one sister and two brothers in this family. She also has two biological sisters and one biological brother; she does not know one of the sisters because she lives with her father. Regarding her family background, Magdalena describes herself as monocultural. When she was in Year 5 and 6, Magdalena attended a boarding school. She went there because the situation back home overstrained her: Her mother was always sitting in front of the computer and she had to look after her siblings herself, practically raise them, she states. In addition, Magdalena had to repeat Year 5 because she failed English. Religion is very important for Magdalena. She is a member of an independent Christian church in Austria that belongs to the Pentecostal Movement. She is involved there as a sound engineer and takes part in youth activities. She goes there once or twice a week. Aside from that, Magdalena enjoys singing and meeting friends in her free time. She also likes playing the piano and she used to play the flute. Magdalena describes herself as very open towards other cultures. She recently participated in a youth exchange with Israel that was supported by the Philippus Dienst  3 and organised by her church. A group of young people from Israel visited them in August and in the Easter holidays Magdalena and some other young people from her church paid a return visit to Israel. She lived in a host family and also celebrated Pesah with this family, an experience which she describes as very interesting. Magdalena would like to travel more but for financial rea‐ sons this is rather difficult for her. When she was still living with her mother, 6.2 Magdalena 147 <?page no="148"?> 4 Hartz IV is a colloquial expression for Arbeitslosengeld II (Unemployment Benefits II) in Germany which provides benefits to secure a livelihood for people who are unem‐ ployed but not eligible for the full unemployment benefits or those who have already received the full unemployment benefit for the maximum of 12 months. It covers the costs for the basic needs of living. travelling was not possible because her mother lived on Hartz IV benefits. 4 With her first foster family, Magdalena once travelled to Belgium and another time to Austria and with her second foster family, the one she is still staying with now, she has not yet travelled anywhere else. Magdalena expresses the wish to travel more in future. Magdalena is interested in languages. She likes it when she is able to com‐ municate with people whom she does not know. Since her stay in Israel, she has started to learn Hebrew. Concerning the English language, she has mixed feel‐ ings. She sometimes wonders what she will need the English she learns at school for and is of the opinion that she learns much more when she makes use of it in real life situations as, for example, during her visit to Israel or when the Israeli exchange partners stayed with them in Europe. Her experience with English did not start well: When she was in Year 5, she failed the subject and this caused her to repeat a year. She blames this partly on her teacher at that time who was born in Scotland and grew up in Bavaria and confused her with a variety of English that she depicts as influenced by both a Bavarian dialect and Scottish English. 6.2.2 Reading Background Magdalena describes herself as an avid reader who reads basically everything: true stories, love stories or young adult novels. The only texts she does not like are boring stories or stories which are written in a complicated way that she cannot understand. She started reading at a young age with Disney books such as the Cap and Capper series (interview). In difficult times, books provided a safe haven for her: Weil ich einfach früher echt eine harte Zeit hatte, und das war dann wie so ein, ähm, Zufluchtsort. Da konnte man einfach so aus seiner Welt entfliehen. [Because I really had a difficult time in the past and this was something like a safe haven for me. Like that, you could escape from this world for some time.] (Interview) Magdalena states that she does not only read German young adult fiction but fiction from different parts of the world. She reads a lot of texts from the USA and recently she also read a book from Bosnia. In the first questionnaire, she also indicates that she read a book by an African writer, Surprise Sithole. Sithole 6 Research Findings: Cases 148 <?page no="149"?> 5 On its homepage IRIS Global is described as a Christian ministry led by Rolland and Heidi Baker which focuses on the least favoured in society: “Our ministry is built around the application of the Gospel to some of the most desperate economic and spiritual circumstances on earth, with all the boldness of which we, in Christ, are capable”. Much of the missionary work the ministry is doing focuses on Mozambique (IRIS Global, 2017). is a South Africa-based pastor of the IRIS Global UK , formerly IRIS Ministries Ltd. 5 As an excerpt from the cover of his book Voice of a Night (2012) shows, it deals with missionary work on the African continent and portrays Africa as a rather dark place: Born into a long line of witch doctors, Surprise Sithole ("Sit-holy") was destined for a life of fear, oppression and poverty in the African jungles. But God had other plans. What began that night in a thatch and mud hut more than 25 years ago was an ad‐ venture of faith and miracles. From signs and wonders to supernatural deliverance to divine revivals that have overtaken countries, Surprise has followed wherever God has led, even into the darkest, most unreached places. Magdalena wrote the German title of the book Eine Stimme in der Nacht on the questionnaire and, therefore, she appears to have read it in German. Occasion‐ ally, however, she also reads texts written in English, she explains. In the reading project, Magdalena read seven texts: The Adventurous Sisters, Moses, Moses in Trouble, I Will Not Fail, “The Hair Cut”, “ JJ ” and The Jewels of Amuria. She hardly had any problems in understanding the texts, neither con‐ tentnor language-wise, she reveals. Magdalena describes herself as a very in‐ dependent reader who looks up things on her own that she does not understand or she is particularly interested in. Thus, she does not consider the introductory lessons of the project as very helpful for her appreciation of the books. She states that the books she read were not concerned with Ugandan geography and his‐ tory and therefore she did not need this information to understand them. Magdalena responds very positively to the literary texts she read in the project. She describes them as very interesting. She admires many of the pro‐ tagonists, for example, Julie in “ JJ ” who she calls very brave for talking so openly about her HIV infection. She can identify very well with many of the characters and finds herself in the narratives: “Es war in vielen Punkten/ war echt so: Hey, das könnte ich sein! [In many aspects it was really like that: Hey, that could be me! ]” (interview). She particularly likes the books which she can connect to because of her own experiences. She enjoyed reading the two books of the Moses series because they reminded her of her own time in boarding school where she and her classmates 6.2 Magdalena 149 <?page no="150"?> also played many jokes and tricks just like Moses and his friends. In addition, she likes I Will Not Fail because it passes on a message which she may also apply to her own life: Dass man eben einfach nicht aufgeben soll, sondern an seinem Ziel arbeiten soll, dann schafft man es auch. (…) Eh ein hilfreicher Satz für mein Leben. [That one should not give up but continue striving for her / his goals, then one will succeed. This is an important sentence for my life, anyway.] (Interview) Magdalena, however, points out that she cannot really relate to the folktale The Adventurous Sisters. Fantastic elements such as a speaking spider and plants whose arms are cut off seem strange and unfamiliar to her. Though she indicates that she also reads science-fiction, it comes across in several reading diaries that she prefers narratives in a more realistic mode to stories with fantastic elements. In the final questionnaire, Magdalena asserts that she liked the reading project in general. She appreciates the fact that it gave her an insight into another cul‐ ture and she evaluates the books as interesting. 6.2.3 Prior Knowledge Before the reading project started, Magdalena had the following associations with Uganda: “Afroamerikaner, Hitze, wenig Wasser, Armut [Afro-Americans, heat, little water, poverty]” (first questionnaire). She indicates in the first ques‐ tionnaire that she gets to know about Uganda primarily in letters which her Ugandan pen friend writes. In the interview, however, she then explains that she has only ever received two letters from her pen friend and never heard from her again after that. She also states that she did not learn much about Uganda in those letters. She only got to know that her pen pal is also religious and was a bit informed about her hobbies. Magdalena would participate in a student exchange with Uganda because she enjoys getting to know new people and cultures. She considers a student ex‐ change as very effective for this. 6.2.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Before the reading project, Magdalena did not expect Ugandan fiction to be very different from the German texts she usually reads and this expectation was confirmed during the project. She constructs many similarities between Ugandan texts and texts from other parts of the world. 6 Research Findings: Cases 150 <?page no="151"?> • Also viele Geschichten hatte ich schon deutsche eigentlich fast das Gleiche gelesen. [I had already read many stories in German that were almost the same.] (Interview) • Ja, also, es waren hauptsächlich, ähm, Geschichten, die unserem Roman ähneln, die man halt selber eventuell auch schon erlebt hat, von daher habe ich jetzt nicht, so irgendwie ein neues Bild von Uganda gekriegt, dass das jetzt irgendwie so anders ist. [These were mainly stories that resemble our type of novel, stories which one has maybe already experienced her- / himself. Therefore, I did not really gain a new picture of Uganda, that it is different there.] (Interview) In addition, Magdalena comes up with various instances of comparisons of the characters’ lives and her own and constructs more similarities than differences. As a central theme in the narratives she identifies problems and she points out that she herself is very familiar with problems: Also, äh, es scheint in vielen Büchern einfach um Probleme zu gehen, womit ich mich halt auch gut auskenne, weil mein Leben relativ lang ein einziges Problem war (lacht). Und ja, ich hatte eigentlich nie dieses, dieses geborgen sein, von daher, ins Internat gesteckt zu werden war/ wie bei Moses, dachte ich mir so: Ja. Ich wurde da zwar nicht rein gesteckt, aber ich wurde dafür in andere Situationen einfach hinein/ Ich bin relativ oft umgezogen, das heißt ich musste neu anfangen. [Many of the books seem to deal with problems, something I am quite familiar with because my whole life was for a long time just one big problem (laughs). Actually, I have never had that feeling of being protected. To be put into boarding school like in Moses made me think: Yes, I was maybe not just put there but I was put into many other situations. I moved places very often and had to start afresh.] (Interview) In the interview, Magdalena also points out that she could identify very well with characters of the books. She states that often during the reading process she thought: “Hey, das könnte ich sein! [Hey, that could be me! ]” (interview). For example, she considers herself to be ambitious like the protagonist in I Will Not Fail, and she can understand the girl in “The Hair Cut” very well because she has “typische Mädchenprobleme [typical problems of girls]” (interview). Magdalena refers to her own biography in several instances. Gender, religion and boarding school life play a central role in these references. When Magdalena explains that she can identify with Flora in “The Hair Cut” because of her context of being a girl, she evokes a gender-oriented perspective on the text. She explains that she is also interested in her own looks just as Flora in “The Hair Cut”: “Ich kenne dieses ‘nicht hübsch finden’ gut, weil ich selbst auch ein Mädchen bin. Das macht sie sympatisch [sic] und real erscheinen. [I am familiar with ‘feeling not pretty’ because I am also a girl. This makes her appear likeable and real” (reading 6.2 Magdalena 151 <?page no="152"?> diary for “The Hair Cut”). Magdalena also indicates in the reading diary for the novella Moses that she chose this book because the title reminded her of the Bible. She highlights passages that talk about God as her favourite parts of the novel: “‘God knows we’ve always done our best for you …’ → Ich bin Christ. [I am a Christian.]” The two years in boarding school seem to have had a strong effect on Magdalena because she remembers many details about her life in boarding school and refers back to them several times in her reading diaries and the interview: • Die Jungs aus Dorm 3 haben mich mit ihrem nächtlichen Rausschleichen sehr an meine Internatszeit erinnert. [The boys from dorm 3 with their habit of sneaking out at night reminded me of my own time at boarding school]. (Reading diary for Moses in Trouble) • Da [Moses] muss ich eigentlich auch immer wieder daran denken, was wir da so für Mist gebaut haben. Jetzt nicht so, dass wir dann irgendwie, ja, irgendwie von/ abgehauen nach draußen sind wir jetzt nicht. Wir haben halt im Haus Mist gebaut. [In Moses I always have to think of the mess we caused. We did not actually escape but we screwed things up inside the school building.] (Inter‐ view) Magdalena mainly constructs differences to her own life with reference to folk‐ tales. She states that she has never fought with a lion or spoken to a spider. In addition, she can neither identify with the good nor with the bad sister in The Adventurous Sisters because she herself would rather occupy an intermediate position, reacting differently depending on the situation, she explains. 6.2.5 (De)Construction and Reflection In the interview, Magdalena points out that the reading project helped her to get a better understanding of Uganda. She refers back to her prior knowledge and to some extent revises and contextualises it: Halt, eigentlich hat man so gedacht, ja, ähm, sehr viel Armut. Kaum Schulunterricht und so. Und zum Beispiel bei I Will Not Fail war es, glaube ich, kam halt doch gut raus, dass man versucht, eine Schulausbildung zu geben, aber, dass es bei vielen dann halt doch nicht klappt. [One actually thought of a lot of poverty. Hardly any school edu‐ cation and things of that kind. In I Will Not Fail, for example, it became, however, apparent that people try to provide for school education but that it does not succeed in many cases.] (Interview) 6 Research Findings: Cases 152 <?page no="153"?> Her expectation that Uganda only has inadequate schooling proved incomplete. She asserts that she has a more reflected perception on that issue now. Magdalena also believes that she gained some knowledge through the stories. She states that before the reading project she was not aware that it is common for young people in Uganda to get married so early and the texts have given her new information concerning that topic: Oder das mit der frühen Verheiratung, das war mir jetzt auch nicht so bewusst, dass das da unten so stark ist. Das hat man da halt dann erfahren (…). [I was not aware of the issue of early marriages that it is so common down there. One got to know that (…).] (Interview) Here a process of generalisation becomes apparent. Having read only one nar‐ rative, I Will Not Fail, which addresses the topic of early marriages in Uganda, Magdalena concludes that this is a wide-spread phenomenon in Uganda. She seems to consider the novel to mirror reality and in her interpretation transports what she reads in a story to the whole of Uganda. Magdalena does not reflect upon the fictive nature of the narrative and the fact that she read only one book in the project that dealt with early marriages. Thus, the literary texts encouraged Magdalena to partly question and expand her own prior knowledge but at the same time they seem to have led her to quick conclusions or generalisations, i.e. regarding early marriages. Despite these reflections on prior knowledge and gained knowledge, Mag‐ dalena does not consider the stories and books to have changed anything for her: Ne, die Bücher haben eigentlich nicht wirklich etwas für mich verändert. Klar hat man so, so, ähm, kleine Themen, die halt da unten viel präsenter sind als hier, hat man wahrgenommen. Ist darüber jetzt auch mehr informiert. Aber sonst hat sich eigentlich nicht viel verändert. [No, the books have not changed anything for me. Of course some topics that are more present down there than here could be detected. And one is better informed about that now. But otherwise not much has changed.] (Interview) She looks at the stories as very similar to “unserem Roman [our novel]” (inter‐ view) and is of the opinion that the readers may detect many similarities with their own lives in them. From the description of the narratives, she does not perceive Uganda as very different and, therefore, the narratives have not changed her perspectives, she states: Ja, aus den Büchern habe ich jetzt nicht irgendwie herausgenommen, dass Uganda jetzt SO anders wäre. Halt, dass da eine größere Armut ist, aber mit Armut kenne ich mich auch aus. Von daher. Nicht wirklich etwas verändert. [Through the books I did 6.2 Magdalena 153 <?page no="154"?> not discover that Uganda is SO different. There is more poverty but with poverty I am also familiar. Therefore. Not much has really changed.] (Interview) In this context, Magdalena also reflects upon her own understanding process and ethnocentricity. She points out that one always tends to look at another culture from the perspective of one’s own: Weil, generell ist es ja eigentlich immer in den Köpfen, unser Land ist das zentrale und alle sind irgendwie ähnlich. Es ist immer so, weil mit der Zeit kriegt man mit, dass halt doch ein paar anders sind. [Because in general it is actually always in people’s minds that our country is the central one and all the others are somehow similar. It is always like that and with time one realises that some are rather different.] (Interview) According to Magdalena, cultural particularities may only be recognised and acknowledged with time. Learning about cultural differences seems to be a decisive characteristic of cultural learning for Magdalena. She points out that she considers the novel Moses inappropriate for getting to know more about Uganda because the story could also be set in a German context. According to her, the book I Will Not Fail gives the best insight into Uganda because one can get to know more about early marriages in this novel, a phenomenon that is not prevalent in Germany, she explains. When she adds that the novel might also change readers’ perceptions on schooling in Uganda, she indirectly shows that the story actually did change something for her. 6.2.6 HIV / AIDS When asked for parts in the narratives that appeared foreign to her, Magdalena points to the short story “ JJ ”. She explains that she was startled when she first read about Julie’s illness: Dass sie, ähm, AIDS hat, da war im ersten Moment so: ‘Okay? ’ Da hat man wohl schon davon gehört, aber irgendwie/ Ich persönlich habe da jetzt noch keine Erfahrungen mit. Wo ich auch froh darum bin. Ich kenne auch niemanden, der irgendwie infiziert wäre. Und von daher war es dann schon so: ‘Okay? ’ Klar weiß man was, aber irgendwie ist das dann schon komisch. Wenn man sich das so vorstellt. [The fact that she has AIDS was in the first moment like that: ‘Okay? ’ One has heard of it but personally I have not yet had any experiences with it. About which I am glad. I don’t know anyone who is infected. And therefore it was rather like that: ‘Okay? ’ Of course one knows something about it but it is rather strange. When you imagine it.] (Interview) 6 Research Findings: Cases 154 <?page no="155"?> She herself has not come into contact with that disease directly yet and therefore it appears strange to her. She is aware that one might get infected with HIV anywhere in the world but “irgendwie ist es doch so, so weit weg. [somehow it is so far away]” (interview). She looks at the topic as relevant particularly in the context that she may want to go to Uganda or another country with this problem one day herself. She is of the opinion that in Germany, people can protect them‐ selves and avoid infections because they have all the different types of contra‐ ceptives. The fact that she is still young now and wants to focus on school further restrains her contemporary personal concern regarding this issue. Still the dis‐ ease is important for her because she is aware that many people are affected by it. Magdalena particularly appreciates the fact that she gets to know more about how people deal with the disease in Uganda in the short story “ JJ ”. She considers HIV / AIDS an important topic for children’s books but is also of the opinion that there should be literary texts, i.e. love stories for children, which the readers can completely get immersed in and think “Hey, coole Geschichte [Hey, what a cool story]” (interview). She appreciates texts with serious topics for being close to reality and for teaching something about life: Aber allerdings sollten auch ernste Themen dann in gewisser Weise mit einbezogen werden. Das finde ich immer sehr gut, wenn es sehr realitätsnah ist, wenn man sich dann reinversetzen kann und dann aus den Büchern auch etwas für sein Leben ei‐ gentlich mitnehmen kann. [But also serious topics should be treated in a way. I like it very much when something is close to reality, when one can put her- / himself in that position and can then also learn something for her / his life.] (Interview) 6.2.7 Gender Issues In the reading diary for the book I Will Not Fail, Magdalena states that she looks at it as unjust that boys in the narrative are treated better than girls: “Jungs werden bevorzugt, was mir ungerecht erscheint [boys get preferential treatment which I consider unjust]”. Magdalena comes up with various instances of comparisons concerning gender issues in Germany and Uganda. In the interview, she first states that in Germany one cannot really notice any gender imbalances but then she corrects herself and says that actually there are subtle imbalances also in Germany. She sees this issue reflected in the payment of men and women and also in other areas such as occupations, i.e. the fact that more women are concerned with social topics and men rather focus on technology. 6.2 Magdalena 155 <?page no="156"?> From Mgadalena’s perspective, it is not essential to mention gender inequal‐ ities in children’s books because every individual has to decide how important that topic is to her / him, she explains. According to her, it is society which can do something about gender inequalities, rather than individuals. She adds that it might, however, be a start to introduce young adults to this topic through narratives. 6.2.8 Summary Magdalena’s discussion of the literary texts is characterised by a very personal and autobiographical approach. She lists several passages from the texts that are highly relevant to her and constructs many similarities between her own life and the lives of the characters. To some extent, Magdalena revises and con‐ textualises her prior knowledge and is aware of her cultural determination. She also mentions some aspects that are foreign to her and expresses difficulties in understanding foreignness. 6.3 Oliver “eine sehr, sehr einfache Kultur [a very, very simple culture]” (interview) 6.3.1 Case Description Oliver is 16 years old. He was born in Germany and lives with his parents and his sister in a small town in Baden-Württemberg, where he attends school A. Oliver is monocultural regarding his family background. His father is a de‐ signer and his mother a nurse. When asked for his hobbies, Oliver mentions reading first and then notes that he is also interested in playing football, swim‐ ming and handball. Oliver likes foreign languages, particularly English. This is also grounded in the fact that he has relatives in Canada whom he regularly visits. He sees his strength in speaking English and says that it is rather difficult for him to learn the grammar of the language. According to him, the same applies to his French skills. Oliver states that he is only interested in other cultures when he is actually able to experience them himself. If he is only told about them, “wäre das schon nett und alles, aber halt nicht so von großem Interesse [that would be quite nice but not of particular interest]” (interview). He likes travelling and he would love 6 Research Findings: Cases 156 <?page no="157"?> to travel somewhere different every year, no matter where. He particularly likes that he can improve his language skills when he travels. 6.3.2 Reading Background Oliver likes reading. When he was young, he mainly read comic books. Now he is particularly interested in exciting books such as thrillers, e.g. by Stephen King or Dan Brown, fantasy and science-fiction. Oliver does not like love stories. He indicates in the questionnaire that he does not like reading books in English. In the interview, he explains that he has only read one book in English so far. In the reading project, Oliver read four folktales: The Baby in the Forest, The Precious Calabash, The Jewels of Amuria and How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails. Oliver repeatedly asserts in the reading diaries that he has no problems in understanding these narrative texts. He points out that besides a few unknown words he can understand everything, so he actually finds them quite easy to read. In the interview, some of his statements, however, show that he has either not completely understood the folktales or has already forgotten very important parts of their plot. Maybe he has not even read the texts completely. For example, he is not aware of the very drastic ending of The Precious Calabash in which the second sister is eaten by the lion. I: Also jetzt bei The Precious Clabash wird ja am Ende die zweite Schwester vom Löwen gefressen. [In The Precious Calabash the second sister is eaten by the lion at the end of the story.] B: Das wusste ich gar nicht. [P: I did not know that.] (Interview) This ignorance may also be connected to Oliver’s general rejection of the texts. He responds predominantly negatively to the books which he first reads and then forgets, as he states: Mhm, okay, ähm, ich fand die Geschichten also die meisten halt jetzt nicht (…) richtig spannend und irgendwie halt, äh, wie soll ich das sagen, nicht so richtig ansprechend. Also das konnte man zwar lesen und alles, aber das war halt eher so nach dem, so lesen und danach vergessen, so ein bisschen. [Most of the stories were not particularly exciting in my opinion, like, how should I put it, not really appealing. You could read it but it was more like that, reading and then forgetting, a bit like that.] (Interview) It can be noted in this statement that Oliver hesitates, makes use of interjections and modal particles (halt) and so softens his judgements. The way he expresses himself here gives the impression that he does not want to reveal his actual thoughts, or maybe an even stronger rejection of the texts, and articulates him‐ 6.3 Oliver 157 <?page no="158"?> self in a rather diplomatic manner. Statements such as the above mirror his mode of expression in the first and second reading diary in which he does not articulate open criticism, despite the fact that he does not like the narratives he reads, as he later on explains in the interview. Only in the last two reading diaries does Oliver express his criticism more openly. Oliver’s reluctance to talk openly may be connected to the social desirability factor (see Chapter 5.8). Oliver’s initial hesitation also subsides as the interview goes on and he begins to speak more openly. It becomes apparent that Oliver particularly dislikes the story The Baby in the Forest which he describes as “komisch [strange]”, “verwir‐ rend [confusing]”, “abgedreht [weird]” and “unglaubwürdig [implausible]”: ja weil das [The Baby in the Forest] fand ich dann irgendwie zum Schluss bisschen komisch und auch irgendwie war die Geschichte ein bisschen verwirrend und jetzt nicht irgendwie so (…) ähm (…) Ja, in der Geschichte, das war halt irgendwie alles ein bisschen so, wollte immer so/ man hatte den Eindruck, die wollten das glaubwürdig vermitteln, aber das war halt irgendwie so komplett abgedreht und (…) Ja, unglaub‐ würdig. [The Baby in the Forest was in my opinion very strange at the end and the story was somehow a bit confusing and not really like (…) Yes, the story was a little bit as if, one had the impression as if they wanted to make it credible but it was actually completely weird and (…) Yes, incredible.] (Interview; my emphasis) In every reading diary, he notes that he is not impressed by the writing style because “er war nichts besonderes [sic]. [it was nothing special]”. In the interview, he gives further explanations concerning this statement. He clarifies that the books he usually reads in his free time always convey a certain atmosphere, e.g. a dramatic one. The stories he read in the reading project, however, are all written in a “trocken und nüchtern [dry and plain]” manner, he states. Oliver also does not like the endings of most of the books he read in the reading project. He criticises that the monster in The Baby in the Forest is de‐ scribed as a dangerous beast throughout the folktale but at the end it does not do any harm to anyone and is easily killed by the villagers. Oliver finds this ending implausible and explains that a strange ending influences his attitude towards the book as a whole: Ja, also ich, ich finde, wenn das Ende ein bisschen komisch ist, dann beeinflusst das irgendwie das ganze Buch, auch wenn es bis dahin komplett gut war und dann einfach das Ende nicht so gut ist. Dann hat man zum Schluss immer diesen Eindruck ‘Ha, das Buch war irgendwie nicht so richtig gut.’ [Yes, in my opinion, when an ending is a bit strange, then it has an influence on the book as a whole, also when it was entirely good up to this point and only the ending is not good. One has always the impression then at the end of the book ‘Ha, the book was not really good.’] (Interview) 6 Research Findings: Cases 158 <?page no="159"?> Furthermore, Oliver criticises that the characters of the different folktales are presented in a rather flat and superficial way by the writers. This makes it hard for him to empathise with them. Another reason for being unable to feel with them, are the differences he sees between their lives and his own, as will be explained in more detail further on. Of all the books he read, Oliver only liked The Jewels of Amuria which he finds somehow funny and he appreciates that it is closer to reality than the other books he read: das war irgendwie ein Stück weit auch witzig und, keine Ahnung, das hatte einfach so eine Geschichte, die ist zwar/ man weiß, dass die nicht wirklich so passiert ist, aber die hat so einen Tick Reales und (…) aber auch so einen Hauch von Fantasie halt. [that was somehow to a certain extent funny and, no idea, it had simply a story of which one knows that it did not happen like that but it still has a bit of real-life but also a touch of fantasy.] (Interview) In the final questionnaire, Oliver states that he did not enjoy the reading project very much. For him the time span in which it was conducted was too long and the project as such was too much work. Still, he would recommend it to other school classes because he is of the opinion that one could get to know more about Uganda through the project. 6.3.3 Prior Knowledge Before the reading project started, Oliver imagined Uganda to be a rather poor country where hunger prevails and school education is inadequate. He indicates in the questionnaire that he gets information about Uganda on the internet but he usually does not read about this country. Oliver reports that he also has a pen pal in Uganda. In the interview, he explains that he only received one letter from this pen pal and has not heard from him for about two or three years now. He perceives his knowledge about the country as limited: “Ich weiß nicht so viel über Uganda und bin deshalb sehr unerfahren über das Land. [I don’t know a lot about Uganda and therefore have very little experience with this country]” (first ques‐ tionnaire). Oliver would not participate in a student exchange with Uganda because he is already part of a student exchange with France, he explains. 6.3 Oliver 159 <?page no="160"?> 6.3.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Oliver comes up with various instances for comparisons. He describes his own life and context as very different from the characters in the books. He notes that when we are hungry, we go shopping in the supermarket, whereas they, when they are hungry, they go to the forest to hunt or collect berries (interview). His contrasting of “we” versus “them” illustrates a process of self-identification by means of distancing from the other. These differences which he describes seem irreconcilable for him as becomes apparent when Oliver expresses his difficul‐ ties with imagining a life of that kind: Etwas in dieser Art habe ich noch nie erlebt, und das Leben kann man sich hier gar nicht vorstellen, da wir alles haben, was wir wollen. [Something of that sort I have never experienced and one cannot imagine this life because we have everything we want.] (Reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Only in the context of storytelling features does he point to similarities between his own context and the Ugandan. He states that the Ugandan narratives make use of “klassische [classical]” (interview) features such as binary character roles, the good versus the bad, a struggle which the characters have to go through and a rather positive ending. With reference to How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails, which for him is basically identical with the German fairy tale Der Wolf und die sieben Geißlein [The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids], he constructs sim‐ ilarities between German and Ugandan folktales. Various aspects of the narratives are foreign to Oliver. He points out, for example, that he will not be able to remember the names in The Jewels of Amuria because they are foreign: “An die Namen der Leute werde ich mich wahrscheinlich überhaupt nicht erinnern, da sie fremd sind. [I will probably not remember the names of the people because they are foreign]” (reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria). This also suggests that Oliver could not relate very well to the texts and the characters and is not very much influenced by the texts. 6.3.5 (De)Construction and Reflection In the interview, Oliver reveals further prior associations that he has concerning Uganda. He states that the books actually confirmed the impression that people there live in harmony with nature: Also, von den Büchern hat man halt jetzt nochmal diesen verstärkten Eindruck be‐ kommen, dass/ das da, zum Beispiel bei diesem hier [zeigt auf The Baby in the Forest], die halt mit diesen Speeren und Bogen zum Jagen gehen und das dann auch essen und 6 Research Findings: Cases 160 <?page no="161"?> 6 In the past, many of the clothes in Uganda were made out of the skin of a fig tree (mituba tree), a material referred to as barkcloth. alles verwenden. Und quasi mit der Natur zusammenleben, die auch für die lebens‐ wichtig ist. Die Tiere und die Pflanzen und alles. [From the books one got the rein‐ forced impression that/ in the Baby in the Forest, for example, they go hunting with these spears and then also eat and use everything. They practically live with nature, which is vital for them. The animals and plants and everything.] (Interview) He bases this perception on mainly one scene in the book The Baby in the Forest, where the character Kakazi finds a baby in the forest. “Also auch bei diesem Baby in the Forest, da ist die eine ja auch zum Jagen, um irgendetwas zum Essen jagen in den Wald gegangen und hat da dann das Kind gefunden und alles. [Well, also in The Baby in the Forest, one of them went into the forest to hunt, to hunt something to eat and then she has found that child and everything]” (interview). As the excerpt from the book to which he refers here shows, this scene, however, does not actually talk about hunting or finding food: One day Kakazi went to the forest to collect firewood. After she had collected enough dry twigs and sticks, she tied them together in a bundle. She was about to put the bundle on her head when she heard a baby crying (…). (Barungi, 2009, p. 7; my emphasis) Therefore, it seems that Oliver projects his own subconscious assumptions onto the text here and so, in a way, adapts the text to his own expectations. Maybe also the picture on the front cover of the book, which shows a man clad in fur / barkcloth 6 and shorts hunting a wolflike creature, influeneced him in his mental processes. Statements as such also suggest that Oliver is not entirely aware of the fictive nature of the texts and reads the folktales with fantastic elements for mirroring Ugandan reality. Elsewhere in the interview, Oliver, however, expresses some uncertainties in the delimitation of fact and fiction. When he is asked if he imagines Uganda to be as it is described in the books, he answers: “Ja, ich glaube schon. [Yes, I believe so.]” The substantial uncertainty which is involved in this reply may be rooted in his awareness that he actually knows very little about Uganda and is not sure about this knowledge, as he also states in the first ques‐ tionnaire. Also later on in the interview, his uncertainty in the interpretation becomes apparent: Wenn sie irgendwie jetzt Hunger haben, ich weiß nicht, ob das da wirklich so ist, aber so wie es in den Büchern raus kam, wenn die Hunger haben, gehen die halt in 6.3 Oliver 161 <?page no="162"?> den Wald und jagen oder Beeren oder so etwas sammeln. [When they are hungry somehow, I am not sure, if it is really like that, but from the books I could get that, when they are hungry, they go into the forest and hunt or collect berries or something like that.] (Interview, my emphasis) This statement may indicate that Oliver is not completely sure what fantastic and realistic elements of the narratives are and to what extent the texts really reflect upon reality. Still, on finishing the reading project, Oliver is of the opinion that the texts gave him a deeper insight into Ugandan culture (final question‐ naire). Several times, evolutionist perspectives become apparent in Oliver’s state‐ ments. At the end of the interview, he remarks that he has learnt the following about Uganda in the reading project: Über die Kultur halt, dass es eine sehr, sehr einfache Kultur ist. Auch eine alte Kultur irgendwie, die immer noch beständig bleibt oder ist und, dass/ da merkt man glaube ich auch, dass man jetzt eben nicht einfach alles niederholzen kann, Wald, Bäume so wie es einem passt, sondern, dass manchmal die Leute das halt auch noch [unv.] und damit auch umzugehen wissen und halt. [About the culture, it is a very, very simple culture. An old culture also somehow, which remains, or just is constant and you can also notice why it is important not to cut down everything, forest, trees, as one wishes, but that sometimes people [inc.] and know how to deal with it.] (Interview) He seems to look at the Ugandan way of life as something rather simple and traditional. He describes the Ugandan culture as “sehr, sehr einfach [very, very simple]” and rather old. In this context, he does not draw any comparisons with his own surroundings but the adjectives he makes use of suggest that in contrast to this there is also a rather complex and modern culture for him (probably the German or Western European one). The fact that he describes ‘the other’ as simple and traditional, therefore, carries implications of the ‘self ’ as complex and modern even without him voicing that directly. When he points out that forests and trees should not just be cut down, Oliver seems to be reflecting upon the responsibility of Western societies in the North-South divide. It may, how‐ ever, be observed that he talks passively about “man [one]” in this statement and thus does not question his own way of living or show any self-critical po‐ tential. Therefore, Oliver seems to remain caught in a process of othering. 6.3.6 Gender Issues In the reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria, Oliver points to differences be‐ tween gender issues in Germany and Uganda. He states that his life is different 6 Research Findings: Cases 162 <?page no="163"?> because in his own context a woman may choose her own husband and the father cannot decide for her. He also comments upon this difference in the in‐ terview: Ja, also das war so, dieser König oder Häuptling hat ja diese Töchter gehabt und der konnte halt entscheiden, wer die Töchter kriegt. Und heute ist es ja so, also bei uns zumindest, dass es die Töchter selber entscheiden können und dass da, äh, dass die jetzt nicht unbedingt die Einverständnis von den Eltern brauchen. Und ja das finde ich gut. [Yes, it was like that, the king or chief had these daughters and he could decide who can marry the daughters. And today it is like that, well at least for us that the daughters may decide on their own and that they do not necessarily need the approval of the parents. And I consider that good.] Whereas he appreciates the fact that girls may choose their husbands without their parents’ consent in the interview, he evaluates the idea of Chief Luba to marry his daughter off to someone who pays a high bride price as not that bad in the reading diary: Diese Idee ist im grunde [sic] gar nicht schlecht, aber so haben nur reiche Leute die Chance seine Töchter zu heiraten, dies will evtl. von Luba erreicht werden. Außerdem denkt er, dass keiner seine Töchter zu einem so hohen Preis will, und dass sie dann bei ihm bleiben. [Basically, this idea is not bad but like that only rich people have the chance to marry his daughters, this is maybe intended by Luba. Furthermore, he thinks that nobody wants to marry his daughters at such a high price and then they will stay with him.] (Reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) The contradictory statements suggest that Oliver is not very sure about his opinion regarding this issue. Maybe he also has not reflected deeply upon it. 6.3.7 Summary Oliver speaks predominantly disapprovingly about the texts and does not des‐ ignate any of their passages as relevant for him. He perceives the lives of the characters as very different from his own life. Oliver considers his prior expect‐ ations concerning Uganda confirmed in the narratives, although, he occasionally also projects his own expectations onto the texts. Many of his statements point to a rather evolutionist perspective on culture, particularly when he describes the Ugandan culture as very simple and traditional. 6.3 Oliver 163 <?page no="164"?> 6.4 Emma “und da denkt man eigentlich, das kann doch gar nicht sein [and you think that this cannot actually be true]” (interview) 6.4.1 Case Description Emma is 15 years old. She has an older sister and two younger brothers. The siblings all go to the same school, i.e. school A. Emma gets on very well with her older sister and the two spend a lot of time together. The four children live with their parents in a small town in Baden-Württemberg. Regarding her family background, Emma describes herself as monocultural. What Emma does not mention in the interview or reading diaries is that she is hearing impaired and wears a hearing aid in class. I was informed about her hearing impairment by the teacher. As hobbies Emma lists kickboxing which she does twice or thrice a week together with her sister. Second she mentions reading. She states that at the moment she does not read many books but rather fan fiction pages on the in‐ ternet. She describes fan fiction as fiction written by readers on books they have read and of which, for example, they change the ending. Emma does not write her own stories; she only reads the fan fiction which is available on various internet portals. Some of these stories are also written in English and thus she also reads in English sometimes, Emma explains. Emma is interested in cultures and travelling. She indicates in the interview that after she has completed her A-levels she wants to travel, to go somewhere “wo es auch mal anders ist [where it is different]”. She imagines that as a life-changing experience and would like to see “wie das dann danach auch un‐ terschiedlich ist [how things are different afterwards]”. Emma’s feelings con‐ cerning foreign languages are mixed. She likes the English lessons, a fact which she bases on her teacher. French she is not very much interested in. 6.4.2 Reading Background Emma describes herself as a book lover. She reads a lot and enjoys particularly romantic novels and fantasy. She likes it when the story or the author has some‐ thing to say and the book is thought-provoking. Emma does not like crime sto‐ ries or kitschy love stories. She points out that she always liked reading. When she was young her big sister, who is also an avid reader, was a role model for 6 Research Findings: Cases 164 <?page no="165"?> her. Already in Year 2 of primary school, Emma started to read the Harry Potter series. In the project, Emma read eight narratives: The Unfulfilled Dream, Our Cousins from Abroad, “The Hair Cut”, Voice of a Dream, Children of the Red Fields, The Jewels of Amuria, I Will No Fail and “First Kiss”. Amongst them are three longer texts, marked with a red dot (Children of the Red Fields, Voice of a Dream, I Will Not Fail). Her diary entries point to a deep involvement with the texts. They include, for example, detailed character analyses and concrete modification re‐ quests for parts of the texts she does not like. In the interview, Emma also shows a high level of insightfulness. Her elaborateness in the reading diaries and in the interview may be related to the fact that she reads a lot and, therefore, seems to have a lot of prior knowledge concerning literary texts. In general, Emma responds relatively positively to the texts she read in the reading project. Particularly the more difficult books, those marked with a red dot, appeal to her: Also, (…) so manche Geschichten, die einfachen, waren halt ein bisschen kurz und halt nicht so viel Inhalt, aber die schwierigeren, mit den roten Punkten vor allem, das hat irgendwie schon angesprochen und das habe ich auch gut gelesen. Es war jetzt nicht so, dass ich mich dazu zwingen musste, aber ich habe mich halt da schon gerne hin‐ gesetzt und habe das dann gelesen. [Some of the stories, the simpler ones, were a bit short and did not have so much content, but the more difficult ones, those with red dots, they were appealing and good to read. It was not that I had to force myself but I enjoyed sitting down and reading them.] (Interview) When she is asked for central themes in the narratives she has read, Emma states that the texts are all very different. She seems to perceive the Ugandan young adult fiction as manifold. A topic that she discovered in several narratives, how‐ ever, is “Kämpfe für deinen Traum [Fight for your dream]” (interview). Also concerning the style, Emma perceives the texts as very diverse. Some of them are written in a “fröhlich, locker, praktisch [happy, light, practical]” (interview) tone whereas others are rather serious, she explains. Emma appreciates the honest way in which the writers of the narratives talk about serious issues. For the novella The Unfulfilled Dream she states: “Ich finde es gut, dass der Autor nichts verschönert/ verpackt. Er erzählt ohne Gnade / Vers‐ chleierung der Realität. [In my opinion it is good that the author does not em‐ bellish anything. He tells the story without mercy / disguising reality]” (reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream). She prefers this to a writing style that circum‐ vents certain topics in a “wischiwaschi [wishy-washy]” (interview) manner be‐ cause this, according to her, does not make the reader aware of the seriousness 6.4 Emma 165 <?page no="166"?> of the situation. When something is told in an honest way, it helps her to em‐ pathise with the characters because she immediately gets drawn into the plot, she explains. In addition, she is of the opinion that “wenn es dann halt wirklich ehrlich ist, dann denkt man vielleicht auch eher ehrlich darüber nach [when it is written in an honest way, one also thinks about it more honestly]” (interview). Emma, however, also repeatedly points out that she appreciates it when a certain narrative is written in a positive way or has a happy ending. In some reading diaries, Emma criticises that the writing style of the narra‐ tives is too “nüchtern [plain]” and she would have liked to get to know more about the feelings of the characters. Der Schreibstil ist recht nüchtern. Man kennt zwar die Gedanken von Gwendolyn, aber über ihre Gefühle erfährt man nicht so viel. […] Mir war er etwas zu nüchtern. Ich hätte gern mehr über Gwens Gefühle erfahren. [The writing style is rather plain. One knows Gwendolyn’s thoughts but does not get to know much about her feelings. For me it was too plain. I'd like to have learnt a bit more about how Gwen was feeling.] (Reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) As her favourite books in the project, Emma lists Voice of a Dream and Children of the Red Fields. She appreciates Voice of a Dream for showing that one can do whatever s / he really wants to do. Emma likes it because it carries the message of “Ja, du musst kämpfen für deine Träume [Yes, you have to fight for your dreams]” (interview) which the reader may also pick up for her / his own life, she explains. The other novella, Children of the Red Fields, she describes as very different from Voice of a Dream. It talks about child soldiers, a topic that she considers unfamiliar and foreign. She says that it was, however, the unfami‐ liarity of this novella that made such a strong impression on her because it was thought-provoking. When asked for a narrative that she did not particularly like, Emma hesitates a little and indicates that the texts were actually all meaningful to her. On second thought, she considers Our Cousins from Abroad such a book because she does not like the characters, particularly the cousin from England who speaks dis‐ paragingly about the others. She criticises her for not adapting to the situation: Ich mochte die Figur manchmal irgendwie nicht. Dieses Mädchen, diese Cousine aus England. Ähm. Wie die halt so abfällig ist gegenüber den anderen. Irgendwie nicht versucht sich anzupassen. Das fand ich halt schon blöd. Irgendwie, wenn man ir‐ gendwo zu Besuch ist, dann passt man sich dann schon an. [Sometimes I did not like the character somehow. This girl, the cousin from England. How she talks about the others in such derogatory terms. Somehow does not try to adapt. I consider that dumb. When you are somewhere for a visit, then you adapt.] (Interview) 6 Research Findings: Cases 166 <?page no="167"?> In the final questionnaire, Emma lists the short story “First Kiss”, which she had not yet read at the time of the interview, as the narrative she dislikes the most in the project. Before reading it, she expected a nice teenage story but was then disappointed by the nature of the story which she describes as strange and she writes that she missed a real storyline in the narrative. Emma states in the final questionnaire that she liked the reading project in general: Ich fand es nicht schlecht, einmal etwas anderes als die gewohnten Bücher zu lesen und etwas über eine andere Kulture zu lesen / erfahren. Ich habe gedacht, dass das alles etwas stressig wird, aber letztendlich hat es mir gut gefallen und die Bücher waren besser als erwartet. Nur das Lesetagebuchschreiben war manchmal anstrengend und etwas, worauf ich keine so große Lust hatte. [I thought it wasn’t bad to read something different from the usual books and to learn / get to know something about another culture. I thought that it would be a bit stressful but eventually I liked it and the books were better than expected. Only writing the reading diary was a bit tiring and some‐ thing I didn't really fancy that much.] (Final questionnaire) 6.4.3 Prior Knowledge Before the reading, Emma imagined Uganda to be rather poor and rural. She also mentions “Hitze, große Familien und meine Brieffreundin [heat, big families and my pen friend]” as associations in the first questionnaire. Emma states that she gets information about African countries through her Ugandan pen friend and sometimes on TV . However, she also notes that it is not very often the case that something about Uganda is broadcasted on TV . In the interview, Emma elaborates on the letters she exchanges with her Ugandan pen friend. She notes that they have not yet written many letters to each other but she has already got to know a few facts about Uganda via this exchange, for example that Uganda has two seasons, a dry season and a rainy one. She also learnt a bit more about the life of her pen friend in the letters. Emma puts some of the information she got through the letters in relation to the narratives she read. She points out, for example, that in I Will Not Fail it is described that pupils have to walk long distances to school. Emma recalls her pen friend telling her in a letter that she also has to walk quite a distance if she wants to see her grandparents who live in the next town. In addition, she re‐ members that her pen friend wrote in a letter that there are very many students in one class in Uganda. She could extract similar descriptions from the novel. Emma would definitely participate in a student exchange with Uganda be‐ cause she would like to get to know her pen friend one day. She also considers 6.4 Emma 167 <?page no="168"?> it to be different to experience something first hand than simply reading or hearing about it. 6.4.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Emma is particularly interested in differences between everyday life of young people in Uganda and life in Germany: “Mich interessiert, inwiefern sich der Alltag der Jugendlichen in Uganda von unserem unterscheidet. [I would like to know to what extent everyday life of young people in Uganda differs from our everyday life]” (first questionnaire). In the reading diaries and interview, Emma repeatedly draws comparisons. For example, she compares Ugandan young adult fiction with young adult fic‐ tion that she is familiar with in Germany and detects both similarities and dif‐ ferences: Und es unterscheidet sich teilweise ja ziemlich davon, aber irgendwie ist es manchmal auch aktuelle Themen, die wir (unv.), wo man sich selbst auch damit identifizieren kann. [And it is partly very different from that but somehow these are sometimes also current topics with which one can also identify.]” (Interview) She elaborates particularly on the similarities that she constructed between the two literatures. The topics which are discussed in “The Hair Cut” she describes as typical teenage problems that are also dealt with in German fiction. Also messages such as “Gib nicht auf [Don’t give up]” and “Mach weiter [Continue]” (interview) she considers to be present in literature from both countries, albeit handled slightly differently. On comparing life in Germany with life in Uganda she constructs various differences. In the reading diary for I Will Not Fail, she makes the following statement: Ein Mädchen sagt, dass sie Bauer werden will, weil man da reich werden kann. Das zeigt mal wieder den Unterschied zwischen Deutschland und Uganda. Hier in Deutschland würde nie irgendjemand darauf hinarbeiten, Bauer zu werden. Bei uns ist ein guter Beruf, wo man viel verdient Anwalt oder Arzt. Aber in Uganda können sich wahrscheinlich viele Menschen keinen Anwalt oder Arzt leisten, deshalb macht es dort wohl wirklich Sinn, Bauer zu werden und die Ware zu verkaufen. [A girl says she wants to become a farmer because one can become rich like that. This shows again the difference between Germany and Uganda. Here in Germany nobody would strive to become a farmer. For us being a lawyer or doctor is a good occupation. But in Uganda many people probably cannot afford a lawyer or doctor and therefore it is meaningful to become a farmer and sell your goods.] 6 Research Findings: Cases 168 <?page no="169"?> Furthermore, she points out that the novella gave her the impression that chil‐ dren in Uganda are much more focused in class than students in Germany. She bases this observation on the assumption that education is a privilege in Uganda. When she compares her own life with that of the characters in the narratives, she also comes up with various similarities and differences. Family life, school life and challenges in the life of a young adult serve as major points of references here. In general, she considers her own life to be easier than that of the characters in the narratives given the different access to life chances: Ja, also, ich hab manchmal das Gefühl, mein Leben ist halt einfacher, weil ich darf ja wie selbstverständlich zur Schule gehen und ich mein, wenn ich in der Schule mal nicht so gut bin, dann ist das nicht so schlimm, weil, keine Ahnung, aber da hängt halt alles davon ab, eigentlich. Was die dann machen später in ihrem Beruf. Und ob sie ihren Traum erfüllen können. Ob sie wegziehen können, und so. Bei mir ist das jetzt nicht so ernst, würde ich jetzt mal sagen. [I have sometimes the feeling that my life is easier because it is self-evident that I can go to school and when I am not so good at school, then this is not really a problem because, no idea, but not everything depends on that actually. What they do later as their profession. And if they can fulfil their dream. If they can move away and so. In my case that is not so serious, I would say.] (Interview) Concluding from this, she perceives the characters in the novels to be more mature in comparison to her because she is of the opinion that they grow through these challenges: Also, man hat das Gefühl, die sind alle irgendwie reifer, irgendwie, weil die haben halt andere Sorgen als ich, praktisch. Weil, wenn meine Zahnpasta aus ist, dann ärgere ich mich halt, aber bei denen ist es halt eigentlich viel schlimmer. [One has the feeling that they are somehow more mature because they have different worries than I have. When I have run out of tooth paste, I get annoyed but in their case it is actually much worse.] (Interview) Apart from the different distributions of opportunities, Emma sees differences on an individual family or character level. She states, for example, that in con‐ trast to the family of Akello in The Unfulfilled Dream, her family would always support her (reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) and asserts that she would behave differently than Mercy in Our Cousins from Abroad whose impolite be‐ haviour she cannot understand (reading diary for Our Cousins from Abroad). Several times when pointing to the differences between Uganda and Germany or the life of the characters and her own life, Emma concludes that she can count herself lucky to be growing up in Germany: 6.4 Emma 169 <?page no="170"?> Ich denke, mir ist nun klar, was für ein Glück ich habe, in Deutschland zu leben. Hier hätte Nanfuka bestimmt Unterstützung vom Staat bekommen, denn sie ist ja erst 16 und muss sich um 4 kleine Kinder kümmern. [I think I am now aware how lucky I am to live in Germany. Here Nanfuka would definitively have got support through the state because she is only 16 and has to look after four young children.] (Reading diary for Voice of a Dream) However, Emma also comes up with similarities between the characters’ lives and her own. For example, she constructs similarities on the level of sibling relationships: Die drei Geschwister aus Uganda waren mir sofort sympathisch, da sie mich sehr an mich und meine Geschwister erinnern. Sie fotzeln miteinander und gehen sich ge‐ genseitig ein bisschen auf die Nerven. Das ist ganz normal und stellenweise auch lustig. [I immediately liked the three siblings from Uganda because they reminded me much of me and my siblings. They tease each other and get on each other’s nerves a bit. This is very normal and to some extent also funny.] (Reading diary for Our Cousins from Abroad) In addition, she can identify very well with Flora in “The Hair Cut” “denn jeder hat mal so einen Tag, ‘Ja heute geht gar nichts und ich will gar nicht aufstehen’ [because everyone has a day when nothing is working out and when you tell yourself ‘I do not want to get up’” (interview) and she can also relate to state‐ ments such as “Die hat eine viel schönere Haut als ich. [She has much nicer skin than I have]” (reading diary for “The Hair Cut”). With Nanfuka in Voice of a Dream she can identify partly. Nanfuka has to show much endurance in the novel which Emma also considers important for her own life although she states that the situations she has to endure are not as serious as those in the novels. In the reading diary for Our Cousins from Abroad, Emma expresses a rather universalist perception on culture as it is commonly assumed by global educa‐ tion approaches (see Chapter 2.8). She marks the sentence “although we have different shades of skin colour, inside we are all the same. […] we all have the same blood colour […] - red” (Barungi, 2003, p. 22) as her favourite sentence in this book and comments on it in the following way: “Wenn wir uns öfter bewusst machen würden, dass wir im Grunde dieselben sind, würden wir uns vielleicht besser verstehen. [If we made ourselves aware more often that we are basically all the same, we would maybe get on better]”. Later on in the reading diary, she states that it should be everyone’s life motto to respect each other. Emma here reflects upon the universality of human beings and the importance of tolerance and respect. 6 Research Findings: Cases 170 <?page no="171"?> Some of the differences that she faces in the narratives are very challenging for Emma to imagine and make it difficult for her to empathise with the char‐ acters. She expresses these issues with reference to the novellas I Will Not Fail and Children of the Red Fields. In I Will Not Fail, she struggles to understand the different attitudes of students to education: I Will Not Fail, weiß nicht, also für mich ist es halt selbstverständlich zur Schule gehen zu dürfen. Ich mache mir jetzt auch keinen so allzu großen Druck mehr, ich lern schon viel, ich schreib auch gute Noten, aber die Schule ist jetzt nicht so mein Leben, meine einzige Möglichkeit aus zu Hause raus zu kommen. Also, das, keine Ahnung, kann man sich nicht so gut vorstellen, wie das da ist, dass die Schule so wichtig ist, und so. [I Will Not Fail, I don’t know, I just take for granted that I can go to school. I don’t put too much pressure on myself anymore, I study a lot, I also get good marks, but school is not my whole life, my only possibility of getting away from home. This, no idea, you can’t really imagine how it is that school is that important.] (Interview) Emma has particular problems in putting herself into the position of the char‐ acters in the novella Children of the Red Fields. In her reading diary, she explains: Das was im Buch passiert, ist so gegensätzlich zu meinem Leben, dass ich mich über‐ haupt nicht damit identifizieren kann. Ich musste noch nie so etwas durchmachen und werde es vermutlich auch nie müssen. Das alles ist zwar realistisch geschrieben, aber so richtig glauben will man das nicht. [What happens in the book is so different to my life that I cannot identify with it. I’ve never had to go through something like that and probably will never have to do so. This is all written in a realistic mode but you don’t really want to believe it.] Emma concludes that it depends on whether she herself has had similar expe‐ riences to what extent she can understand the characters in the narratives: Also, vielleicht, wenn man schon so etwas Ähnliches erlebt hat, dann fällt es einem natürlich leichter [sich hineinzuversetzen], weil man dann noch Erfahrungen hat. Bei solchen Sachen, die ganz abstrakt sind, zum Beispiel eben den Children of the Red Fields, oder so halt, die nicht so in Deutschland, sondern eben eher in Uganda [sind], da kann man sich dann nicht so gut reinversetzen. [Maybe when you have experienced something similar then it is easier [to empathise], because then you have experience. You cannot really put yourself into these kinds of issues which are completely abstract, in Children of the Red Fields, for example, or something like that, which do not really exist in Germany but rather in Uganda.] (Interview) 6.4 Emma 171 <?page no="172"?> 7 ‘Baganda’ is the plural for ‘Muganda’ (see Chapter 4.4.1) and is used to refer to people from the kingdom Buganda. In this way, Emma underlines the pertinence of scepticism in the context of understanding foreign aspects (Hunfeld 1991, 1992a, 1992b, 1994; see also Chapter 2.3). Emma comes across various irritations in the narratives. She is, for example, startled about the fact that the characters are apparently called by their last name in the narratives: Ich würde gerne wissen, warum mache Personen immer beim Nachnamen genannt werden. Das ist mir schon bei ein paar Büchern aufgefallen. (Im Deutschen ist das eher unüblich). [I would like to know why people are always called by their last name. I noticed that already in a few books. (In German this is rather uncommon).] (Reading diary for Voice of a Dream) This irritation is grounded in Emma’s perception of her own (Western) name conventions as the norm. In her context, it is common that people carry both a first and a last / family name and characters are most frequently addressed with their first names in narratives. Many people in Uganda, however, do not have a first and a last name. The Baganda 7 , for example, have a name that shows their association to a certain ‘clan’, e.g. the colobus monkey ‘clan’ in the case of Nan‐ fuka, the main character of Voice of a Dream. Traditionally, Baganda boys and girls, therefore, receive a name from the ‘clan’ of their father which is, however, not identical to their father’s name. Thus, family names conventions as the ones Emma is familiar with do not exist for the Baganda. Besides their ‘clan’ name, many Baganda have a religious name according to their religious affiliation, e.g. Christine in the case of Nanfuka in the novel Voice of a Dream. Therefore, to address the protagonist of Voice of a Dream, both names, Nanfuka and Christine, may be used as a first name and “Nanfuka” is not a family name in the way Emma understands it. By expressing her irritation about this aspect, Emma shows that she is aware of this difference but her reflections do not go as far as reflecting upon her own subjectivity and norms. Other irritations Emma faces also show tendencies of looking at her own perspective as the norm: She asks herself, for example why there is no youth welfare office in Uganda because it should not be allowed that a sixteen-year-old girl acts as a guardian for her younger siblings as in the case of Nanfuka in Voice of a Dream. In addition, she wonders why the young boy Kantu in Our Cousins from Abroad delivers the letter and she raises the question whether there are no postmen in Uganda. 6 Research Findings: Cases 172 <?page no="173"?> When Emma talks about one of her favourite books in the reading project, Children of the Red Fields, she points out that the situation that it describes is completely foreign to her: Äh, ja, diese Situation ist halt total fremd. Äh, Kindersoldaten gibt es in Deutschland jetzt überhaupt nicht, oder Kinderarbeit oder so etwas. Und das ist halt echt übel, wie da so Dreizehnjährige oder so total ernst mit Maschinengewehren da herum ma‐ schieren. Und das fand ich halt schon sehr einprägend, weil das eben so ungewohnt ist und da denkt man eigentlich, das kann doch gar nicht sein. Aber, dass es das halt doch gibt, das ist schon, mhm (…). [This situation is completely foreign. Child soldiers or child work or something like that doesn’t exist in Germany. And this is really terrible, that thirteen-year-olds march around seriously with machine guns. And this made a deep impression on me because it is so unusual and you think this cannot be true. But the fact that it really does exist is really, mhm (…).] (Interview, my emphasis) She compares the situation depicted in the novella with the German context and states that the two are very different. Since the existence of child soldiers is foreign and unfamiliar to her, it is on the one hand a phenomenon she finds beyond belief but on the other hand it also makes a big impression on her. Emma here reflects upon the difficulty of understanding otherness and also the attrac‐ tion of the foreign. Another instance of foreignness she comes across in the novella The Unful‐ filled Dream. She expresses her shock about the ending of that narrative which caught her unaware: Unfilfulled Dream, das ist mein erstes Buch. Und da kriegt sie dann AIDS, und ihr Baby hat dann auch AIDS und stirbt dann. Und das war halt dieses erstes, äh, okay, dieses bisschen erschlagen werden (lacht). Weil das war halt schon ein bisschen un‐ gewohnt am Anfang, und dann kommt man langsam herein in die Ernsthaftigkeit, praktisch. [Unfulfilled Dream, this is my first book. And in this she gets AIDS and her baby has also AIDS and then dies. And this was this, well kind of like being beaten up (laughs). Because this was a bit unfamiliar at the beginning, and then one slowly gets into the seriousness, practically.] (Interview) The fact that the story ends in such a sad note really surprised her “weil bei uns geht es halt meistens, äh, gut aus. [because in our context stories most of the time end positively]” (interview). Moreover, she indicates that this ending initially overwhelmed her. Also in further reflections upon the understanding of otherness, Emma points out that she actually felt “überrollt [run over]” (interview) by some books. When she read something that was completely unfamiliar or foreign to her, it initially 6.4 Emma 173 <?page no="174"?> overstrained her: “Ja, da sitzt man halt erst mal da und dann halt so "Was? " Und (unv.), keine Ahnung, ich weiß nicht so. [Yes, one sits here and thinks ‘What? ’ And, no idea, I don’t know]” (interview). She states that foreign situations of that kind provoked her thoughts but then she did not deal with the foreign issue any longer because she did actually not know how to handle it. She, therefore, just continued reading because she wanted to know how the story would con‐ tinue. Reflections of that type seem to reveal her awareness for the difficulty of understanding otherness and maybe even respect for hermeneutic distance (Hunfeld, see Chapter 2.3). 6.4.5 (De)Construction and Reflection Emma notes that the associations that she had of Uganda before the reading project were largely confirmed through the narratives: “Uganda, da denkt man schon eher an so Lehmhütten oder so und auch kein Strom oder so. Und das hat sich schon bestätigt. [Uganda, it makes you think of mud huts and things of that type and no power and so. This has been confirmed]” (interview). She bases this on the fact that most of the stories and novels she read were set in rural areas. She states that she only read one short story with an urban setting, “First Kiss”. “The Hair Cut” she does not consider an urban story because according to her the focus here is placed on the plot and the feelings of the protagonist and the setting is irrelevant. Since most of the narratives were set in rural areas, she primarily got an insight into rural Uganda which confirmed her expectations, she explains. At the same time, Emma is surprised that the characters in the books are “eigentlich schon postiv gestimmt [actually rather positive]” (inter‐ view). She did not expect this. The way Emma read the texts triggered further reflections upon her own life opportunities and her own standard of living. She considers herself to have better future prospects and to be less dependent on certain circumstances than many characters in the books. For example, she states that if she has bad marks at school, the consequences are not as severe as for some of the characters in the narratives. In addition, she reflects upon her own standard of living: Also eigentlich, wie gesagt, mir geht's eigentlich schon relativ gut in Deutschland. Ich darf zur Schule gehen, ich habe das, ich habe Klamotten und ich hab was weiß ich alles. Ja, vielleicht sollte man sich nicht so viel beschweren über solche Sachen, die man dann nicht hat, praktisch. Also, gerade wenn die Lieblingsmarmelade aus ist, sich nicht darüber aufregen, weil es gibt echt Leute, die haben, ähm, viel größere Probleme als ich und ich sollte vielleicht auch ein bisschen dankbarer für das sein, was ich dann habe. [Actually, like I said, I am quite well off in Germany. I can go to school, I have 6 Research Findings: Cases 174 <?page no="175"?> this, I have clothes and I have everything I want. Maybe one should complain less about such type of things, which one doesn’t have, practically. When you’ve run out of your favourite jam, you shouldn’t make such a fuss about it because there are people who have much bigger problems than I and I should maybe also be a bit more grateful for that what I have.] (Interview) These reflections on inequalities and privileges show that Emma has dealt with the literary texts very intensively. The texts raise her awareness about things one takes for granted and make her reflect upon her own standard of living. This leads to the demand on herself to be more grateful for what she has. Thus, she uses the texts also to grapple with her own life conditions. Still, she remains at the level of recognising her own privileged situation and does not question it. She does not seem to see a connection between her own privileges and the inequalities she describes. Before the reading project, Emma expected Ugandan young adult fiction to describe differences and problems in particular: Ich denke es wird um den Alltag der Jugendlichen gehen und auch um das Familien‐ leben, da der Autor vielleicht zeigen will, was alles anders und eventuell auch schwier‐ iger ist. [I think it will be about everyday life of young people and also about family life because the author probably wants to show what is different and maybe also more difficult.] (First questionnaire) In the interview, she then expresses her surprise about some of the books: Also, ich hab jetzt ehrlich gesagt eher erwartet, dass es. / Ja, ich weiß nicht, ich habe es irgendwie schon anders erwartet. Also, manche Sachen haben mich schon über‐ rascht. Also ich habe gedacht, es wird, ähm (…). Ich weiß auch nicht. Dass die Situation in Uganda, das ist ja nicht SO gut und manche sind ja auch arm. Und, dass es dann vielleicht ein bisschen dramatischer dargestellt wird, aber eigentlich sind die trotzdem glücklich und haben halt schon ihren Alltag. Und ich hätte jetzt irgendwie das ein bisschen anders erwartet. Also, Themen vielleicht manchmal auch. [I actually rather expected that it/ I don’t know I expected it to be rather different somehow. Some things have really surprised me. Well, I thought, it would (…) I don’t know. That the situation in Uganda is not THAT good and some people are also poor. And that it would be portrayed a bit more dramatically, but actually people there are still happy and they have their everyday life. And I expected that to be a bit different. Maybe concerning the topics.] Emma expected the books to be written “dramatischer [more dramatically]” (in‐ terview) and to talk more about serious topics. Thus, the happy and “leichte [light]” (interview) nature of some of the books surprised her. On the other hand, 6.4 Emma 175 <?page no="176"?> she also states that some of the books were rather thought-provoking and talked about serious topics such as child soldiers or HIV / AIDS and therefore con‐ firmed Emma’s expectations of rather dramatic stories. She comes to the con‐ clusion that there are different types of books in Uganda. These reflections and her surprise, therefore, lead Emma to new constructions: She widens her per‐ ception on Ugandan literature by discovering that it does not only focus on problems and serious topics. Occasionally in the reading diaries, Emma’s own bias comes through. In the reading diary for Our Cousins from Abroad, she points out that “Kale findet sogar Gutes im 3 Kilometer langen Weg zum Wasser holen.” [Kale may even find some‐ thing good about a 3 kilometre walk to collect water.] This statement suggests that Emma cannot understand that a three kilometre walk to the next well can actually be fun. In the book, however, the walk to the well is in fact described as something enjoyable by Kale: ‘So what do you do when it is not raining and there is no water in the well? ’ ‘We travel a long distance, about three kilometres from here, to Kago to get water from a moun‐ tain spring,’ Kale explained. ‘Gosh, that’s quite a long way to carry these heavy con‐ tainers of water! ’ Mercy said. ‘It is quite fun, really. We usually go in a group of girls and play tip or tell stories as we go along.’ (Barungi, 2003, p. 34) Emma, talking from her own personal point of view, perceives this joy as rather abnormal and admires Kale for finding something good in this. She judges the situation from her own ethnocentric perspective. Similarly, when Emma is asked at the end of the interview if she has any further suggestions for the educational partnership which her school maintains with a school in Uganda, she states that she considers student exchanges the most effective way of getting to know each other. She values the fact that German students from her school regularly fly to Uganda, expressing doubts, however, whether it would also be good to organise a return visit for the Ugandan partners. She contemplates that “wenn die sehen, wie gut es wir haben, werden die schon ein bisschen neidisch [when they see, how well off we are, they will be a bit jealous]” (interview). This statement suggests that she looks at her own way of living as advanced and is of the opinion that everyone strives for the same way of living. In general, Emma is of the opinion that the reading project contributed to her understanding of cultures: “Und was vielleicht selbst auch so ein bisschen die Er‐ fahrung und das Lernen über andere Sachen eben, so Kulturen, ein bisschen schon dazu beigetragen hat [And it has maybe also a bit contributed to the experience and the learning about other things, cultures]” (interview). 6 Research Findings: Cases 176 <?page no="177"?> 6.4.6 HIV / AIDS Emma notes in the interview that for her personally HIV / AIDS is not a very important topic. She does not have a boyfriend and she has not had any expe‐ riences with this disease, she explains. Still, she knows that it is dangerous: Wenn man es dann halt hat, dann hat man es. Und dann kann man ja gar nichts machen und dann ist dein Leben schon ziemlich, äh, schwieriger. Wenn man so viele Tabletten schlucken muss und was weiß ich. Und, dass man auch andere nicht ansteckt. [When you have it, then you have it. Then you cannot do anything about it and then your life is rather difficult. When you have to swallow so many pills and whatever. And that you don’t infect other people.] (Interview) Therefore, she considers it an important topic for young adult fiction, particu‐ larly in Uganda. Emma assumes that HIV / AIDS is more present in Ugandan society than in Germany and she also thinks that people there are often not thoroughly educated about it: Ja, das ist also auch, vor allem, also ich glaube, in Uganda, ähm, ist das Thema auch ein bisschen präsenter, sage ich mal. Und da wissen es eben auch nicht so viele, denke ich. Also von der Hygiene und Sicherheit und deswegen ist es schon auch gut, dass halt auch in diesen Büchern, wo Jugendliche wahrscheinlich auch lesen, dass das da auch behandelt wird. Und ich fände es auch gut, dass / ja, es ist schon gut, dass das vorkommt. [Yes, that is a topic that is particularly in Uganda, I think, a bit more present, I would say. Concerning hygiene and security and therefore it is good that it is dealt with in these books which young people probably read. And yes I consider it good that it is part of them.] (Interview) Thus, Emma seems to perceive HIV / AIDS as a problem of ‘the other’. 6.4.7 Gender Issues Emma also appears to consider gender problems rather as a phenomenon of ‘the other’ than ‘self ’. She states that she is aware that in some societies women are disadvantaged but has not had any experience with that herself. She is of the opinion that in her own context it is kein so großes Thema [not such a big issue]”: “Äh, villeicht kriegen die Frauen ein bisschen weniger Gehalt als die Männer, aber wir haben ja schon eigentlich rechtlich die gleichen Rechte. [Maybe women’s salaries are a bit lower than those of men, but legally we have the same rights.] (Interview) 6.4 Emma 177 <?page no="178"?> Still, she finds it interesting to get to know how other cultures deal with gender issues. In the interview and in the reading diary for I Will Not Fail, Emma expresses her shock and disaffirmation about the way women are treated in the narratives: Also, ich finde es irgendwie schon blöd. Hallo, also, dass die dann verheiratet werden in I Will Not Fail. Und ‘Ja, du musst jetzt aus der Schule raus’ und ‘Du wirst das nicht, du wirst das’ und ‘Du musst mir bei dem und dem helfen’. Das ist schon krass (lacht). Also, ich würde/ also mich hat das manchmal schon richtig geärgert, wie die Frauen in Uganda behandelt werden und auch die Mädchen. Weil die haben echt voll den Nachteil und so. Ja ‘Du hast nichts zu sagen’, ‘Koch mir was und dann halt die Klappe’. Also, nee, geht gar nicht, praktisch, also. (…) Ne. Mag ich nicht. [I consider it somehow dumb. Hey, to be married to someone then in I Will Not Fail. And ‘Yes, you have to leave school’ and ‘You will not become this but that’ and ‘You have to help me with this and that’. That is drastic (laughs). I was sometimes really annoyed by this, how the women are treated in Uganda and the girls. Because they are at a real disadvantage. Yes, ‘You have nothing to say’, ‘Cook me something and then shut up’. Well, that does not work, practically. No, I don’t like it.] (Interview) In the above quote taken from the interview it may be observed that although Emma refers to the novella I Will Not Fail as a primary source for her outrage, she transfers some of the impressions gained to all the women and girls in ‘real’ Uganda. Thus, tendencies towards generalisation become apparent. 6.4.8 War Involving Child Soldiers The topic of child soldiers appears foreign to Emma. When she reflects upon the relevance of this topic for herself, she states: Also, mich betrifft es ja nicht wirklich. Und es schon blöd eigentlich, dass ich daran so wenig denke, wie gut es mir geht und dass es so schlimme Sachen gibt auf der Welt. So ein bisschen muss ich mir auch immer sagen ‘Ja, du hast es doch gut’. Weil, es ist halt schon. Also es ist echt abnormal Kinder für so etwas zu benutzen, praktisch, und dann einfach, dieses (…) Also finde ich einfach/ würde ich nie machen, denn Kinder, das ist halt, die sind dann für ihr Leben lang traumatisiert und die brauchen halt auch Liebe und Zuwendung und nicht nur ein Maschinengewehr in der Hand. Und. Ja, das kann man irgendwie gar nicht realisieren, das kann man sich gar nicht, also wenn man nicht wirklich weiß und sich klar macht, dass das so geht oder dass es das gibt, eben. Das ist irgendwie eben so ein bisschen surreal. Wenn man sich das irgendwie sich einfach gar nicht vorstellen kann, weil es einfach so abnormal ist, irgendwie, so Kinder so einzusetzen. [I am not really affected. And it is actually quite bad that I think 6 Research Findings: Cases 178 <?page no="179"?> so little of it, what a good life I have and what terrible things happen in the world. I have to tell myself a bit, ‘Yes, you are well off ’. Because it is like that. It is really terrible to abuse children for something like that, practically, and than this (…) I think, I would never do that, because children, they are then traumatised for the rest of their lives and they need love and attention not machine guns in their hands. Yes, you can hardly believe it, when you don’t know and do not tell yourself that it exists. That is actually a bit surreal. One cannot imagine that because it is so abnormal, somehow, to use children that way.] (Interview) This shows that her reflections about the narratives and the topic of child sol‐ diers initiated her to also reflect upon her own life. Her choice of words “surreal”, “abnormal” indicates how difficult it is for her to understand this phenomenon, something she also expresses in the reading diary: Ich weiß jetzt ein bisschen, wie man sich fühlen muss, wenn man verschleppt wird. Also, eigentlich weiß ich es nicht wirklich, denn dazu muss man so etwas durchleben. Aber ich kann mir jetzt vielleicht ansatzsweise [sic] vorstellen, wie traumatisierend das sein muss. [I know now a bit how you must feel, when you are abducted. But actually I do not know it really because for that you have to live through it yourself. But now I can imagine to some extent how traumatising it must be.] (Reading diary, Children of the Red Fields) She considers the book The Children of the Red Fields particularly suitable for people who like thought-provoking texts. As she herself likes to contemplate serious topics, she really enjoyed the narrative, she explains (interview). How‐ ever, Emma does not look at it as a very relevant book for someone who wants to get to know more about Uganda since she assumes or hopes that it describes rather an exceptional situation and, therefore, does not give a good overview of the current situation in Uganda. 6.4.9 Summary Emma approaches the texts in a very empathetic and reflected manner. She gets deeply involved also in the more difficult texts and shows a high level of ana‐ lytical skills. She repeatedly expresses irritations and difficulties in under‐ standing ‘the other’ and so gives the impression of showing respect for herme‐ neutic distance (see Hunfeld, see also Chapter 2.3). The texts also trigger self-critical processes in Emma. She frequently reflects upon her own privileges. Occasionally, a rather ethnocentric perspective comes through, i.e. when Emma evaluates the walk to the well in Our Cousins from Abroad according to her own standards. 6.4 Emma 179 <?page no="180"?> 6.5 Lukas “Und ich gehe jetzt auch davon aus, dass die in Uganda jetzt nicht so, äh, also viel Wert legen auf Menschenrechte [And I assume that in Uganda people don’t put so much value on human rights]” (interview) 6.5.1 Case Description Lukas is 15 years old. He lives with his parents in a village close to a small town in Baden-Württemberg and attends school A. He has two older siblings, a sister who is currently in Mexico for a year abroad and a brother who studies eco‐ nomics. His father is an electrical engineer and his mother is socially engaged in a home for the disabled. Regarding his family background, Lukas is mono‐ cultural. Lukas’s passion is sports. He plays football and usually rides his bike to school. Lukas enjoys travelling. He is often in France and particularly likes Paris which he finds “megaschön [fabulous]” (interview). Sometimes in the holidays he also goes to Italy. In his holidays with his family, he enjoys relaxing, doing nothing and looking at the most important sights of the places that he visits. He asserts that he does not get to know much about the culture of the respective country when he travels with his family. Lukas believes, however, that during a student exchange with France he got a deeper insight into the culture. He enjoyed this exchange and enthuses particularly about the food that he found extremely good. Lukas also likes languages. At school he finds them easier than other subjects such as Biology. He particularly enjoys the subject English be‐ cause of his English teacher and French he admires as it is spoken very fast. In the interview, it becomes apparent that Lukas has some difficulties with this method of data collection: Sometimes he does not understand the questions I ask him, several times he asks me to repeat them and he also has some problems in expressing himself. Also in writing, Lukas cannot express himself very clearly. He makes use of flowery language with some sophisticated turns of phrases that appear slightly out of place as the following example may illustrate: Ich würde diesen Text natürlich weiterempfehlen, da man ihn flüssig lesen kann und auch eine tiefe Verbundenheit zur Realität nahelegt. Außerdem ist das Buch mit viel‐ seitigen authentischen Protagonisten geschmückt, welche den Text sehr lebendig er‐ scheinen lassen und dadurch die Botschaft die ganze Zeit hell aufleuchten lassen, sodass dadurch eigentlich immer ein Funken Spannung vorhanden ist, obwohl es kei‐ nerlei Action Szenen hat. [I would definitely recommend this text because you can read it fluently and it suggests a deep attachment to reality. Besides the book is dec‐ 6 Research Findings: Cases 180 <?page no="181"?> orated with versatile authentic protagonists which make the text appear lively. Through this the message shines brightly the whole time so that there is always a spark of tension although it does not have any action scenes.] (Reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) 6.5.2 Reading Background In the first questionnaire, Lukas indicates that he does not like reading very much. In the interview, however, he explains that his reading behaviour has actually changed this year. It was his New Year’s resolution to read more and he has already read ten quite thick books in 2015 (until April) compared to only two in 2014. When asked for his reading preferences, Lukas states: “Kriege, Spannung, aber vor allem lese ich gerne Bücher über Ritter/ Helden. [Wars, but I especially like reading books about knights / heroes]” (first questionnaire). He does not like narratives that lack tension. Lukas has not yet read many books in English. He points out that in the library he has not seen a book written in English that he could borrow. But he also prefers reading books in German because he can read them more fluently, he explains. In the reading project, Lukas read five narratives: The Precious Cala‐ bash, The Adventurous Sisters, The Baby in the Forest, The Jewels of Amuria and I Will Miss Mr Kizito. Lukas talks rather negatively about the texts that he read in the project. He justifies his dislike by saying that the plots of the narratives are unrealistic and abnormal. Already the first book he read (The Precious Calabash), seemed to confuse him: “Ja, da war ich sehr verwirrt. Da dachte ich so, jetzt (…) kommt nichts mehr Normales. [Yes, it really confused me. I then thought there won’t be any‐ thing normal anymore]” (interview). He states that he does not like it because he cannot comprehend the story very well due to its bizarre elements. In general, he dislikes those books of the project which he considers to be unrealistic: “bei den unrealistischen habe ich jetzt eher so den negativeren Eindruck gehabt, als bei dem, wo auch möglich sein kann. [the unrealistic ones made a more negative impression on me than that which could also be real]” (interview). He repeatedly points out that he has difficulties in relating himself to the narratives and thus cannot understand them. Several times in the interview, Lukas notes that he cannot exactly remember what happens in the story. This lack of recall might be connected to his general dislike of the narratives but it could also be based on the fact that he did not read the books with enough focus and concentration. Of all the texts that he read, Lukas only likes I Will Miss Mr Kizito which he considers realistic and relevant for his age group: 6.5 Lukas 181 <?page no="182"?> Und das fand ich aber, ja halt, ziemlich realitätsnah und fand ich auch besser als die anderen Geschichten. Und ich fand das war auch, also die Thematik hat auch in unsere Altersklasse, finde ich, ziemlich gut gepasst. [And this I considered rather realistic and I found it better than the other stories. And I was also of the opinion that the topic was suitable for our age group.] (Interview) In the reading diaries and in the interview, Lukas’s statements sometimes con‐ tradict each other. In some instances, he states, for example, that he perceives the texts of the reading project to be rather addressed to a younger audience because they are simple in their structure but elsewhere he points out that he looks at them as very mature: “Ich fand es halt auch, dass es gegenüber den Kindern, halt immer so offener ist und dass es halt nicht so kindlich ist, sondern halt/ sondern halt schon erwachsen (unv.) [I also thought that it was rather open for children and not so childish but rather adult (inc.)]” (interview). Contradic‐ tions of this kind seem to stretch throughout Lukas’s mental processes. Despite his dislike of the majority of texts that he read in the project, Lukas evaluates the reading project in the final questionnaire as good. He once again points out that he really liked the book I Will Miss Mr Kizito and explains that he appreciates that he was given the chance to read books in English in the project. 6.5.3 Prior Knowledge Before the reading, Lukas expresses the following associations with Uganda: Ich denke an unsere Schul Uganda-AG, die jedes Jahr nach Uganda reisen. Wenn ich Ostafrika höre denke ich irgendwie sehr schnell an die schwarze arme Bevölkerung, die Aids hat. Außerdem verbinde ich ein wenig den Ghad [sic] mit Uganda aber vor‐ allem [sic] der andauernde Terror. Insbesonders weiß ich noch, das Unicef sehr viel in diesem Land gemacht hat. [I think of our Uganda study group at school which travels to Uganda every year. When I hear East Africa, I also quickly think of the black poor population which has Aids. In addition, I connect the jihad a bit with Uganda and above all the constant terror. Particularly, I know that Unicef has done a lot in this country.] (First questionnaire) His associations, therefore, focus on poverty, AIDS , development aid and ter‐ rorism. He remarks that he only gets to know about events in Uganda through the internet or on TV . As he expresses in the interview, Lukas perceives his knowledge to be limited: 6 Research Findings: Cases 182 <?page no="183"?> Also ich weiß schon ein bisschen etwas über Uganda, bloß eben so Klischees. Also, dass es halt schlimme Nachrichten gibt, von positiven Nachrichten hört man ja ei‐ gentlich nicht so wirklich. [I know a little bit about Uganda, but rather, just clichés. That there is bad news, you don’t really actually hear much good news.] Lukas lists many aspects he would like to get to know more about concerning Uganda: “Aids, Krankheit, Kultur, Sport, Berühmtheiten, Bräuche, Essen, Sprache, Rohstoffe, Wirtschaft, Preise im Vergleich zu Deutschland. [Aids, diseases, culture, sports, celebrities, customs, food, language, resources, economy, prices in com‐ parison to Germany]” (first questionnaire). He would participate in a student exchange with Uganda because one can be immunised against any sickness, he states. He considers it a valuable experience to get to grips with a country that is very different and to be confronted with the people there and their religion. 6.5.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Lukas frequently comes up with comparisons in his mental processes. He, for example, compares the life of the characters in the texts with his own life. In this context, he constructs various differences: Ich ringe nicht mit Löwen, ich muss nicht Berge überqueren, ich muss auch nicht in den Wald. Und wenn ich da im Wald wäre und ein Baby finden würde, dann wäre das ziemlich eigenartig. Und das ist/ das ist/ niemals in meinem Leben würde das pas‐ sieren, dass ich einen Löwenschwanz abschneiden würde. [I don’t wrestle with lions, I don’t have to cross mountains, I also don’t have to go into the forest. And if I was in the forest and I found a baby, then this would be quite strange. And never it would happen in my life that I have to cut a lion’s tail.] (Interview) He bases these differences mainly on the fact that the narratives he read are unrealistic and include fantastic elements. Moreover, in the reading diary for The Precious Calabash, he compares the way he is brought up with the up‐ bringing of the characters in the narrative. He points out: Erziehung ist ganz anders. Man soll Kinder nicht mit so gefährlichen Sachen be‐ strafen […] Meine Mutter liebt mich und würde mir erstmal immer verzeihen und mich nicht gegen einen Löwen kämpfen lassen. [The upbringing is completely dif‐ ferent. Children should not be punished with such dangerous things. My mother loves me and would always forgive me and not make me fight against a lion.] (Interview) He can only construct similarities between his own life and the lives of the characters in the narrative I Will Miss Mr Kizito which, according to him, is 6.5 Lukas 183 <?page no="184"?> written in a more realistic mode than the other narratives. He uses school life as a central reference point here and states that he is also familiar with similar experiences at school. Although Lukas considers Uganda to be different from Germany, he still per‐ ceives it to be culturally closer to Germany than some other countries. When he comes across a passage in the book I Will Miss Mr Kizito in which is described that the character is not allowed to use any lipstick by her parents, he comments this with “Das finde ich irgendwie unrealistisch, sogar für Uganda. [I consider that somehow unrealistic, even for Uganda]” (reading diary). When asked in the interview to elaborate on this comment, he makes the following statement: Ich glaube halt, dass es in Uganda jetzt vielleicht schon anders zugeht, aber das ist jetzt nicht so etwas wie Afghanistan, wo man halt gar keinen Lippenstift tragen darf, wenn man streng gläubig ist. Ich habe jetzt noch nie gehört, dass die in Uganda streng gläubig sind und da sagen, dass die das komplett ablehnen. [I believe things are maybe different in Uganda but it’s not like in Afghanistan there, where it’s not allowed to wear any lipstick if you are a devout believer. I have never heard that people in Uganda are devout believers and say that they reject this completely.] (Interview) Whereas Lukas considers people in Afghanistan to be very religious, maybe even extremists, he does not equally associate Uganda with religious funda‐ mentalism. He uses what he “heard” about certain countries concerning peoples’ belief, as a basis for constructing similarities and differences. In his comparisons, an evolutionist perspective becomes apparent when Lukas, for example, points out that in Uganda people are probably not very well educated about HIV / AIDS which he believes is different in Germany: “da [in Uganda] mangelt es halt an Wissen, bei uns gibt es ja auch Aufklärung für solche Sachen. [there in Uganda there is a lack of knowledge, here we have education campaigns for such things]” (interview). Several times in the interview, Lukas mentions that the illustrations in the books appear foreign to him. He compares the pictures to those in German books and states “die Bilder/ also bei uns sind ja alle mit Farbe und äh, so, irgendwie nicht so alt. [our pictures are all in colour and somehow not that old]” (interview). He explains that sometimes the illustrations, particularly those on the cover page, misled him in his expectations concerning the content of the narratives: Und ja, da fand ich dann halt, etwas sah zum Beispiel jetzt auch eher langweilig aus [zeigt auf The Adventurous Sisters]. Ja und das, äh, war dann doch eigentlich schon schön zu lesen eigentlich. Ich fand der Einband hat da irgendwie ein bisschen getrügt. [And The Adventurous Sisters in my opinion appeared somewhat boring. And it was then actually still quite nice to read. The cover was a bit misleading.] (Interview) 6 Research Findings: Cases 184 <?page no="185"?> 6.5.5 (De)Construction and Reflection Lukas’s mental processes seem to be marked by doubts and uncertainties which may also be grounded in his limited prior knowledge. Occasionally he reflects upon his restricted knowledge in connection with difficulties he faces in the interpretation: “Ich weiß ja auch nicht wie die Leute da in Uganda wirklich leben, ob die jetzt auch schon Autobahnen haben und gute Straßen oder die Infrastruktur. [I do not know how the people in Uganda live in reality, whether they have already motorways and good streets or the infrastructure]” (interview). The fact that he is not completely sure about his knowledge leads to uncertainties in his interpretations and contradictory statements, but also to quick and rather un‐ founded conclusions. Lukas is not very certain to what extent the texts mirror real contemporary life in Uganda, are set in another time period or may be ascribed to fantasy. On the one hand, Lukas believes that the texts he read in the project confirm the associations he already had about Uganda before the reading: Ich wusste zwar schon, dass da schlimm/ dass da Krankheiten sind und dass es eher altertümlich also mit Speeren gejagt wird oder halt geringt [sic; gerungen] und so mit Tontöpfen Wasser geholt wird und halt ärmlich eher ist. Das hätte ich mir schon vorgestellt, dass es eher solche Geschichten sind. [I already knew that there are dis‐ esases and that it is very antiquated, they hunt with spears, wrestle and fetch water in clay pots and it is rather poor. I had already imagined that the stories would be rather like that.] (Interview) On the other hand, he states that he only considers I Will Miss Mr Kizito a con‐ temporary story and looks at the rest of the narratives that he read as “schon ein paar Jährchen her [already a few years old]” (interview). He explains that he imagines Uganda to be very different now from the way it is described in the narratives: Also jetzt stell ich mir Uganda in der Form, es gibt schon Schule und halt Schuluniform, dass die halt zur Schule gehen und auch nicht wirklich so geschlagen werden und jetzt nicht Wasser holen müssen von irgendeiner Quelle, so denke ich es jetzt nicht. Ich glaube schon, dass die ganz normal in die Schule gehen können. [I imagine Uganda that way, there is school and school uniforms, that they go to school and are not really beaten and do not have to collect water from any well, I do not imagine it that way. I do believe that they can go to school normally.] (Interview) However, the narratives in general seem to have mirrored and confirmed his prior knowledge and expectations more than they have deconstructed them, as his following statement at the end of the interview suggests: 6.5 Lukas 185 <?page no="186"?> Ich finde irgendwie die Menschen habe ich mir schon so ein bisschen bizarr und ei‐ genartig vorgestellt, dass die halt eher so ärmlich sind und halt nicht so viel [unv.] wie wir haben. Deshalb halt vielleicht auch ein bisschen aggressiver sind und gewalt‐ bereiter. Und auch mit wilden Tieren kämpfen müssen, was wir jetzt/ was wir jetzt niemals tun müssen. Wir müssen uns nie um unsere Nahrung sorgen oder Wasser und sorgen, dass es uns nicht gut geht, dass wir einen Sonnenstich kriegen. Und ich finde das haben die Bücher auf jeden Fall gut dargestellt. Das, äh, hat sich halt schon so eingeprägt. [I think, the people, I imagined them to be rather bizarre and strange, that they are rather poor and do not have as much as we do. Therefore, they are maybe also a bit more aggressive and more violent. And they also have to fight with wild animals, something we never have to do. We never have to worry about food or water and worry that we are not fine that we get a sunstroke. And in my opinion the books depicted that very well. That has stuck in my mind.] Inconsistencies and uncertainties in his mental processes may also be illustrated based on his interpretations of a single narrative. With reference to the narrative The Precious Calabash Lukas states that für uns Deutsche ist es ja eigentlich gar nicht vorstellbar, wenn uns eine Schüssel oder ein Teller herunterfällt oder die kaputt ist, gleich gegen einen Löwen kämpfen müssen. [for us Germans it is actually impossible to imagine that when a pot or plate falls down or breaks we have to fight against a lion.] (Interview) When he is then asked if he believes that it is part of an upbringing in Uganda to make the children fight with lions, he hesitates. He points out that he does not really believe so but can imagine that children in Uganda are maybe beaten by their parents when they have destroyed a precious pot. Lukas further spec‐ ulates that this particular story is set in an earlier time when water had to be transported in pots over long distances and these pots were still very precious because it was not easy to produce them. But he is not completely sure about it because he thinks this story can also be set today in “ganz alten Urstämmen [very old tribes]” (interview). Lukas frequently makes use of the word “normal” in the interview and refers with this to his own perception. Before the reading project, for example, he expected Ugandan children’s fiction to be like German fiction for children and thus “normal”: Also, ich dachte eigentlich zuerst, dass das irgendwie schon so auch eher so normal ist, halt so ist wie in der deutschen (unv.) nicht so ein großer Unterschied (…) Also, das es halt, um so Indianer geht, die zelten. Und halt irgendetwas machen und Ge‐ schichten erleben. Und so, wie ich es halt aus meiner Kindheit kenne. Oder halt so 6 Research Findings: Cases 186 <?page no="187"?> 8 Räuber Hotzenplotz is a children’s book figure that appears in a trilogy by the German writer Otfried Preußler (1962, 1969, 1973). ganz normale Märchengeschichten, Räuber Hotzenplotz. [Well, I thought at first that this is also somehow rather normal, like in the German (inc.), not such a big difference. That it is about Indians who camp. And do something and experience stories. Like I know it from my childhood. Or very normal fairy tales, Räuber Hotzenplotz. 8 ] (Inter‐ view) In comparison, Lukas describes Ugandan fiction as rather abnormal and imag‐ ines Ugandan people as “bizarr und eigenartig [bizarre and strange]” (interview). Here a belief in the superiority of his own culture becomes visible. His ethnocentric bias also appears in other instances. Without a clear refer‐ ence to a text, he states that he is of the opinion that human rights are not taken very seriously in Uganda and that children are beaten there. Und ich gehe jetzt auch davon aus, dass die in Uganda jetzt nicht so, äh, also viel Wert legen auf Menschenrechte und ob die ihre Kinder jetzt schlagen oder nicht. Da gehe ich jetzt einmal davon aus. [And I assume that in Uganda people put not so much value on human rights and if children are beaten or not. That I assume.] (Interview) He believes that the law which forbids beating children in Germany exists in Uganda as well, but thinks that it is probably not respected there. This suggests that he perceives the human rights he is familiar with a universally valid but not universally applied phenomenon. In addition, it shows that he looks at the way children are brought up in Germany as the norm and passes a judgement on the people in Uganda without even having any further background knowl‐ edge on the country and its laws. It can be assumed that he draws here on the image of Africa that is presented in the media, where people and societies in Africa are often portrayed in the context of violent conflicts and human rights abuses, an image which he seems to take on in this statement. Lukas does not show any sign of self-reflection here and remains caught in his own way of thinking. He sticks to stereotypes without questioning them in any way. The language Lukas uses in the reading diaries and in the interview gives further insights into his mental processes. Frequently in the reading diaries and interview he employs words such as “Stamm [tribe]” and “Ureinwohner / Ur‐ stamm [prehistoric tribe]”. In the pre-reading section of the reading diary for The Baby in the Forest, he, for example, makes the following speculation about the content of the book: 6.5 Lukas 187 <?page no="188"?> 9 The word “veraidsen” does not exist and is a neologism by Lukas. Its derogatory meaning is difficult to translate. It may be equivalent to something like “to get each other aidsed up”. Es wäre gut möglich, dass der Wolf ein Baby von einem Stam [sic] mit in den Wald gezogen hat und somit die Männer des Stammes zum Suchen des Babys losgegangen sind. [It would be well possible that the wolf has pulled the baby of a tribe into the forest and, therefore, the men of the tribe go to look for the baby.] Statements as such give evidence of a rather evolutionist perspective. “Stamm [tribe]” is a colonialist term that implies the absence of civilisation. The term is asymmetrically applied: White peoples / societies are never referred to as tribes. Therefore, referring to societies in Uganda as tribes involves degradation and evokes associations of ‘races’, primitivity and backwardness (Arndt, 2011b; see also Chapter 7.1.1). 6.5.6 HIV / AIDS Lukas states that in his life AIDS does not play a very important role. He looks at HIV / AIDS as a problem of African cities, which he considers to be bad but he cannot do anything about it himself: also in manchen afrikanischen Städten [gibt es ] schon über 50 % AIDS und ich finde es halt jetzt irgendwie schon irgendwie schlimm. Aber ich weiß halt nicht, was man da ändern könnte. Weil sonst veraidsen 9 die sich alle noch. [in many African cities there is already more than 50 % AIDS and I consider that somehow rather bad. But I do not know what could be changed. Because otherwise, they’ll all infect each other.] (Interview) The last sentence of this statement sounds rather dismissive. It may be inter‐ preted to carry implicit assumptions such as ‘the people there do not know how to protect themselves’ or ‘the people there behave sexually immorally’. Lukas points out that he is informed about AIDS but he also admits that his knowledge does not go beyond the basics: “aber sonst, weiß ich eigentlich wie AIDS funktioniert, von dem her. Also, dass es halt sehr viele AIDS Patienten gibt. Sonst weiß ich eigentlich auch nicht viel. [but otherwise I know actually how AIDS works. That there are very many AIDS patients. Otherwise I actually do not know much]” (interview). He asserts that the narrative I Will Miss Mr Kizito taught him that people in Uganda get fired when they are HIV positive. He compares this with the situation in Germany and points out that such a treat‐ ment of an AIDS patient would not be possible in Germany: 6 Research Findings: Cases 188 <?page no="189"?> Mr Kizitos Entlassung ist für mich reinste Empörung, da man hier in Deutschland weiß, dass Aids Patienten ganz normale Menschen sind und nur ein schlechteres, geschwächtes Immunsystem haben. Deshalb ist es für mich unmoralisch und un‐ menschlich so eine Minderheit zu diskriminieren. [Mr Kizito’s dismissal really shocks me because it is known in Germany that Aids patients are very normal people who only have a bad, weakened immune system. Therefore, it is morally wrong and in‐ human to discriminate such a minority.] (Reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Here, Lukas constructs a difference between Uganda and Germany and evalu‐ ates the German way of dealing with people who are infected as superior. This mental process may be interpreted as ‘othering’. In a next step, Lukas compares the discrimination of AIDS patients with that of gay people. In this case, he considers discrimination to prevail also in Germany: Hierbei kann man auch sehr schön Bezug auf Schwulenfeindlichkeit machen, diese sind genauso wie Aidskranke [sic] Menschen eine Minderheit, die Diskriminiert [sic] werden, auch in Deutschland. Man würde sie von Außen nichtmal [sic] als Aidskranke oder Schwule identifizieren können, man hänselt solche Leute nur aus der Tatsache heraus, dass sie Schwul [sic] sind oder Aids haben. Das ist einfach nicht gerecht und jeder Mensch, der etwas respekt [sic] an den Tag legen will, sollte sich von jeglicher Diskriminierung distanzieren! [In this context references to homophobia can be made, these people are, exactly like people who have AIDS, a minority that is discriminated, also in Germany. From outside they may not be identified as having AIDS or gay, these people are bullied just because that they are gay or have AIDS. This is unjust and all people who are even just a little respectful should distance themselves from any form of discrimination! ] (Reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) In this statement, while Lukas shows awareness of the tendency of human be‐ ings to essentialise, he does not reveal any potential for self-reflection. 6.5.7 Gender Issues In his reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria, Lukas states that he judges the father’s idea of asking for a very high bride price for his daughters as “absurd”. When he is asked in the interview to elaborate more on this comment, he points out: Ja, also, das [Brautgeld] gibt es ja in Indien auch, aber, das wird ja auch/ eigentlich ist das illegal. Aber das machen trotzdem viele. Ich denke halt, dass das in Uganda ei‐ gentlich auch illegal sein dürfte. Weil, ich finde auch (…) für eine Tochter, würde ich nicht zahlen. Weil (…) das würde ich jetzt niemals tun. [Yes, the bride price also exists 6.5 Lukas 189 <?page no="190"?> in India but actually it is illegal. Nevertheless many do it. I think that in Uganda it should also be illegal. Because I also think that for a daughter I would not pay. Because I would never do that.] He further explains that in Germany something like that would not be allowed and therefore, he would not pay a bride price: Weil es da Gesetz ist oder das ist, glaube ich kein Gesetz, das ist halt einfach normal. Das hat sich schon super eingebürgert, dass jetzt alle gleich sind und dass wir eigen‐ tlich nichts zahlen, wenn wir jemanden verheiraten. [Because it is the law or maybe not the law but it is simply normal. It has just become established that we are all equal and that we do not pay when we marry someone off.] (Interview) Lukas bases his judgement on rules he is familiar with and which he constructs as “normal”. He does not include other factors, such as the feelings of the daugh‐ ters, in his reflections. Maybe his own gender also plays a role in this construc‐ tion process as he rather looks at the situation of the girls from outside, as someone who “would not pay” (interview) anything for a girl. 6.5.8 Summary Lukas expresses his dislike about most of the texts in the reading project. Par‐ ticularly the folktales he considers as childish and abnormal and states that he rather likes realistic stories. His mental processes are characterised by contra‐ dictions and quick conclusions. Still, Lukas is not very sure in his interpretation of the texts and repeatedly expresses uncertainties in distinguishing reality from fiction. This may be grounded in his prior knowledge which he himself perceives as limited. In several of Lukas’s statements, a strongly evolutionist perspective becomes apparent. 6.6 Leyla “Also, ich war bei manchen Büchern ziemlich geschockt. [Well, some of the books really shocked me]” (interview) 6.6.1 Case Description Leyla is 15 years old. She has an older brother who studies computer science. Her parents both work in a warehouse. More than 20 years ago, they came from Turkey to Germany where they still live today in a small city in Bavaria. Having 6 Research Findings: Cases 190 <?page no="191"?> spent a few years in Germany, they had returned to Turkey for a short while. Since they had got used to the life in Germany, however, they came back to Bavaria before their daughter Leyla was born. The rest of their extended family remained in Turkey. Leyla attends school B. Leyla is bicultural regarding her family background. Her L1 is Turkish and she speaks both Turkish and German at home. In the interview and also in the reading diaries, uncertainties in the German language occasionally become ap‐ parent when she, for example, makes use of wrong prepositions or uses incorrect prefixes for verbs. At least once every two years, Leyla and her parents visit their relatives in Turkey in their holidays. Though she prefers living in Germany, Leyla enjoys these holidays because they are mainly for relaxation purposes, provide her with some diversion and allow her to spend some time with her cousins. But she states that she is always glad when she can return to Germany at the end of the holidays. Leyla appreciates the circumstance that she has roots in two countries. The fact that she also has a family in Turkey gives her the feeling that she “im Grunde nie wirklich verloren wäre [would basically never be lost]” (interview). In addi‐ tion, she likes it that in Germany, groups of Turkish friends may be formed. She is of the opinion that these friends who speak all the same language are able to understand each other often better than they may be understood by someone else who speaks a different language. Leyla’s hobbies are drawing, playing the violin and the guitar and doing sports. She likes languages. She explains that she speaks Turkish very well and that she considers it her mother tongue but in comparison to German she does not read and write this language. English she likes because in her view it opens doors. At the beginning of the interview, Leyla is shy and speaks with a very high pitched and soft voice. The initial nervousness, however, subsides as the inter‐ view goes on and Leyla begins to express herself more openly. 6.6.2 Reading Background Leyla likes reading a lot. She is particularly interested in fantasy books with dragons, wizards or dwarfs. She does not like crime fiction because she considers this genre to be monotonous and very complicated. In the interview, Leyla states that she started loving books a very long time ago. She was able to read even before she began school. It was her mother who motivated her to read when she was still young: “meine Mutter wollte immer, dass ich sehr gerne lese. Weil meine 6.6 Leyla 191 <?page no="192"?> Mutter liebt auch Bücher und wir haben auch ein riesiges Bücherregal irgendwie zu Hause. [my mother always wanted me to like reading. Because my mother also loves books and we have a very big bookshelf at home]” (interview). In the reading project, Leyla read the following texts: Cherished Dreams, The Jewels of Amuria, The Unfulfilled Dream, The Precious Calabash and Moses. She points out that she could understand most of the books very well but in the reading diaries of the more difficult books, particularly the one of Cherished Dreams, she expresses some comprehension difficulties. In the final questionnaire, Leyla indicates that she enjoyed the reading project a lot, particularly because it gave her the opportunity to find out about other cultures and to foster her English skills. Asked for her general reading experience in the project, Leyla expresses her shock about some of the narratives: “Also, ich war bei manchen Büchern ziemlich schockiert. [Well, some of the books really shocked m[e]” (interview). She is particularly shocked about the treatment of the girls in The Jewels of Amuria whose marriages are arranged by their father and the harsh way the daughter is treated by her mother in The Precious Calabash. She states that the texts be‐ wildered her because before reading she did not know that there are such strict rules in Uganda: Ich meine eigentlich/ also ich wusste, dass halt das Leben dort, die Kultur ziemlich anders ist, aber ich hätte jetzt nicht erwartet, dass das so extremst solche Regeln ir‐ gendwie gibt. [I mean I knew that life there, the culture is quite different but I would not have expected that there are somehow such extreme rules.] (Interview) Leyla expected friendlier books and criticises the texts she read for exposing children to very serious issues already at a young age: In The Unfulfilled Dream, glaube ich, ist das, dass das Mädchen/ also das ist eigentlich ein Kinderbuch, (…), nur weil das Mädchen einen Fehler begangen hat und eigentlich nicht durch ihre eigene Schuld einfach betrunken wurde, hat sie einfach im Grunde das ganze Ansehen, ist von der Schule geworfen worden, schwanger geworden, ihr Baby ist gestorben. Das einfach so viel auf einmal passiert ist. Also ich finde das schon ein bisschen viel für ein Kind, das das gelesen hat. [I think that it is in The Unfulfilled Dream that the girl/ well, it is actually a children’s book, (…) just because of committing one mistake and getting drunk, actually not through her own fault, the girl loses her reputation, is expelled from school, becomes pregnant, her baby dies. That so much happens at once. I consider that a bit much for a child that has read that.] (Interview) Also in the reading diary for The Precious Calabash, she points out her surprise about the negative ending of the story: “Außerdem hätte ich nicht erwartet, dass 6 Research Findings: Cases 192 <?page no="193"?> ein Kinderbuch so ein schreckliches und sinnloses Ende ohne Moral hat. [Besides I would not have expected that a children’s book has such a terrible and senseless ending without any moral]” (Leyla, reading diary for The Precious Calabash). It seems that Leyla gets strongly emotionally involved with the texts. Several times during the reading process she points out that the texts affected her deeply: Also, ich hatte jetzt nicht so erwartet, dass mir manche Bücher wirklich nahe kommen. Also, dass wirklich, weil [unv.] das ja auch ziemlich die Gefühle von diesen Menschen geschildert. [I wouldn’t have expected that some of the books really touched me. Be‐ cause [inc.] also the feelings of the people are depicted.] (Interview) She states that the text The Unfulfilled Dream touched her so much because she did not expect it to end on such a tragic note. The Precious Calabash, on the other hand, did not really affect her because it is written in a fairy tale style, she explains: Dadurch, dass es halt nicht so wirklich realistisch geschrieben ist, geht mir das halt auch nicht so nah, weil, ich meine, das ist ja nicht wirklich passiert. Also das kann ja nicht wirklich passieren. [Since it is not written in a realistic mode it does not affect me so much because, I mean, that cannot really happen. Well, that cannot happen in reality.] (Interview) 6.6.3 Prior Knoweldge Before the reading project, Leyla imagined Uganda as follows: Ich stelle mir ein Land mit viel Natur, aber sehr ausgetrockneten Pflanzen vor. Wo‐ möglich etwas gefährlich aufgrund von wilden Tieren wie giftigen Schlangen. Ich denke an afrikanische Stämme und Familien, die sehr an ihre Kultur gebunden sind. [I imagine a country with much nature but very dry plants. Maybe a bit dangerous because of wild animals like poisonous snakes. I think of African tribes and families that are very much bound to their culture.] (First questionnaire) Her associations, therefore, focus on nature and tradition. Leyla asserts that she learnt about Africa for the first time in her geography lessons in Year 8. In addition, she gets to know more about the situation of different countries on what she calls “Weltschutzseiten [world protection web‐ sites]” on the internet. In the first questionnaire, Leyla expresses her interest in getting to know how people in Uganda live, their customs, cultures and their beliefs. She also wants to know whether there are wars in this country. 6.6 Leyla 193 <?page no="194"?> Leyla would participate in a student exchange with Uganda. She considers it as a wonderful opportunity to get to know more about a foreign culture and to see how other people live. 6.6.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Several times, Leyla refers to her migration background in the interview and compares Turkey with Germany. She prefers life in Germany “weil hier ist halt alles moderner und die Menschen denken auch moderner [because it is more modern here and the people think in a more modern way]”. Asked for a concrete example, she mentions the role of women. She states that in Turkey women do not play an equally important role as in Germany. Leyla also draws comparisons between Turkey and Uganda as it is presented in the narratives. Here she finds many similarities. She once again refers to the aspect of gender roles and gender equality and particularly elaborates on the principle of arranged marriages: Und in der Türkei ist das halt auch üblich, dass ja so wie in den Büchern, auch so Ehen geplant werden und man nicht wirklich jemanden heiratet, in den man auch verliebt ist. Und, ja, und das finde ich jetzt nicht so gut. [And in Turkey it is common that marriages are arranged like in the books and you do not marry someone you are in love with. And this, I do not consider as good.] (Interview) In these comparisons, evolutionist perspectives come through. Leyla looks at both Turkey and Uganda being in thrall to the old way of thinking whereas people in Germany think in more modern, advanced ways: Hm, also, es ist halt einfach diese alte Denkweise, die man [unv.] und also heutzutage also zum Beispiel hier in Deutschland, wo man halt einfach moderner denkt, ist man halt auch so gegen irgendwie Diskriminierung und auch irgendwie man diskriminiert halt auch keine Frauen mehr. Die haben halt auch an Bedeutung gefunden und diese alte Denkweise findet sich halt meistens in den Büchern wieder. [It is this old way of thinking which you [inc.] and today, for example, here in Germany where people think in a more modern way, one is against discrimination and women are no longer dis‐ criminated. They have gained in importance and these old ways of thinking are mostly found in books.] (Interview) Another similarity she sees between Uganda and Turkey is in the inequality of distribution of chances. She states that as it was described in some of the nar‐ ratives, in Turkey there are also schools for rather poor and rather rich people and it depends on the parents’ income to which school the child is sent. Only 6 Research Findings: Cases 194 <?page no="195"?> when they perform very well in class can students with poor backgrounds also obtain a scholarship and go to a better school. Leyla could not construct many similarities between the characters’ lives and her own life. One of the only similarities that she identifies is the circumstance that the young people in the narratives have hopes, something that she considers to be also applying to her own context. In addition, Leyla believes that Gwen‐ dolyn in The Unfulfilled Dream has a life which is to some extent comparable with her own situation. She states that the girl has some money and lives a “normales Leben [normal life]” (interview). Thus, she can put herself in the sit‐ uation of this girl. The characters in the other books she cannot really identify with because their situation differs very much from her own. In the reading diary for Cherished Dreams, she makes the following statement: Größtenteils hat mich überrascht, wie unterschiedlich die Welt von uns gesehen wird, während ich mich mit der Schule schwer tue und sie eher als Last sehe, sehen die Menschen dort sie als Geschenk und Chance oder während ich davon träume eine Tänzerin zu werden, träumen die Jugendlichen dort davon, von zuhause wegzur‐ ennen. [Mostly, I was surprised about how differently the world is seen by us, while I have problems in school and see it as a burden, people there look at it as a gift and chance or while I dream of becoming a dancer, the young people there dream of run‐ ning away from home.] Furthermore, she perceives school life in Uganda as very different to her own school life. In this context, she passes a judgement on the difference and eval‐ uates her own life as better: Mein Leben und die Bedingungen in meiner Schule sind viel besser als das Leben von Moses. Während ich Dinge für selbstverständlich halte, freuen sich die Schüler schon über Orangen. [My life and the conditions in my school are much better than the life of Moses. While I take things for granted students there are happy about oranges.] (Reading diary for Moses) She comes to the conclusion that she appreciates her own way of life more now after finishing the reading project: “Ich wertschätze meine Möglichkeit jeden Tag abwechslungsreiche Speisen zu essen und auf eine modern ausgestattete Schule zu gehen nun viel mehr. [I now appreciate my chance to eat varied foods every day and to go to a well equipped modern school a lot more]” (reading diary for Moses). Leyla also points out that in comparison to Moses she has a very good rela‐ tionship with her parents. Therefore, she cannot understand how he can simply 6.6 Leyla 195 <?page no="196"?> run away and leave his family. She expresses particular problems in empathising with characters with reference to The Jewels of Amuria: The Jewels of Amuria, dort hat das Mädchen ja am Ende, obwohl die Hochzeit im Grunde arrangiert war, einfach/ sie war/ hat sich gefreut, dass es der Junge am Ende es irgendwie geschafft hat, durch den Regen zu laufen mit dem Regenschirm da. Hm, mich hätte das jetzt zum Beispiel nicht gefreut. Also, ich habe ihre Situation irgendwie überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen können, weil mich hätte das jetzt nicht gefreut, dass mir jetzt eine Ehe arrangiert wurde und dass ich als Objekt behandelt werde, irgendwie als Preis und nicht als Mensch. [In The Jewels of Amuria the girl at the end of the story was happy that the boy succeeded in running through the rain with the umbrella despite the fact that the marriage was basically arranged. I would not have been happy, for example. I was not able to understand the situation at all because I would not have been happy that a marriage was arranged for me and I am treated like an object, somehow like a prize and not as a human being.] (Interview) Despite all the problems Leyla expresses in her understanding and empathising process, she is still of the opinion that she can empathise better with the char‐ acters in the narratives than many of her classmates. She justifies that with her bicultural background: Sie [die Klassenkamerad_innen] können sich halt nicht vorstellen irgendwie, dass eine Ehe arrangiert wird. Aber ich kann das halt, dadurch, dass ich diese ganzen Ge‐ schichten noch aus der Türkei einfach erfahren habe, und jetzt nicht von diesen Bü‐ chern, sondern wirklich so Geschichten, die zum Beispiel meiner Familie wiederfahren ist. Dass die eine zum Beispiel entführt wurde, dann diesen Typen heiraten musste und diese ganzen Geschichten halt. Kann ich dann dadurch ein bisschen eher nach‐ vollziehen, wirklich diese Gefühle zu den Menschen. Weil das wurde mir halt auch alles erzählt, wie sich diese Menschen dabei gefühlt haben, von diesen Menschen halt persönlich. [My classmates can’t imagine that a marriage is arranged. But I can because I have heard those stories from Turkey and not from those books but real stories which my family, for example, experienced. That one of them was abducted, that she had to marry this guy and these kind of stories. I can therefore better understand the feelings of these people. Because that was also told to me by these people in person, how they felt.] (Interview) When asked for passages in the texts that startled her or appeared foreign to her, Leyla expresses her surprise about the protagonist’s conduct in the novella Moses. She states that in comparison to the characters in other books such as The Unfulfilled Dream and The Precious Calabash, Moses, who is quite well off, 6 Research Findings: Cases 196 <?page no="197"?> is rather ungrateful. In her way of reading the text, Moses does not appreciate his aunt and uncle’s care and instead dedicates himself to drugs: Seine Eltern sind ja gestorben und dann ist er ja zu seinem Onkel und zu seiner Tante gekommen und hat dann irgendwie ein ziemlich sozusagen reiches Leben. Also er hat ein Haus zumindest und auch Essen und eine Familie, die für ihn gesorgt hat, aber trotzdem hat er irgendwie immer diese / diesen Abstand zu seinen Eltern, also zu seinem Onkel und seiner Tante. Und das, ja, fand ich auch irgendwie ein bisschen undankbar, dass er sich dann auch so den Drogen gewidmet hat. [His parents had died and then he came to his uncle and aunt and has somehow a rather rich life, so to say. He has a house at least and food and a family that cares for him but still he has that distance to his parents, to his uncle and his aunt. And this I considered to be a bit ungrateful that he then also devoted himself to drugs.] (Interview) She explains that with a house, food and a caring family he has a rather high standard of living and thus she cannot understand his behaviour which she judges as “undankbar [ungrateful]” (interview). Here Leyla passes a judgement on Moses that may be interpreted as rather patronising. Her statement evokes associations of neo-imperialistic tendencies in development aid or refugee dis‐ course where ‘poor’ people who receive ‘help’ are expected to be grateful to their donors or hosts. The reasons which Leyla gives for her judgement, namely that Moses has the basic things for living and the fact that she excludes other determinants for his behaviour in her judgement, suggest this interpretation. Another rather patronising judgement that Leyla passes on the characters is when she points out that she expected family cohesion to play an important role when people live in poor conditions: Ich dachte, dass man in so ärmlichen Verhältnissen, so schwierigen Verhältnissen eigentlich eine viel größere Beziehung zu seiner Familie aufbaut. Und dass es mehr so auf den Zusammenhalt ankommt. Aber ich hätte jetzt nicht gedacht, dass man so/ also, dass dieser Junge [Sande in Cherished Dreams] einfach so seine Familie verlassen könnte. [I thought that you form in such poor conditions, difficult conditions actually a much stronger relationship to your family. And that solidarity matters more. But I would not have thought that Sande could simply leave his family just like that.] (In‐ terview) She makes this judgement from her own position without showing any signs of self-reflection. Leyla also points out that she considers it strange that the characters in the novel Cherished Dream are rather superstitious. She recalls that the protagonist of this story, Sande, is told about a woman who is a magician and she is surprised 6.6 Leyla 197 <?page no="198"?> that he does not consider it to be abnormal although he also does not really believe this story: Also er hat ja nach dieser Frau da gefragt und dann wurde ihm das dann so irgendwie so komisch erzählt von irgendetwas mit Zauberern und Magier und keine Ahnung. Also hier würde man, also dort, der hat ja selber gesagt: ‘Du lügst mich an’. Der hat das ja selber nicht geglaubt, aber (…) Aber bei dem/ dem kam das irgendwie, glaube ich, also so ist es mir zumindest vorgekommen, dass es dem das weniger komisch vorkam als bei uns. Wir würden den ja als total verrückt bezeichnen und uns lustig machen. Bei ihm war das glaube ich ein bisschen normal. [Well, he asked about this woman and then something strange was told to him about wizards and magicians and no idea. He himself said: ‘You are lying’. He himself did not believe it but it somehow appeared to be less strange for him than for us. We would call him crazy and make fun of him. For him it was a bit normal, I think.] (Interview) In this statement, Leyla essentialises ‘the other’ as gullible and superstitious and explains that “we” would make fun of him. In this way, a feeling of superiority in her own beliefs and systems of knowledge becomes apparent. 6.6.5 (De)Construction and Reflection In the interview, Leyla states that in comparison to the news about Africa which she is usually exposed to and which mainly focus on facts and figures, the nar‐ ratives provided her with an insight into peoples’ lives and feelings: Und, ja, ich habe halt auch ziemlich viel über die Gefühle dieser Menschen gelernt, weil normalerweise hört man ja einfach vielleicht von diesem Massensterben und also in Afrika. Aber hier lernt man halt wirklich etwas über das Leben dieser Menschen. […] Bisher habe ich sie als Masse, also mehr so als große Gruppe angesehen. Und jetzt habe ich sie wirklich so als Individuen kennengelernt. [And I have also learnt quite a lot about the feelings of these people because normally you hear of mass mortality in Africa. But here you really learn something about the lives of these people. […] Up to now, I had rather seen them as a mass, as a bigger group. And now I have got to know them as individuals.] (Interview) The narratives both confirmed Leyla’s prior expectations and also partly de‐ constructed them. She explains that she had rather expected stories that talk about village life in Uganda and that was largely confirmed through the narra‐ tives: Also ich hätte jetzt eigentlich auch mehr so ein Leben, in so (…) Dörfern erwartet. Eher in so kleineren Dörfern. Das hat sich ja größtenteils so bestätigt. Und, ja halt so, 6 Research Findings: Cases 198 <?page no="199"?> manche haben halt ein ziemlich ärmliches Leben und mehr, wo sie halt einfach auch von diesen arrangierten Ehen und diesem alten Denken beeinflusst wurden. [I had rather expected to hear more about village life. Rather small villages. Which has been confirmed largely. And yes that some of them have a rather poor life and are influenced also by these arranged marriages and the old way of thinking.] (Interview) She, however, also points out that some narratives are set in “moderneren Dörfern [more modern villages”] and people there have “ein viel moderneres Leben und ein viel modernes Denken [a much more modern life and a much more modern way of thinking]” (interview). This surprised her because she expected that the stories only focus on traditional life in Uganda. Leyla believes that there are inequalities in the distribution of chances. This becomes apparent when she contemplates the education systems in Uganda and Turkey where it depends very much on the social background of the students which school they may attend. She is also of the opinion that she has probably better chances in life than many characters in the books. When she reflects upon Moses’s dream about becoming an actor and going to America, she states that it is highly improbable that this will ever happen. She points out that she does not have any dreams like that but considers her chances to achieve her own dreams as better: Zum Beispiel jetzt in Moses da, bei dem ist es jetzt ziemlich unwahrscheinlich gewesen, dass der jetzt Schauspieler wird oder irgendwie die ganze Hoffnungen, die er hatte. Also im Grunde er wollte einfach von zu Hause weg und die Schule beenden und alles werden, was er wollte. Aber, ich kann mir das jetzt zum Beispiel nicht vorstellen, wobei es bei mir wahrscheinlich sogar wahrscheinlicher wäre als bei ihm. Zum Beispiel. [For example in Moses, it is rather unlikely that he will become an actor or the hopes which he has. Basically he just wanted to get away from home and finish school and become whatever he wanted. But I can’t imagine this, although for me it would probably still be more likely than for him. For example.] (Interview) Hence the texts also trigger reflections upon her own privileges in Leyla. 6.6.6 HIV / AIDS For Leyla, AIDS is not a very important topic because she believes the proba‐ bility of getting infected with HIV in Germany to be rather low. In Africa, on the other hand, she states, people constantly live with the danger of getting infected. Therefore, she thinks that AIDS is an important topic for young adult books in African countries but she sees no need to already introduce young children in Germany to the topic: 6.6 Leyla 199 <?page no="200"?> Ich denke, hier ist/ also hier in Deutschland ist es jetzt nicht so nötig, dass das wirklich so von ganz, ganz jungem Alter schon gezeigt wird, weil, also, keine Ahnung, hier ist das ja nicht wirklich nötig, weil die Wahrscheinlichkeit auch ziemlich klein ist, aber […] in Afrika, lebt man ja immer mit dieser Gefahr, wenn man irgendwie mit anderen Kindern spielt, dass man, wenn man sich jetzt zum Beispiel schneidet, dass irgendwie das andere Kind sich auch schneidet, dass man dann vielleicht auch AIDS bekommen könnte, einfach durch das Blut und (…). [I think here in Germany it is not necessary that it is already shown from a very, very young age because, no idea, here it is not really necessary because the probability is very small but […] in Africa people live with the danger, when you play with other children, when you cut yourself, for example, the other child also cuts her / himself that you can also get AIDS just because of the blood and (…).] (Interview) Leyla states that she did not know before the reading project that AIDS is so widespread in Africa. She knew that there is a big problem with AIDS on the continent but the narratives showed her that the life of the people there is much affected by this disease. Her reading impression is that the people “sind ja ziem‐ lich von dieser Angst geprägt [are quite influenced by this fear]” (interview). She also got to know through the narratives that the probability of getting infected is very high and concludes that it is very important to protect oneself: Weil ich hätte jetzt auch nicht erwartet, dass wirklich sie einfach so AIDS bekommen könnte. Weil die hatte, also bei diesem Unfulfilled Dreams da hat sie ja nur mit einem Mann geschlafen und (…) das war halt/ sie hat halt einfach sofort AIDS bekommen, das hätte ich jetzt zum Beispiel auch nicht erwartet. Das zeigt, dass man sich wirklich schützen muss. [Because I would not have expected that she can get AIDS so easily. Because in this Unfulfilled Dreams she slept with only one man and (…) she got AIDS immediately, I would not have expected that, for example. That shows that you really have to protect yourself.] (Interview) 6.6.7 Gender Issues Repeatedly in the reading diaries and in the interview, Leyla points to the topic of gender equality as very important for herself. Das Thema ist mir eigentlich ziemlich wichtig, weil ich eigentlich das überhaupt nicht auch wirklich leiden kann, wenn Frauen irgendwie niedergestuft werden und dass die halt wirklich als Objekte behandelt werden. [The topic is very important to me actually because I do not like it at all when women are demeaned and treated as objects.] (Interview) 6 Research Findings: Cases 200 <?page no="201"?> She strongly criticises that the book does not draw any attention to the phe‐ nomenon of arranged marriages as problematic. She considers “die positive Dar‐ stellung einer Zwangsehe als fragwürdig [the positive presentation of forced marriage as questionable]” (reading diary for, The Jewels of Amuria). She judges this as particularly negative because the book has been written for children, as she says: Und ich finde dieses Buch auch nicht mehr wirklich gut, weil das wird ja vor allem von Kindern gelesen. Da werden sie einfach an die Rolle gewöhnt, dass Frauen einfach einen niedrigeren Wert haben und als Objekte behandelt werden. Und das wird ja wirklich wie so ein Märchen behandelt. Dass es dann nett endet, diese arrangierte Ehe toll endet, dass sich alle freuen und tanzen. Das finde ich jetzt halt nicht so gut, dass das von Kindern gelesen wird. [And I do no longer look at this book as good because it is read mostly by children. So they simply get used to the role that women are worth less and are treated as objects. And this is treated like a fairy tale. That it ends on a positive note, that the arragend marriage ends well, that everyone is happy and dances. I do not consider it good that this is read by children.] (Interview) In the final questionnaire, Leyla suggests excluding books from future reading projects that portray the phenomenon of arranged marriages positively. As stated earlier on, in this context, Leyla repeatedly draws comparisons be‐ tween Uganda and Turkey. She explains that in Turkey marriages are also often arranged: Und in der Türkei ist das halt auch üblich, dass ja so wie in den Büchern, auch so Ehen geplant werden und man nicht wirklich jemanden heiratet, in den man auch verliebt ist. Und, ja, und das finde ich jetzt nicht so gut. [And in Turkey it is common that marriages are arranged like in the books and you do not marry someone you are in love with. And this I do not consider as good.] (Interview) 6.6.8 Summary Leyla gets deeply emotionally involved in the narratives. Repeatedly, she ex‐ presses her shock about certain contents (e.g. arranged marriages, upbringing methods) and criticises that the texts already expose young children to serious topics. Leyla frequently refers to her own cultural background in her mental processes. She constructs several similarities between Turkey and Uganda and differences between these two countries and Germany. In many of these differ‐ ences, she evaluates the situation in Germany as superior and a rather patron‐ ising, ethnocentric and evolutionist perspective becomes apparent. Gender is‐ 6.6 Leyla 201 <?page no="202"?> sues seem to be a major concern for Leyla. Repeatedly she reflects upon the phenomenon of arranged marriages and takes a strong stand against it. 6.7 Benjamin “man hat uns sozusagen eingeredet, dass die hauptsächlich sehr, sehr arm sind [we were so to say led to believe that they are mainly very, very poor]” (interview) 6.7.1 Case Description Benjamin is 15 years old. In the interview, Benjamin is very communicative and talks in detail about his personal background. He explains that his mother comes from Russia and that he is growing up biculturally. He finds the Russian culture “sehr, sehr interessant und einfach anders [very, very interesting and simply dif‐ ferent]” (interview). He understands Russian but he cannot speak it. In the fu‐ ture, however, he wants to learn this language. Half a year ago, Benjamin moved with his family to a small city in Bavaria where he now goes to school B. Before, he had lived in a very small village, attending primary school and later a Gymnasium in a nearby town. Benjamin appreciates the fact that he lives in a city now. He is of the opinion that it “ist natürlich besser früher sich in Städten vertraut zu machen als später [is of course better to get used to cities earlier than later]” (interview). The city life gives him the opportunity to exercise a variety of different hobbies: canoeing, participating in the politics group at school, ballroom dancing, meeting people and going to the fitness centre. When he still lived in a rural area, he could not regularly meet his friends and mainly sat in front of his computer to play games. Compared to that, Benjamin now has a very active life in the city, he asserts. His parents commute regularly from their home in the village to the city and therefore he is often alone. He values this because it helps him to become more independent. Benjamin’s father is employed in the field of cooling technology. His mother worked as a teacher in Russia but is now doing an apprenticeship as a carer for the disabled. Benjamin talks in detail about the difficulties his mother faced when she first came to Germany: Her education as a teacher was not approved and thus she had to “von ganz unten anfangen [work her way up from nothing]” (interview). She worked as a cleaning lady, a saleswoman, insurance clerk and is now doing an apprenticeship. Furthermore, she is earning money with two different side jobs. 6 Research Findings: Cases 202 <?page no="203"?> Benjamin likes travelling. He has been in Russia several times already and he found his holidays there very interesting. He describes Russia as “sehr, sehr schön [very, very nice]” (interview) and notes that he likes it to return there regularly for holidays. He particularly likes the food. Besides Russia he has also visited many other countries such as Italy, France, Spain, various countries in Scandi‐ navia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai). He elaborates on his holi‐ days in Egypt: Äh, in Ägypten zum Beispiel war ich auch schon einmal. Es war sehr interessant. Ich fand, äh, generell diese ägyptische Kultur, dass die so vorangeschritten waren im Ge‐ gensatz zu der Zeit in Europa. Und das fand ich auch sehr, sehr interessant. Ja eben das Verhalten jeweils und einfach, dass alles ganz anders war irgendwie. Ich fand es auch interessant, die jeweiligen Lebenstile zu sehen. Wie Leute ihr Geld verdienen, wie Leute ihr Leben genießen auch teilweise. Also, gefällt mir. [I’ve already been to Egypt, for example. It was very interesting. I thought the Egyptian culture was very advanced in comparison to the time in Europe. And I consider that as very, very in‐ teresting. The behaviour and that everything was very different somehow. I also con‐ sidered it interesting to see the different life-styles. How the people earn their money, enjoy life also partly. Well, I like that.] (Interview) Benjamin is interested in the English language. He states that he learns English mainly via YouTube. Every day he watches YouTube videos for approximately two hours. In addition, he plays online computer games with people from all around the world with whom he communicates in English. He is of the opinion that this helps him to speak English quite well. Benjamin does not like Latin because it is a dead language which is no longer spoken. Therefore, he deselected this subject at school and opted for Italian in the next school year. 6.7.2 Reading Background In the first questionnaire, Benjamin indicates that he does not like reading in German very much but he likes reading in English. He has already read a few simple books in English which he borrowed from libraries, he states. He is in‐ terested in crime fiction, fantasy and adventure and does not like love stories or children’s stories. In the reading project, he read three texts: “The Hair Cut”, The Jewels of Amuria and Voice of a Dream. He asserts in the interview that he had no problems in understanding these texts. His entries in the first two reading diaries are relatively short, the reading diary for Voice of a Dream is, however, comparably long. His diary entries in general show that he deals with the texts also on an 6.7 Benjamin 203 <?page no="204"?> analytical level. He carries out character analyses, talks about the climax of the plot, the language and stylistic devices. Although he is not always accurate in the terminology he uses (e.g. he talks of a lyrical “I” and paratactic structure in “The Hair Cut” both of which do not apply to this text), he shows more analytical knowledge than most of the other students in the study. The length of his reading diary entries seems to be grounded in his appreci‐ ation of the individual texts. He does not like the short story “The Hair Cut” because it talks about a topic that is not relevant for him: “‘The Hair Cut’, das erzählt eher so von einem pubertierenden Mädchen irgendwie. Das war jetzt nicht so meins, sagen wir es so. [‘The Hair Cut’ tells of a pubescent girl. That wasn’t really my thing, let’s put it that way]” (interview). He cannot understand how someone can lock herself into a room just because she has a pimple on her forehead and judges this as “zu übertrieben dargestellt [exaggerated representa‐ tion]” (interview). The Jewels of Amuria he describes as easy to read and as a nice story which is, however, rather written for young children. His reading diaries for both of the narratives are relatively short. Voice of a Dream, on the other hand, he depicts as “sogar sehr interessant [even very interesting]” (inter‐ view). He writes elaborate reading diary entries for this text and gives in the interview a detailed account of the complete plot of the novella, without being asked for it. In this context, he also carries out a character analysis of the two protagonists. Both in the reading diary and in the interview, an in-depth un‐ derstanding of this text and a strong appreciation for it become apparent: “Inhaltlich bietet das Buch spannende, traurige und interessante Stellen, die mich dazu brachten das Buch gern durchzulesen. [Contentwise the book has exciting, sad and interesting parts which made me like reading the book]” (reading diary for Voice of a Dream). After the reading project, Benjamin states in the final questionnaire that he considers the project as “im großen und ganzen [sic] gelungen [successful on the whole]” (final questionnaire), although he is of the opinion that not all the books appealed to everyone. 6.7.3 Prior Knowledge Benjamin’s associations with Uganda before the reading project are “Steppen, wilde Tiere, Hitze, Elefanten, Krieg, Elfenbein, Natur [steppes, wild animals, heat, elephants, war, ivory, nature]” (first questionnaire). In the first questionnaire, Benjamin states that he used to get to know more about Uganda through fundraising activities at school every year. In the inter‐ view, he elaborates on this information he was exposed to at school and com‐ 6 Research Findings: Cases 204 <?page no="205"?> pares it with what he learnt through the narratives. His reflections upon this issue will be presented further on. Benjamin would like to get to know more about nature in Uganda. He would not participate in a student exchange because he is happy with his own school, he notes. 6.7.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Benjamin comes up with various instances for comparison. He for example de‐ scribes the writing style of the Ugandan books that he read as different: “Also, bei Ugandabüchern, die sind einfach anders geschrieben [Well, the Ugandan books, they are written differently]” (interview). Interpreting this statement, it may be assumed that he perceives them as different from German literature, he does not, however, explain any further towards which norm he orients himself. In addition, he states that there are very many Ugandan names incorporated in the texts which are different, partly funny and very interesting in his eyes. Sometimes in his comparisons Benjamin also refers to Russia or other coun‐ tries that he has visited. He recalls a scene in Voice of a Dream in which Nanfuka is at the market to sell mats, which reminds him of big markets in Egypt and Russia: Anscheinend ist das dort auch sehr, sehr geläufig. Ich war ja auch schon in Ägypten, also solche riesen Märkte, in Russland auch, dass das (…) Und so etwas halt finde ich schade, dass es das halt so etwas hier nicht gibt. [It seems that this is very, very common there. I’ve already been to Egypt, well such big markets, also in Russia that this (…) And I consider it a pity that something of that kind does not exist here.] (Interview) He also points out that when he was in Egypt he was told many stories and got to know about problems connected with poverty. Those were comparable to the problems described in the narratives that he read in the reading project, he ex‐ plains. Therefore, many of the topics were not completely new to him, Benjamin states. Comparing the life of the characters in the books with his own life, Benjamin comes up with various similarities: Bei, äh, bei, äh Voice of a Dream da sieht man auch, sieht man auch den eigentlich, den anfangs/ den ganz normalen Alltag. So bis dahin, wo der Vater stirbt. Also gehen auch ganz normal in die Schule, sie hat auch gesagt, dass sie mal Handball gespielt hat und sehr schön, äh, eigentlich ein sehr schönes Leben hatte. Das kann man eigentlich mit hier auch vergleichen. Und bei […] “The Hair Cut” hat man auch gesehen, es gibt auch 6.7 Benjamin 205 <?page no="206"?> sehr pubertäre Jugendliche. Und, äh, das ist ja hier auch manchmal der Fall, bei uns so. Auch manchmal übertrieben. [In Voice of a Dream, at the beginning normal ev‐ eryday life may be seen. Up to the point, where the father dies. They go to school normally, she also said that she used to play handball and actually had a nice life. This could be compared with here, as well. And in “The Hair Cut” you could also see that there are also pubescent youth. And this is also sometimes the case here. Also exag‐ gerated sometimes.] (Interview) Still, he notes that it is actually impossible to relate his life to the life of the characters in the narratives because the narratives are set in an African country which is located almost on the other side of the world. According to him, there is a big difference between Germany and Uganda because Uganda is lacking an infrastructure and social-security legislation: Es fängt schon bei der Umgebung an. Sagen wir es so, weil, eigentlich hier gibt es ja diese Struktur in der Stadt. Man versucht zu vermeiden, dass keiner sozusagen in Armut gelangt, äh, auch durch das Hartz IV und alles. Und, ähm, dort fehlt einfach die, die Infrastruktur und das ist halt die/ sie geraten leider in Armut. Das ist sehr, sehr schade. Weil ich kann mir durchaus vorstellen, dass es, dass es definitv das, äh, das gleiche. Also hier [zeigt auf Voice of a Dream] ist es eigentlich sehr ähnlich, weil denen geht es eigentlich sehr gut. Aber ich kann mir vorstellen, dass es bei anderen, äh, ärmeren Dörfern, sagen wir es mal so, ganz anders ist. Deswegen, man kann es glaube ich nicht vergleichen. [It already starts with regard to the environment. Let’s put it like that here there is actually this structure in the city. One tries to avoid people getting into poverty, through Hartz IV and things of that kind. And there the infra‐ structure is simply lacking and they unfortunately get into poverty. This is a pity. Because I can imagine that it is definitely the same. Well, here in Voice of a Dream it is actually quite similar because they are actually very well off. But I can imagine that it is completely different for others, villages that are poorer, let’s say. Therefore, it cannot be compared, I think.] (Interview) In the reading diary for Voice of a Dream, he makes a similar statement as well: Mein Leben unterscheidet sich komplett von den Protagonisten der Geschichte, da diese in Uganda leben, also in den Entwicklungsländern und dort die Lebensweise eine ganz andere ist. [My life differs a lot from that of the protagonists of the stories because they live in Uganda, that is, in developing countries and there the life-style is completely different.] When Benjamin compares himself with Flora in “The Hair Cut”, he constructs differences that are grounded on a rather gender-oriented perspective. He states, that he has never experienced something similar because he is a boy: 6 Research Findings: Cases 206 <?page no="207"?> Ich falle nicht in solche naiven, eher zu Mädchen tendierenden, pubertären Phasen. Jungs machen sich generell nicht so viel Gedanken um ihr Aussehen wie Mädchen. [I do not get into naïve, rather girlish pubercent phases. Boys are usually less concerned with their appearance than girls.]” (Reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) 6.7.5 (De)Construction and Reflection Benjamin is of the opinion that Uganda is presented differently in the books from the way it has been depicted to him in fundraising activities at school: Ich war ja auch noch an einer anderen Schule und man hat eigentlich jedes Jahr, hat man immer so Spenden, also so Sammlungen für Uganda gemacht. Äh, jedes Jahr/ hier [zeigt auf die Bücher] wurde das zum Beispiel nicht dargestellt, dass man/ Also wir haben zum Beispiel auch einen Vortrag bekommen. Wir konnten auch für ugandische Kinder so ein Patenkind haben. Und das/ sagen wir es so, man hat uns sozusagen eingeredet, dass die hauptsächlich sehr, sehr arm sind, aber laut der Geschichten, die haben nochmal nachgewiesen, dass es nicht immer so ist. Und das finde ich auch gut so. Man bemüht sich auch ständig so neue Schulen für sie aufzubauen und so weiter. Und dann ständig diese Spendenläufe und alles. [I used to attend another school and every year there were donations, well fundraising activities done for Uganda. In the books it was not depicted/ We were also given a presentation, for example. And let’s put it like that, we were so to say led to believe that they are mainly very, very poor. We could also have a sponsored child in Uganda. But according to the stories, well they have shown that it is not always like this. And I think this is good. Lots of efforts are also made to build new schools for them, etc. And then there are these constant charity runs and everything.] (Interview) He perceives the representation of African countries in fundraising activities at his former school as stereotypical. Benjamin here reflects upon an issue that is also discussed in postcolonial perceptions to global education. Martin (2008; 2011), for example, states that within North-South educational partnerships Western hegemonic discourse may be observed particularly in how the Global South is represented. In fundraising activities ‘the other’ is often portrayed as poor, passive and in need of Western aid, she criticises. Benjamin’s statement that the texts “haben nochmal nachgewiesen, dass es nicht immer so ist [showed once more that it is not always the case]” (interview, my emphasis) suggests that he was already concerned about the way information was presented to him before reading and the texts stimulated his reflections upon this issue still fur‐ ther. 6.7 Benjamin 207 <?page no="208"?> Later on in the interview, Benjamin narrates more about this educational partnership of his former school. He talks about the letter and email exchange conducted between the two schools which he describes as “ganz interessant [quite interesting]” (interview) and also elaborates on the fundraising: Man hatte auch jeweils so, äh, glaube ich von der Schule, von mehreren Schulen von jeder Person 1 bis 2 Euro eingesammelt. Da hat man dann letztendlich so Schulen ausgebaut, erweitert, äh, die Lehrer sozusagen bezahlt. Damit die ganzen Kinder dort, also in den ärmeren Gebieten, dass sie dort auch Schulbildung haben. Das ist sehr, sehr wichtig. [From everyone at school, from several schools, 1 to 2 Euro were col‐ lected. With that eventually schools were built, expanded, the teachers paid, so to say. So that the children there, also those from poor areas, that they get a school education there. This is very, very important.] (Interview) Differently to above, he now states that he considers it as “sehr, sehr wichtig [very, very important] (interview) that children in poor regions are helped to get school education. The interpretation of these rather contradictory state‐ ments allows various presumptions: Benjamin may be ambivalent about fund‐ raising activities or he simply gives an answer here that he considers socially desirable. Also in his interpretations, Benjamin is not always consistent. He is, for ex‐ ample, not quite certain in the interpretation of fiction and reality. He points out that it was new and somehow foreign to him that in earlier times in Uganda it was common for rulers to set up challenges for the men who asked for the hands of their daughters. He only knew that fathers are usually paid a bride price when they marry their daughters off to someone. When Benjamin is asked how he dealt with this aspect which was new and foreign to him, he says: Ich habe das so aufgenommen und verarbeitet. Sagen wir es so. Weil es ist, wie es ist. Das Buch beschreibt es und ich lerne daraus. [I have perceived it like that and pro‐ cessed it. Let’s put it like that. Because it is as it is. The book describes it and I learn from it.] (Interview) This statement suggests that Benjamin does not allow himself any room for uncertainty but just accepts the aspect of foreignness unquestioningly. In addi‐ tion, he does not reflect upon the fictional nature of the text and seems to take the content of the book for reality instead. This is actually in contradiction to what he says in the reading diary. There he remarks that this story “dient nur der Unterhaltung [is for entertainment only]” and “soll nicht die Sichtweise eines Menschen zu einem bestimmten Thema verändern [does not intend to change the perception of a human being on a certain topic]”. Benjamin also does not draw 6 Research Findings: Cases 208 <?page no="209"?> comparisons to German fairy tales here in which it is also a common quest that a simple man of the people has to overcome several challenges in order to be allowed to marry the king’s daughter (e.g. Das tapfere Schneiderlein [The Valiant Little Tailor]). The way Benjamin expresses himself suggests a rather evolutionist perspec‐ tive: Several times in the reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria, he talks of “Ureinwohner [native people] and “Eingeborene [indigenous people]”. In the pre-reading section of the reading diary, he makes the following assumption about the content of the book: Auf dem Bild erkennt man einen Käfig in dem ein Löwe mit einem Eingeborenen kämpft. Man kann daraus schließen, dass es eine Art Ritual ist und es zumindest um ein ugandisches Volk aus Ureinwohnern geht. Die Gegend, in der die Geschichte statt findet, ist wahrscheinlich Amuria, was man aus dem Titel schließen kann. Dement‐ sprechend geht es auch um Juwelen oder was damit umschrieben wird. [In the picture, you can see a cage in which a lion fights with an indigenous person. It can be concluded that this is a kind of ritual or at least that it is about indigenous Ugandan people. The place in which the story takes place is probably called Amuria as the title suggests. Accordingly, it deals with jewels or something that is circumscribed with that.] Also a rather ethnocentric perspective becomes apparent in some of Benjamin’s statements. Concerning Ugandan young adult literature, Benjamin says in the interview that he expected “normale Geschichten [normal stories]” and that this expectation was confirmed. The narratives talked about topics which are also relevant for young people in Germany, he explains: Ja, ich dachte mir eigentlich schon, dass es sich/ ähm, also, ja außer in denen extrem armen Gebieten, aber so wie es hier dargestellt wird, dass es auch sehr ähnlich zu der Jugend hier ist, sagen wir es so, also. Ähm, das ist jetzt ein übertriebener Vorfall, bei “The Hair Cut”. Und (…) ja, man könnte es mit hier vergleichen. [Yes, I thought actually that it is/ well, with exception of the extreme poor regions, but as it is described here, that it is also quite similar to the youth here, let’s put it like that. Ähm, this is an exaggerated incident in “The Hair Cut”. And yes, it could be compared with here.] This statement suggests that Benjamin considers his own perspective as the norm and judges Ugandan young adulthood from this point of view. In the final questionnaire, Benjamin notes that through the narratives he widened his perspective and got to know more about everyday life in Uganda, how difficult it is and what the people there have to struggle with. 6.7 Benjamin 209 <?page no="210"?> 10 When Benjamin asked me those questions, research ethics required me to step out of the role as a researcher and inform him about the different ways HIV may be trans‐ mitted. In this conversation, Benjamin also expressed the wish that the topic HIV / AIDS is further discussed in class, which was done in the final lessons of the reading project. 6.7.6 HIV / AIDS In the reading diary for Voice of a Dream, Benjamin presents his prior knowledge about HIV / AIDS : AIDS ist eine tödliche Krankheit und ist in den armen Entwicklungsländern weit verbreitet und viele müssen deshalb mit dem Tod ringen. Bis auf ein paar Zeitung‐ sartikeln habe ich nichts derartiges [sic] gelesen. [AIDS is a deadly disease and it is widespread in poor developing countries and many people, therefore, have to fight with death. Apart from a few newspaper articles I have not read anything about it.] His knowledge does, however, not go beyond these depicted basics as becomes apparent in the interview when he asks me about the different ways HIV may be transmitted through: Und ich bin mir nicht sicher, wird das nur über, äh, äh, Flüssigkeiten übertragen oder ist das nur Geschlechtsverkehr? […] Bei Mücken kann das, glaube ich auch übertragen werden. Oder nicht? Zum Beispiel, wenn ein Blutsaugender zum anderen hinfliegt. [And I am not sure, is this only transmitted through liquids or is that only sexual intercourse? […] I think, it can also be transmitted through mosquitoes, can’t it? For example, when a bloodsucking insect flies to someone else.] 10 (Interview) Besides this, Benjamin also does not understand how Anna, a baby, could be infected with HIV : Ähm, aber was ich zum Beispiel nicht verstanden habe ist: Diese Anna, die war ja letztendlich auch erkrankt, dieser Säugling. Und wieso waren es die anderen nicht? War das irgendwie, ähm, weil es die Eltern davor nicht hatten? Oder war es einfach nur, weil, ähm, weil es nur so, so eine 50 / 50 Chance ist, dass es die Kinder letztendlich auch haben. Da war ich mir nämlich nicht so ganz sicher. [What I haven’t understood for example is: Anna was also sick after all, this infant. And why not the others? Was that because the parents did not have it before? Or simply because it is a 50 / 50 chance that children also end up getting it? I was not completely sure about that.] (Interview) Benjamin is of the opinion that sex education is very important. He states that in Germany students are introduced to contraceptives already very early, in Year 5. He thinks that this is also very important in Uganda: 6 Research Findings: Cases 210 <?page no="211"?> Ja, also, wenn zum Beispiel, wenn sie, wenn sie zum Beispiel nicht Bescheid wissen und dann zum Beispiel sich/ nicht, äh, jeweils/ wenn sie dann jeweils nicht verhüten, dann, äh, kann man eigentlich auch das Leben zerstören, weil, wenn man dann AIDS hat, dann ist das eigentlich im Laufe von ein paar Jahren vorbei. [Well, for example, when they are not aware and then, for example, not use contraceptives then the whole life may be destroyed because when you have AIDS then life is over in a few years.] (Interview) Therefore, he also considers it as “sehr, sehr wichtig [very, very important]” (in‐ terview) to include HIV / AIDS in children’s books. 6.7.7 Gender Issues Benjamin does not look at the topic gender equality as a central aspect in the Ugandan narratives. When he is asked if he has learnt anything new about this topic in the narratives, he at first expresses his surprise: “Gleichberechtigung? Wundert mich schon? Voice of a Dream zum Beispiel nicht [Gender equality? Am I surprised? Voice of a Dream, for example, not]” (interview). With reference to The Jewels of Amuria, however, he reflects further upon the topic: Jewels of Amuria, da hatten ja eigentlich/ also man sieht schon, dass Frauen da nichts zu sagen hatten. Weil halt bei Jewels of Amuria, weil die haben ja nicht selber en‐ tscheiden können, wen sie heiraten. Ähm, die wurden einfach jemandem zugewiesen und mussten dann zufrieden sein einfach. Ähm, da kann ich mir durchaus vorstellen, dass zu dieser Zeit, Gleichberechtigung ein großes, äh, Thema war. [Jewels of Amuria, they actually had/ one can see that women had no say there. Because in Jewels of Amuria they could not decide themselves whom to marry. They were simply ascribed to someone and had to be happy then. I can imagine that gender equality was a big topic at that time.] (Interview) It becomes apparent that he seems to perceive gender inequality as rather a topic of the past. With reference to Voice of a Dream he again asserts that this topic is not dealt with in this narrative: Ähm, hier in dem Buch [zeigt auf Voice of a Dream] wird das nicht angesprochen. Aber ich fand auch eigentlich, dass keine Frau, Schrägstrich Mädchen, schlecht behandelt wurde. Also ich habe da nichts irgendwie Merkwürdiges gesehen. [Here in Voice of a Dream it is not talked about. But I thought actually that no women slash girl was treated badly. Anyway, I have not read anything particularly strange.] (Interview) In comparison to other students in this study, particularly the female ones, Ben‐ jamin, therefore, shows little awareness of gender issues in his mental processes. 6.7 Benjamin 211 <?page no="212"?> 6.7.8 Summary Benjamin’s reading diaries are characterised by a high level of analytical skill, i.e. knowledge in the field of analysing literary texts. He received much of the prior knowledge that he has about Uganda through the educational partnership which his former school maintains with a school in Uganda. In the interview, he reflects upon this prior knowledge. He criticises the presentation of infor‐ mation during fundraising activities of his school as stereotypical. The narra‐ tives in comparison provide him with a wider picture about Uganda, he states. In the reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria, the choice of some words (e.g. “Ureinwohner”, “Eingeborene”) points to a rather evolutionist perspective and an ethnocentric view becomes apparent when he evaluates Ugandan fiction from his own perspective. 6.8 Charlotte “Und da war ich überrascht eben, dass es sich doch so ziemlich ähnelt wie unserer Ge‐ sellschaft und das fand ich dann eigentlich ganz cool [And I was surprised that it is quite similar to our society and I found that actually quite cool then]” (interview) 6.8.1 Case Description Charlotte is 15 years old and lives with her parents in a small town in Baden-Württemberg where she attends school A. She is an only child and gets on very well with her parents. Regarding her family background, Charlotte is monocultural. Her hobbies are reading, dancing and sports. As a special feature, something that distinguishes her from others, Charlotte names her hearing aids. She got them when she was two and a half years old. Und, ähm, eine Eigenschaft von mir, oder was mich jetzt irgendwie ausmacht, ist, dass ich Hörgeräte habe, und dadurch ist es bei mir immer ein bisschen anders wie bei anderen, weil ich halt dann/ also die Lehrer benutzen also ein Mikrofon im Unterricht. [And a special feature that I have is that I have hearing aids and because of this it is always a bit different for me than for others because the teachers use a microphone in the lesson.] (Interview) She talks about the difficulties her hearing impairment causes in her daily school life. The fact that her friend Emma is also hearing impaired, she describes as supportive in this situation: 6 Research Findings: Cases 212 <?page no="213"?> Also es ist schon wesentlich schwieriger, halt viel anstrengender, weil die Lehrer/ eben man muss immer das Mikrofon dem Lehrer geben. Die müssen es hin machen, ein‐ schalten und dann wieder ausschalten und so und dann nehme ich es wieder mit. Also, die Emma, die nachher ja auch kommt, die hat ja auch Hörgeräte und dann sind wir immer zu zweit und dann ist das ganz gut so. Und, ähm, also, wir sind trotzdem recht gut in der Schule, deswegen, ähm (…) Ja, es ist schon okay. Aber manchmal ist es schon leichter, wenn man das jetzt nicht hätte, oder so. Aber (…). [It is essentially more difficult, more strenuous, because you always have to give the microphone to the teacher. They have to set it up, switch it on and then switch it off again and so and then I take it again. Also Emma, who will be interviewed later, has hearing aids and therefore we are two and this is quite good. Well, we are still quite good at school, therefore (…) Yes, it is okay. But sometimes it would be easier if you did not have it. But (…)] (Interview) Charlotte likes foreign languages. She finds it interesting to learn new languages and admires people who speak six or seven languages. English and French are amongst her better subjects at school. She likes English particularly because of her teacher whom she describes as “ziemlich cool [pretty cool]” (interview). Charlotte is also interested in travelling. She states that she has not yet trav‐ elled much but she would like to go to America or Australia one day or on a world trip after she has completed her A-levels. She intends to travel a lot in the future. 6.8.2 Reading Background In the first questionnaire, Charlotte indicates that she likes reading very much and reads almost daily, although at the interview stage, she explains that in the past she used to read even more but no longer has much time for reading now: Ja, also ich habe früher eigentlich mehr gelesen, so seit der 7. Klasse so eigentlich weniger, weil ich halt auch weniger Zeit hatte. Und manchmal war es mir dann/ da habe ich dann lieber bloß Musik gehört, statt jetzt etwas zu lesen, das war für mich nicht so anstrengend, wie wenn/ so zwischen dem Lernen oder so. Aber ich lese ei‐ gentlich schon/ also ich bin immer total begeistert, wenn ich so ein Buch habe, das mich voll mit rein zieht und so. Ja, aber ich habe nicht so viel Zeit zum Lesen. [Before I used to read more, since Year 7, however, less because I also had less time. And sometimes it was rather/ then I rather listened to music instead of reading which was not so strenuous for me than/ in between learning phases and something of that type. But I actually read/ well, I am always very enthusiastic when I have a book in which I get completely immersed and that. Yes, but I do not have that much time for reading.] 6.8 Charlotte 213 <?page no="214"?> Charlotte particularly enjoys love stories and is not interested in books with too many fantastic elements or crime fiction. She also likes reading in English. She points out in the first questionnaire that she has not yet read many texts in English but would like to read more in future. She plans to read some of the books that she has already read in German again in English. Charlotte read seven texts in the reading project: The Unfulfilled Dream, I Will Miss Mr Kizito, The Precious Calabash, “The Hair Cut”, Voice of a Dream, I Will Not Fail and Cherished Dreams. For the last novel she read, Cherished Dreams, she however, did not hand in the reading diary. Charlotte’s reading diary entries are very detailed and elaborated. She reflects much more intensively on the texts than many of the other students who par‐ ticipated in the reading project. Her reading diaries are featured by detailed character analyses, concrete suggestions for improvements for those parts of the texts she does not like and long lists of favourite quotes. Charlotte had no difficulties in understanding the literary texts she read. She describes them as “recht einfach [relatively easy]” (interview); only Cherished Dreams was a bit more difficult for her to understand: Jetzt, Cherished Dreams, da sind schon ziemlich viele Wörter, die ich nicht verstehe. Aber ich verstehe irgendwie trotzdem so die ganze Handlung und weiß immer so, um was es eigentlich geht. Und man gewöhnt sich eigentlich daran, das zu lesen und zu verstehen, auch wenn man nicht alle Wörter versteht, irgendwie. Also, am Anfang, das erste Kapitel war ziemlich schwer. Und dann ging es irgendwie immer leichter. [In Cherished Dreams now there are quite a few words which I do not understand. But I still understand the plot somehow and know what it is about. And you get used to reading it and understanding it even when you do not understand all the words, somehow. At the beginning, the first chapter was rather difficult. And then it always got easier.] (Interview) Charlotte responds positively to the short stories and novellas in the reading project. Both in the reading diaries and in the interview she expresses her en‐ thusiasm concerning some of the narratives. Phrases such as “Ich fande [sic] die Geschichte allgemein sehr gut [In my opinion the story was in general very good]” (reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream), “ich bin total begeistert [I am very enthusiastic about it]” and “ich bewundere [I admire]” (reading diary for Voice of a Dream) provide an indication for her excitement. She particularly likes the texts that are a bit more complex and multifaceted: Ich fande [sic] Voice of a Dream und Cherished Dreams am besten, da sie wesentlich komplexer und facettenreicher waren und man sehr viel davon lernen konnte. Sie waren sehr interessant und spannend. [In my opinion Voice of a Dream and Cherished 6 Research Findings: Cases 214 <?page no="215"?> Dreams were the best because they were much more complex and multifaceted and you could learn a lot through them.] (Interview) Charlotte appreciates Voice of a Dream for being rather long and thus containing more “Handlung [plot]” (interview) than the other texts which are rather short. She also likes the fact that the story is told from two different perspectives, Sendi’s and Nanfuka’s. She values Cherished Dreams for including various sub‐ plots of which not all are very important for understanding the main plot but which, as she states, provide the reader with a fuller picture of the situation in Uganda. Charlotte also points out that she can better empathise with the characters when the texts are rather complex and the thoughts and feelings of the charac‐ ters are described: Oft war es so, je komplexer die Geschichte, je mehr Gefühle und Gedanken auch beschrieben wurden, wie die denken und so, umso leichter fiel es [das Hineinver‐ setzen] mir eigentlich jetzt. Weil bei den ersten drei Büchern, da war es eigentlich schwieriger, weil die eben so kurz und kompakt waren. Da fiel es mir schon schwier‐ iger. Aber jetzt bei Voice of a Dream oder Cherished Dreams, da ist das dann schon/ da kann ich mich dann so mit der Zeit immer mehr mit dem/ dann das alles erleben praktisch auch, Stück weit. [Often it was like that the more complex the story and the more feelings and thoughts are described, how they think and so on, the better I could empathise now. Because for the first three books it was more difficult because they were short and compact. That was rather difficult for me. But in Voice of a Dream and Cherished Dreams I could / also experience it more and more with time in a way, practically.] (Interview) Whereas in the reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream she criticises that Gwen‐ dolyn’s feelings are presented too superficially, she emphasises in the reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito that she likes the parts which describes how Alex feels when he is bullied by his classmates. Ich mag die Stellen, an denen beschrieben wird, wie Alex sich fühlt, als er von den anderen gemobbt wird. (Ich mag die Stelle nicht wegen der Tatsache, dass er gemobbt wird.) Denn hier kann man seine Gefühle, also seine Wut, seinen Frust und seine Verwirrtheit gut nachvollziehen. [I like the parts describing how Alex is feeling when he is bullied by the others. (I do not like the parts because of the fact that he is bullied). Because here his feelings, his anger, his frustration and his confusion can be well understood.] Besides preferring longer texts over short ones and texts with more feelings to those with fewer, Charlotte likes texts that are written in a realistic mode better 6.8 Charlotte 215 <?page no="216"?> than folktales. In the reading diary for Voice of a Dream, she states: “Ich finde es toll, wenn Geschichten einen wahren Kern haben. [I like it when the stories have a kernel of truth]”. She is of the opinion that in realistic books she can learn more from the characters: Ich finde es eigentlich cool, wenn man sich dann selber, bei den Hauptpersonen, die dann am meisten erleben, etwas abgucken kann. Also so, dass man nie aufgeben soll, oder, ja, immer weiter kämpfen soll und (…). [I consider it cool when you can copy something from the protagonists, who experience most. Something like that you should never give up or yes, that you should always continue fighting and (…).] (In‐ terview) In the interview, Charlotte expresses her aversion to the text The Precious Cal‐ abash. She perceives it as an unreal story: The Precious Calabash fand ich am schlechtesten, da es eine total unwirkliche Ge‐ schichte bzw. ein Märchen war und das mochte ich nicht. [The Precious Calabash was the worst narrative in my opinion because it is a completely unreal story or a fairy tale which I did not like.] In the reading diary, she voices her surprise and dislike about the ending of the narrative. She does not like the fact that the sister is eaten by the lion because she considers it as unjust. It was not the girl’s fault that the mother preferred her over the other sister, she writes. She explains that the ending of the folktale surprised her because fairy tales usually have a positive ending. Charlotte gets emotionally involved in the narratives. She frequently ex‐ presses her feelings during and after the reading process. Certain text passages make her feel “traurig [sad]” (see reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream), she feels pity with Namaganda in I Will Not Fail (reading diary) and perceives the final part of The Precious Calabash (reading diary) as very strange and funny. In the final questionnaire, Charlotte states that she liked the reading project. She declares that it was “besser als erwartet, da die Geschichten doch sehr inter‐ essant waren [better than expected because the stories were quite interesting]”. She also points out, however, that it was exhausting to read that much. 6.8.3 Prior Knowledge In the first questionnaire, Charlotte expresses the following associations with Uganda: “Hitze, schwüles Wetter, Sonne, staubiger, trockener Boden, vereinzelte Dörfchen, kleine Wohnhütten, Mütter mit vielen Kindern, weiter Weg bis zu den Wasserstellen, wenig Anbauflächen [heat, humid weather, sun, dusty, dry soil, 6 Research Findings: Cases 216 <?page no="217"?> isolated villages, small huts, mothers with many children, long way to the next water place, few cultivation areas]”. Concerning the sources of her information about Uganda, Charlotte indicates that she has been in the Uganda study group at her school for one year and that there are sometimes reports about the country in magazines and on TV . Before the start of the reading project, Charlotte states that she would not participate in a student exchange. She is scared of the many diseases which prevail in African countries and imagines that there is a higher crime rate in Africa than in Germany: Ich würde eher nicht mitmachen aufgrund vieler Krankheiten oder Infektionsmö‐ glichkeiten. Außerdem hört man immer wieder, dass es in Afrika eine höhere Krimi‐ nalität herrscht als in Deutschland. [I would rather not participate because of the many diseases and risks of infections. Besides we hear time and again that there is a higher crime rate in Africa than in Germany.] (First questionnaire). Charlotte would like to get to know more about the daily life of young people in Uganda, what they do in their free time and what their friendships are like. 6.8.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Comparing Ugandan young adult fiction with German fiction for young people, Charlotte constructs many similarities: Also, es war ja auch oft viele Liebesgeschichten dabei. Und das hat mich dann über‐ rascht, dass da/ dass die Jugendlichen in Uganda trotzdem auch Junge jetzt ein Mäd‐ chen cool findet, oder so. Und jetzt nicht nur, dass sie viel arbeiten müssen, oder so. Und, ja auch bei, glaube, I Will Miss Mr Kizito, da war/ der wurde ja auch so ein bisschen gemobbt von den Älteren und den Größeren. Und das ist ja bei den deutschen Büchern wird das ja auch oft so geschrieben, und so. Ja. [Well, there were many love stories. And it has surprised me that teenagers in Uganda a boy still finds a girl cool and so on. And not only that they have to work a lot. And, yes also, I think, in I Will Miss Mr Kizito, he was bullied a bit by the older and the bigger students. And this is also often described in the German books and so. Yes.] (Interview) She notes that she is positively surprised about these similarities. She rather expected stories about the difficult lives of children in Uganda who always have to work and are always nice to each other because they are in such a difficult situation. She appreciates that the characters in the narratives resemble people in “our” society: 6.8 Charlotte 217 <?page no="218"?> Und da war ich überrascht eben, dass es sich doch so ziemlich ähnelt wie unserer Gesellschaft und das fand ich dann eigentlich ganz cool, weil ich dachte, das ist jetzt alles so/ hat so seinen eigenen Stil und so. Aber man konnte eben viel auch auf sich selbst übertragen und da war ich eigentlich echt überrascht. [And I was surprised that it is quite similar to our society and I found that actually quite cool then because I thought that has its own style and so. But you could transfer much onto yourself and I was really surprised about that.] (Interview) Also when she compares her own life with that of the characters in the texts, she comes up with many similarities: Zum Beispiel "The Hair Cut", das fand ich auch witzig, weil ich habe auch immer Probleme mit meiner Haut oder mit meinen Haaren und dann denkt man sich, auch wieder andere, die haben schöne glatte Haare oder anders rum. Und das fand ich eigentlich cool, dass das da ziemlich ähnlich war und dass sie auch vor dem Spiegel stand und sich die Haare abgeschnitten hat, und so. Das war dann schon cool eigen‐ tlich. [For example “The Hair Cut” was in my opinion also funny because I also always have problems with my skin or with my hair and then you think, other people, they have nice straight hair or the other way round. And I considered it cool that it was rather similar there and that she was also standing in front of the mirror and cut her hair off and so on. That was cool actually.] (Interview) When talking about differences, she mainly refers to her own status as an only child. The status of not having any siblings is a central reference point for her that comes up in almost all the reading diaries. She feels close to Gwendolyn in The Unfulfilled Dream because she is also an only child and cannot easily put herself into the position of Nanfuka in Voice of a Dream since she has no younger siblings that she has to care for: Ich habe halt keine Geschwister. Deswegen war das jetzt schon (…) ein bisschen neu, ähm, so, dass man sich so um die ganzen Geschwister kümmert, also wenn die Eltern nicht da sind, oder so. Das kenn ich jetzt halt nicht so. [I do not have any siblings. Therefore it was rather (…) a bit new that you have to care for your siblings when your parents are not around or something like that. I am not familiar with this.] (In‐ terview) Charlotte constructs both similarities and differences between the lives of young people in Germany and Uganda. As a central topic of the Ugandan narratives she perceives “alltägliche Probleme [everyday problems]” (interview) and states: Bei uns sind es vielleicht andere Probleme als jetzt in Uganda, bei den Jugendlichen oder so. Aber trotzdem zu sehen, dass die auch immer wieder Probleme haben, ganz/ 6 Research Findings: Cases 218 <?page no="219"?> auch wenn es nur ganz kleine Probleme sind, die sie bewältigen müssen und das bei uns dann ja eigentlich auch so ist. Das war für mich eigentlich schon so ein zentrales Thema. [We have other problems than in Uganda, young adults and so on. But that you can still see that they also have problems, even if they are only very small problems which have to be solved and that this is also the case for us. This was a central topic for me.] (Interview) She also compares the relationship between teachers and students in Germany and Uganda as it is described in I Will Miss Mr Kizito: “Ich habe gelernt, dass die Lehrer eine engere ‘Beziehung’ zu den Schülern führen als in Deutschland [I have learnt that teachers have closer ‘relationships’ to students than in Germany]” (reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito). It appears foreign to Charlotte that the children in I Will Not Fail have to walk such long distances to and from school in their lunch breaks because the school does not provide lunch for them: Das fand ich ein bisschen komisch eigentlich, dass die dann/ also das war neu, dass die dann so weit laufen mussten und so. Das muss man sich dann erst bewusst machen, dass die es eigentlich schon ziemlich schwer haben zur Schule zu kommen. [I consid‐ ered that to be a bit strange that they/ well, that was new that they have to walk such long distances. You first have to become aware of this that it is rather difficult for them to get to school.] (Interview) In addition, she is surprised about the way the students are checked for clean nails, neat hair and clean clothes at school: Ich bin überrascht, dass bei den Schülern auch auf saubere Nägel, gepflegte Haare und ordentliche, saubere Klamotten kontrolliert werden. Wenn in DE ein Lehrer seinen Schüler darauf ansprechen würde, dass er seine Haare öfters waschen soll oder so dann würden die Eltern oder Schule das nicht so gut finden. [I am surprised that the students are also checked for clean nails, neat hair, clean clothes. If a teacher in Ger‐ many brought this up with a student that he should wash his hair more often or something like that, then the parents or school would not see that as very good.] (Reading diary for I Will Not Fail) She points out that such aspects raised her awareness “dass es eben anders auch sein kann wie bei uns [that it can also be different from our context]” (interview). 6.8.5 (De)Construction and Reflection In some reading diaries, Charlotte states that the narratives confirmed the per‐ ceptions that she had before reading: “Ich kann nicht behaupten, dass sich meine 6.8 Charlotte 219 <?page no="220"?> Sichtweisen verändert haben, sondern dass meine Sichtweise verstärkt wurde. [I cannot claim that my views have been changed but that they have rather been reinforced] (reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream). In the interview, however, Charlotte explains that her associations with Uganda were unsettled by the reading project. She discovered many aspects in the texts which she had not expected: Ähm, also es hat sich eigentlich weniger bestätigt. Also ich fand das cool, dass es, ähm, in Kampala auch so diese, diese Nacht gibt mit den Clubs, wo dann alle Schüler heim‐ lich, ähm, dann noch rausgehen, oder so, oder mit Kino. Und, ähm, (…) ähm, dass Uganda jetzt eigentlich jetzt auch nicht so ein trockenes Land ist, sondern auch ziem‐ lich grün und so. Und ja, (…) also war, war ich eigentlich auch überrascht, dass sich das doch wieder ein Stück weit ähnelt. Oder, das mit der Prostitution bei den Mädchen, ähm, ja das, hätte ich eigentlich auch nicht so erwartet, eigentlich. [Actually [my assumptions] were not really confirmed. Well, I found it cool that in Kampala there is this night[life] with clubs where students secretly go to, and so on, or cinemas. And, that Uganda is not really a dry country but rather green. And I was rather surprised that it is a bit similar. Or that with the prostitution of girls, I did not expect that actually.] In her reading diaries, Charlotte repeatedly refers back to text passages that she had read before and so establishes links between different texts: Ja, ich habe bei dem Buch Voice of a Dream schon Ähnliches gelesen und habe da gelernt, dass Mädchen es sehr schwierig haben, in die Schule gehen zu können und sich das hart erkämpfen müssen. Außerdem habe ich damals gelernt, dass sie man‐ chmal auch sehr schnell die Schule wieder verlassen müssen. Bei dem Buch The Un‐ fulfilled Dream habe ich gelernt, dass auf den Schulen sehr strenge Regeln gelten. [Yes, I have already read something similar in the book Voice of a Dream and I have learnt that girls face difficulties in going to school and that they have to struggle a lot. Besides, I have learnt then that they sometimes also have to leave school again very quickly. In the book The Unfulfilled Dream, I have learnt that there are strong rules in the schools.] (Reading diary for I Will Not Fail) She also assumes that the circumstance that she has read so many texts in the reading project has influenced her ability to understand them: Überraschenderweise war der Text überhaupt nicht schwierig, ich hatte kaum Prob‐ leme ihn zu verstehen, vielleicht liegt das daran, dass ich nun schon ein paar englische Bücher gelesen habe. [Surprisingly the text was not difficult at all, I hardly had any problems understanding it, maybe because of the fact that I have already read a few books in English.] (Reading diary for I Will Not Fail) 6 Research Findings: Cases 220 <?page no="221"?> Charlotte thus shows that the reading experience of a certain text may influence that of another, which points to the potential of extensive reading projects (see also Genetsch & Hallet, 2010). Charlotte expresses her surprise about the honest and direct way in which the texts are written. She is of the opinion that they also talk about topics which are not so often addressed in German books. Concerning the HIV / AIDS nar‐ ratives, it surprised her that nothing is embellished or left out but instead the seriousness of the disease is presented in its fullest: Ja, also, ich finde, man hat schon/ es wurden jetzt keine, ähm, schlimme Einzelheiten oder so ausgelassen. Man wurde so richtig konfrontiert, wie schlimm das ist. Und, dass es einfach, wenn es [AIDS] jemand hat, dann ist es so und der wird dann halt auch nicht so gern gemocht von den anderen oder eher ausgeschlossen. Und (…) ich habe auch in die Richtung jetzt vielleicht noch nicht so viele Bücher auf Deutsch gelesen. Aber da war ich schon ein bisschen überrascht eigentlich. [I am of the opinion that no terrible details or something like that were left out. One was really confronted with how bad it is. And that if you have AIDS, then you are not really liked by the others and rather excluded. And (…) I haven't really read that many books along those lines in German. But that really did surprise me a bit.] (Interview) She would not have expected that the narratives talk so openly about sex, sex education and diseases. Charlotte is surprised about the sad endings of some of the narratives which she did not expect but she states that she admires this “knallharte Darlegung der Wahrheit [brutal exposition of truth]” (reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream). She expresses her wish that the story had ended differently and the baby survived but acknowledges that it must have been the intention of the writer to shock: Ich schätze sein Ziel war, dem Leser zu zeigen, wie schlecht es manchen Mädchen und deren Eltern es gehen kann, wenn die Tochter mit fremden Männern schläft, früh gebärt und / oder gar mit HIV infiziert wird. [I guess the aim is to show the reader how badly off some of the girls and their parents are when the daughter sleeps with strangers, gives birth early and / or is infected with HIV.] (Reading diary for The Un‐ fulfilled Dream) Charlotte seems to like characters that fight for their rights, rebel against in‐ justice, social constraints and their own failure. She criticises in the reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito that Mr Kizito, who has lost his job only because he is HIV -positive, remains quite passive and does not defend himself. She wishes he had fought for his own rights and the rights of others who are HIV -positive. 6.8 Charlotte 221 <?page no="222"?> Occasionally in the reading diaries and interview when Charlotte compares her own life with the characters in the narratives, she also reflects upon her own living standard in Germany: Und ich finde man hat schon oft auch gemerkt, wie gut es einem hier in Deutschland so geht. Ähm, wir haben keinen weiten Weg zur Schule, es gibt einen Bus, oder so. Und, ähm, man hat eigentlich öfters jemand, der einem hilft oder wenn man jetzt HIV / AIDS hat, dann ist man nicht komplett ausgeschlossen oder so. Oder kann sich mit anderen austauschen, denen es gleich geht wie einem selber. Und, ja, ich finde, man wird schon/ man wacht schon ein bisschen auf so, weil man überlegt mehr, wie es einem selber geht und wie es denen dort geht und so. [And I think one has noticed how well off we are in Germany. We do not have to walk a long way to school, there is a bus and so on. And there is often someone who helps you or when you have HIV / AIDS, so you are not completely excluded or something like that. Or you can talk with other people who experience something similar. And I think this wakes you up a bit because you think how you are yourself and how they are or something like that.] (Interview) In some of these comparisons and reflections, a superiority bias becomes appa‐ rent. Her statement that people who are HIV -positive are not stigmatised in Germany is unsubstantiated. She states herself that she does not know anybody who is HIV -infected and does not have much experience with this disease. Thus, her assumption seems to carry tendencies of othering. Also in other contexts, quick and rather unfounded conclusions become ap‐ parent: • Außerdem habe ich erfahren, dass die Schüler lange Unterrichtszeiten (immer bis Nachmittag) haben und dass die Klassenzimmer oftmals sehr voll sind - aber auch hierfür wurde in der Geschichte ja eine Lösung gefunden: eine Kirche aus England baut neue Klassenzimmer. Daraus habe ich gelernt, dass die Schulen in Uganda oftmals nicht genug Geld haben, um neue Schulen oder Klassenzimmer zu bauen und sich sehr über Spenden von Stiftungen freuen. [Besides I got to know that students are in school for long (until the afternoon) and that the classrooms are often very full but a solution for this has also been found in the story: a church in England builds new classrooms. From this I learnt that schools in Uganda often do not have money to build new schools or classrooms and are happy about donations of foundations.] (Reading diary for I Will Not Fail) • Ferner weiß ich nun, dass Mädchen oft zwangsverheiratet werden und dass AIDS ein wirklich großes Problem in Uganda bzw. wahrscheinlich ganz Afrika ist. [Furthermore, I now know that girls are often forced to marry and that 6 Research Findings: Cases 222 <?page no="223"?> AIDS is a really big problem in Uganda or probably in the whole of Africa.] (Reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Die Handlung finde ich ein wenig traurig, da man gespürt hatte, wie normal es in Uganda ist / sein kann, dass die jungen Mädchen mit Männern schlafen. [In my opinion, the plot is a bit sad because you could feel how normal it is in Uganda that young girls sleep with men.] (Reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) For example, she concludes from the narratives I Will Not Fail that Ugandan schools depend on Western aid, from Voice of a Dream that girls are often forced to marry and from The Unfulfilled Dream that it is normal for young girls in Uganda to sleep with men. She seems to read the texts to mirror real life in Uganda and in a generalising manner applies the perceptions gained to the whole of the country. Furthermore, she appears to be quite sure about her state‐ ments; only in the last comment mentioned above are uncertainties revealed (“sein kann [can be]”). Still, it becomes apparent that Charlotte is aware of inequalities that prevail in the world and her own privileges: “Im Vergleich zu Nanfukas Leben, werde ich es wahrscheinlich leichter haben, einen Beruf auszuführen, den ich unbedingt ma‐ chen will [in comparison to the life of Nanfuka, it will probably be easier for me to work in the profession I really want]” (reading diary for Voice of a Dream). Also in the reading diary for I Will Not Fail, Charlotte reflects upon these priv‐ ileges again: Außerdem ist mir wieder bewusst geworden, wie gut es mir hier in DE geht, also, dass jeder zur Schule gehen kann (und muss) und jeder eine Chance auf einen guten Ab‐ schluss hat. Zusätzlich ist mir auch wieder bewusst geworden, dass wir Schüler hier in DE wesentlich mehr Freizeit haben. [Besides I realised how well off I am in Ger‐ many, well, that everyone can go to school (and has to) and everyone has the chance to have a good graduation. Besides I realised again that students here in Germany have substantially more free time.] In the final questionnaire, Charlotte states that the books gave her a deeper insight into the lives of the people in Uganda, made her able to understand them better, and broadened her perspective of different areas of everyday life in Uganda. In the reading diary for The Precious Calabash, she reflects upon the power of a story which may change a reader’s perceptions: Ich bewundere an allen Büchern von diesem Projekt, die ich bisher gelesen hab, welch große Bedeutung und Nachricht an den Leser vermittelt wird und ich finde es klasse, wie es manche Autoren schaffen, mithilfe von ein paar Seiten Text und einer kurzen 6.8 Charlotte 223 <?page no="224"?> Geschichte, den Leser nachdenklich zu stimmen und ihm eine neue Sicht- und Denk‐ weise über bestimmte Themen zu ermöglichen. [I admire about all the books in this project that I have read so far how much meaning and what a message they convey to the reader and I consider it great how some of the writers manage to make the reader reflective and give him / her new views and perspectives on certain topics with just a few pages of text and a short story.] 6.8.6 HIV / AIDS Charlotte expresses interest in the topic HIV / AIDS . In her second reading diary, she points out that she was impressed by the first narrative she read in the project (The Unfulfilled Dream) and thus selected a similar text to read next (I Will Miss Mir Kizito). She considers HIV / AIDS as an important topic. Charlotte states that she did not know very much about HIV / AIDS before reading and appreciates the fact that the narratives informed her a bit about the life of people who are affected by the disease: Ähm, also ich fand es eigentlich schon ziemlich wichtig, weil man halt ja immer ein bisschen spenden soll oder irgendwie so etwas. Und so fand ich eigentlich cool, dass ich so ein bisschen mal auch das Leben von jemandem, der jetzt kein AIDS hatte, aber Vater, Schwester und was auch immer hatte. Und, so konnte ich mich auf eine andere Art und Weise damit ein bisschen vertraut machen. Weil ich wusste davor darüber jetzt eigentlich nicht so viel. Und, aber mir fällt es eigentlich immer noch ein bisschen schwer, ähm, das richtig zu verstehen, dass es da einfach komplett anders für die Menschen ist. Aber es hat mir auf jeden Fall ein Stück weit geholfen. [I considered it very important because you should also always donate a bit and so on. And I found it cool that I [heard] a bit about the life of someone who has no AIDS, but whose father and sister and whatever does. And so I could familiarise myself in a way a bit with it. Because I actually knew very little about it. And it is still actually quite difficult for me to understand that it is there completely different for the people. But it helped me definitely a bit.] (Interview) According to Charlotte, HIV / AIDS is a topic that many people avoid. She sees this tendency for avoidance grounded in feelings of pity and powerlessness of many people because they are aware that little can be done for HIV -positive people. Therefore, Charlotte would also recommend other people to read HIV / AIDS narratives such as The Unfulfilled Dream. Still, she would not like the topic to be discussed in every young adult book that she reads. 6 Research Findings: Cases 224 <?page no="225"?> 6.8.7 Gender Issues In the reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream, Charlotte states that the text raised her awareness of what type of problems girls in Uganda / Africa and many other countries face. Mir ist nun bewusster geworden, wie es Mädchen in Uganda / Afrika bzw. in ganz vielen Ländern auf der Welt geht. Mir ist klar, dass die Geschichte nur einen kleinen Teil von ganz vielen verschiedenen ‘Problemen’ erzählt hat. [I am now more aware of what it’s like for girls in Uganda / Africa and in many other countries of the world are. I know that the story has told only a small part of the many different ‘problems’.] Charlotte considers gender equality to be a very important topic. She notes that she was shocked by how the father in I Will Not Fail talked to the mother and how he treated her. In addition, she considers the way girls are treated in the story in comparison to boys as unjust: Und auch, dass der Junge/ da hat man nicht geguckt, ob er jetzt gut lernt oder (…) Er soll halt einfach für das Fußball glücklich sein. Und die Frauen müssen dann immer hart arbeiten und für Nachwuchs und Kinder sorgen und so. Ja, also, fand ich eigentlich auch gut, dass das vorkam, dass man das auch ein bisschen miterleben kann sozusagen. [And also that the boy/ in this case nobody cared whether he studies well or (…) He should actually just be happy for the football. And women always have to work hard and to care for the offspring and children and so on. Yes, I considered it good that this was talked about that one could also experience it a bit in a way.] (Interview) Charlotte constructs similarities with Germany when she states that also there women are paid less than men. She considers it an issue that is not only present in Uganda but in all the countries around the world. Therefore, according to her gender equality is an important topic for young adult narratives. 6.8.8 Summary Charlotte’s reading diaries are very elaborated and detailed. She likes particu‐ larly longer texts and texts with many feelings. The fact that she can construct many similarities between her life and the lives of the characters surprises her and she expresses her appreciation concerning these similarities. Occasionally, Charlotte draws quick and rather unfounded conclusions and makes statements that reveal an ethnocentric bias. 6.8 Charlotte 225 <?page no="226"?> 6.9 Philipp “ja, ich weiß eigentlich fast nichts über Uganda [yes, actually I hardly know anything about Uganda]” (interview) 6.9.1 Case Description Philipp is 15 years old. He lives with his family in a small town in Baden-Würt‐ temberg and he attends school A there. His father is a neuropsychologist and his mother works as a secretary. He has an older sister who is 17 years old. Philipp describes himself as monocultural regarding his family background. Philipp likes doing sports; he plays table tennis and badminton. Apart from that, he is interested in music and plays in a band. In his free time, Philipp also likes meeting friends. Concerning foreign languages, Philipp has mixed feelings. He is relatively good at English and is of the opinion that it is an important language which is really needed, particularly when you are somewhere abroad on holidays. He states that he is not convinced of French, however. Philipp asserts that he is open towards other cultures and engages with them rather than being prejudiced. He explains that he has already travelled. He spent his last summer holidays with English friends of his mother in England where he had to communicate in English with the sons of this family. He is of the opinion that this was very good for his English language skills. Philipp has problems with the reading diary research instrument. He writes only short entries and explains in the final questionnaire that he finds it difficult to reflect: Ich denke die Fragen passen nicht zu mir, ich kann nicht viel reflektieren, außerdem fand ich dass sich Fragen teilweise widerholten [sic]. Insgesamt fand ich es eher lang‐ weilig. [I think the questions are not suitable for me, I am not able to reflect, besides, I was of the opinion that the questions repeated themselves partly. In general, I found it rather boring.] (Final questionnaire) His reading diary entries and the way he expresses himself in the diary are, however, marked by a great degree of openness. He seems to express his opinion very freely. 6 Research Findings: Cases 226 <?page no="227"?> 6.9.2 Reading Background Philipp does not like reading, he hardly ever reads. This was not always the case because he used to read a lot when he was younger, even relatively thick books, he explains. On the rare occasions that Philipp still reads, he is interested in fantasy fiction or thrillers. He does not like historic novels. He has not yet read much in English, only one or two books written for beginners. In the reading project, Philipp read five texts: How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails, “ JJ ”, The Precious Calabash, “The Hair Cut” and The Jewels of Amuria. In the reading diaries and also in the interview, he states that he had no problems in understanding the texts: “Das/ also vom Verstehen her, ging das eigentlich echt. Ich konnte mir eigentlich alles, was ich nicht wusste so aus dem Zusammenhang halt erschließen [Concerning the understanding, that was okay. Whatever I did not know, I could derive from the context]”. In the reading diaries and interview, Philipp points out that he does not like the texts. He perceives the plot of many books as childish, “relativ komisch [rather strange]”, “unlogisch [irrational]” and also meaningless. Philipp, for ex‐ ample, cannot understand why the author of The Precious Calabash introduces a dove into the narrative over which oil is poured so that it starts singing: Das hat jetzt irgendwie/ (…) keine Ahnung. Das macht halt an sich keinen Sinn. Das ist ja [unv.], aber (…) Ich denke, das hätte man besser lösen können als Autor. [That has somehow/ (…) no idea. That does not make sense in itself. That is, but (…) I think the author could have solved that better.] (Interview) He particularly dislikes that the story is logical at the start but has an illogical ending. Therefore, despite his statement that if he reads, he reads fantasy, Philipp seems not very impressed by the fantastic elements in the texts of the reading project. In the final questionnaire, he even states: “Ich denke man sollte keine Geschichten zur Verfügung stellen, die nicht das reale Uganda darstellen [I think stories which do not show the real Uganda should not be made available]” (final questionnaire). The only story which Philipp appreciates at least a little is “The Hair Cut”. He values that this story teaches the reader a lesson. In this short story, Flora’s mother takes her daughter to a poor area of the city. When Flora sees the street children, she realises that she has a comparatively good life. Philipp considers this also an important message for a German reader. He explains that one can learn through the story “dass man als Deutscher so einen echt hohen Lebensstan‐ dard hat. Und nicht irgendwie über solche/ äh, wegen solchen Kleinigkeiten direkt so ausflippen sollte [that as a German you have a really high living standard. And you should not immediately freak out because of small issues]” (interview). 6.9 Philipp 227 <?page no="228"?> 11 AG, which stands for Arbeitsgemeinschaft, is used to refer to a study group in the German school context. In the final questionnaire, Philipp indicates that he did not like the reading project. He writes that he got to know more about Uganda through the project but is of the opinion that through other media he could have achieved that much better: Ich habe zwar etwas über Uganda gelernt, jedoch ist Lesen nicht mein größtes Hobby. Ich denke, dass man viel mehr Wissen über Uganda über andere Medien als Jugend‐ literatur erhalten kann [I got to know something about Uganda but reading is not my greatest hobby. I am of the opinion that one can get much more knowledge about Uganda through other media than young adult fiction.]” (Final questionnaire) In addition, he justifies his position towards the reading project with the fol‐ lowing comment: “nicht mein Interressensgebiet, Sinn mancher Abschnitte nicht verstanden. [not my area of interest, didn’t understand the point of some pas‐ sages]” (final questionnaire). 6.9.3 Prior Knowledge Before reading, Philipp imagined Uganda to be rather poor and dry. He noted the following associations in his first questionnaire: “Armut, Trockenheit, Oli‐ venbäume, Lehmhütten. [poverty, dryness, olive trees, mud huts]”. Philipp explains that he gets to know about countries such as Uganda mainly through presentations at school. At his primary school, there was a “Bolivien AG   11 [school study group focused on Bolivia]” and his secondary school, which maintains an educational partnership with a school in Uganda, has a “Uganda AG [school study group focused on Uganda]”. Though Philipp did and still does not get involved in those school groups directly, he is informed about the coun‐ tries through their presentations, he indicates. He states that apart from this, he learns very little about “solche Länder [such countries]” (first questionnaire). Philipp’s reference to Uganda and Bolivia as “solche Länder [such countries]” suggests that he homogenises these two different countries probably under the aspect that he perceives them both as in need of support which becomes appa‐ rent for him through the framework of educational partnerships. In the inter‐ view, Philipp further elaborates on the educational partnership with Uganda. In contrast to what he stated in the questionnaire, he now says that he does not know much about this school cooperation with Uganda: “Ich habe da sonst ei‐ gentlich fast nichts mitgekriegt von Uganda oder von der Partnerschaft an sich [I 6 Research Findings: Cases 228 <?page no="229"?> have hardly heard anything about Uganda and the partnership as such]” (inter‐ view). Philipp also points out in the first questionnaire that he is particularly inter‐ ested in getting to know more about the life in big Ugandan cities and the working life of the people: “Mich persönlich würde das Leben in größeren ugan‐ dischen Städten und das Arbeitsleben interessieren [Personally, I would be inter‐ ested in the life in bigger Ugandan cities and the working life]” (first question‐ naire). Philipp would participate in a student exchange with Uganda if it is not too expensive. He enjoys getting to know other cultures. In case he does not like it in Uganda, a student exchange does not last for a very long time, he states. 6.9.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Comparing young adult literature from Uganda with young adult literature from Europe or Germany, Philipp observes that they deal with different topics: Weil (…) ich mein, in dem Buch [zeigt auf "JJ"] geht es jetzt ja ziemlich um AIDS und das ist ja in Europa eher nicht so das Problem. Da geht es dann halt vielleicht um/ da schreibt jemand halt vielleicht irgendwie eine Kurzgeschichte wie [unv.], keine Ah‐ nung. Und, ja, solche Töpfergeschichten, das macht ja in Europa auch fast niemand mehr, oder halt in Deutschland. Ja (…). [This book deals with AIDS and that is not a real problem in Europe. There someone maybe writes a short story somehow, no idea. And yes, such pottery stories, in Europe almost no one is doing that any longer, or in Germany. Yes. (…).] (Interview) Still, he also comes up with similarities. He equates, for example, How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails with the German fairy tale Der Wolf und die Sieben Geißlein [The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids], and The Precious Calabash with Frau Holle [Mother Holle]: • Ich fand die Geschichte relativ vorhersehbar, da ich ja Der Wolf und die 7 Geißlein kenne, doch überrascht hat mich, dass die Zigenkinder [sic] nicht gerettet wurden. [For me the story was rather predictable because I know The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids but it surprised me that the goat kids were not rescued.] (Reading diary for How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails) • Die Geschichte ähnelt Frau Holle sehr, in beiden muss eine Tochter Aufgaben erledigen, die andere Tochter wird neidisch, versucht es auch, versagt aber. [The story resembles Mother Holle very much, in both [stories] the daughter has to do tasks, the other daughter becomes jealous, also tries them but fails.] (Reading diary for The Precious Calabash) 6.9 Philipp 229 <?page no="230"?> When Philipp compares his own life with that of the characters in the narratives, he mainly constructs similarities: Also, ich dachte ja, dass die eher so auf dem Land leben, aber das ist ja eher wie bei uns hier. Dass die halt auch zur Schule gehen jeden Tag und dass die (…), ja (…), halt auch so alltägliche Probleme haben [Well, I thought that they rather live in the coun‐ tryside but that is actually like here for us. That they go to school every day and that they have their everyday problems.]” (Interview) With reference to The Precious Calabash in particular, he comes up with differ‐ ences between his life and the lives of the characters: Ich denke ich habe mehr Freiheiten und kann mir mehr bei meiner Mutter erlauben ohne gleich so hart bestraft zu werden. Außerdem differenziert sich das komplette Arbeitsleben, da wir im ‘reichen Deutschland’ eher Bürojobs haben als Töpfe zu de‐ korieren. [I think I have more freedom and may get away with more with my mother. Besides the whole working life differs because rather than decorating pots we have office jobs in ‘rich Germany’.] (Reading diary for The Precious Calabash) Philipp equates the expression “rich Germany” with office jobs and talks in contrast about decorating pots in Uganda, which brings to light an evolutionary perspective and also a slight superiority bias. The fact that he puts “rich Ger‐ many” into quotation marks may indicate that he is aware of this implicit meaning. Because of the similarities which he was able to construct and the circum‐ stance that many thoughts and feelings of the characters were described in the narratives, Philipp can identify very well with the characters, he states. He only has problems putting himself in Flora’s shoes in “The Hair Cut”: Ja, gut, bei "The Hair Cut", ähm, da war es eher seltsam, weil ich mich jetzt nicht so viel, also ich nicht in die Schule kann, wenn ich (…) Da hatte ich ein Problem, ich weiß nicht, ob/ war das ein Pickel auf der Stirn? Ah, okay. Nein, also wenn ich so einen Pickel habe, naja, da fand ich die Reaktion von der Flora, glaube ich, relativ komisch. Und nicht meiner entsprechend. [And well, in “The Hair Cut”, it was a bit strange because I do not stay home from school when I (…) I had a problem with that, I don’t know, was that a pimple on the forehead? No, when I have such a pimple, well, I considered the reaction of Flora, I think, to be relatively strange. And not in accordance with mine.] (Interview) Philipp is of the opinion that it is easier for him to empathise with someone when he himself has already experienced something similar: “Ich denke halt, wenn so etwas an sich auch mir passieren könnte, kann ich mich da leichter hi‐ 6 Research Findings: Cases 230 <?page no="231"?> neinversetzen. Sonst ist es immer so ein Vermuten, oder keine Ahnung. [I think, when something could also happen to me, then I can empathise with it more easily. Otherwise it is rather an assumption or no idea]” (interview). Philipp has several encounters with foreignness. In various reading diaries, he expresses his surprise about the ending of the particular text. He is, for ex‐ ample, astonished that the goat kids are not rescued at the end of How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails. In the interview, he explains that this surprise was grounded in the expectation that “Märchen [fairy tales]” normally end on a pos‐ itive note: Normal ist man ja von solchen Märchen gewöhnt, dass irgendwann dann dem Wolf, wie so der Bauch aufgeschnitten wird, oder so. Und sie dann wieder raus kommen, aber das ist ja da nicht der Fall [Normally, it is common in these fairy tales that at one point the belly of the wolf is cut, or something like that. And they then come out again but this was not the case.] (Interview) He seems to look at the German or European fairy tales that he is familiar with as the norm and reads the Ugandan folktale against this background. Philipp points out that he was also startled when he read in The Precious Calabash that the girls meet the boys secretly at the well. He perceives this as a very big difference to his own context in which it is no problem for girls to meet the other sex in public. Therefore, he describes it as “fremd [foreign]” (interview). When asked how he dealt with this foreign aspect during the reading process, he states that he concluded that this is considered as normal in Uganda and then continued reading. Therefore, he does not seem to perceive this difference or aspect of foreignness as something challenging or something to ponder on; in‐ stead, he simply labels it as ‘normal for them’. Here his mental processes reveal a lack of reflection. 6.9.5 (De)Construction and Reflection Philipp reflects upon his prior knowledge concerning Uganda in the interview and points out that the texts portrayed the country differently from his imagi‐ nations: Ja, ich denke, also ich hatte so das Bild von Uganda, dass da halt/ Ja, ich weiß eigentlich fast nichts über Uganda, aber ich habe halt eher gedacht, dass die so, weiß nicht, unter ärmeren Bedingungen leben. Und vielleicht eher mehr auf dem Land, weil es nicht so viele Leute sind. Aber das war ja eher nicht so. Ja (…) Ja, das/ die waren ja eher so in den größeren Städten und bei "The Hair Cut", weil da konnten die ja dann gleich zum Friseur. Und, ähm (…) Die hatten ja alle jetzt nicht irgendwelche Probleme wegen Geld, 6.9 Philipp 231 <?page no="232"?> oder so. Also (…). [Yes, I think, well, I had that picture of Uganda that there is, yes, actually I hardly know anything about Uganda, but I rather thought that they, I do not know, live under poorer conditions. And maybe rather in the countryside because they are not so many people. But that was rather not the case. (…) Yes, that, they were rather in the bigger cities and in “The Hair Cut” because there they could immediately go to the hair dresser. And, (…) They did not have any problems because of money, or something like that. Well (…).] (Interview) His interjection “ja, ich weiß eigentlich fast nichts über Uganda [yes, actually I hardly know anything about Uganda]” suggests that he perceives his knowledge about the country as limited. Before the reading, Philipp expected the books to deal with young adults and their struggle for a better life and the escape from poverty. When confronted with this expectation in the interview, Philipp says that the books were actually quite different from his expectations: Das war jetzt eigentlich nicht SO der Fall, weil das ging ja meistens so um die Reicheren, glaube ich, aus Uganda. Oder halt um Ziegen. (lacht) Aber bei/ zumindests bei den beiden. Äh, hier "JJ" und "The Hair Cut". Das sind ja eher diese Reicheren auf den größeren Schulen. [That was not actually the case because it was mostly about the rich, I think, in Uganda. Or about goats (laughs). But at least in those two, “JJ” and “Hair Cut”. They deal with rich people that attend bigger schools.] (Interview) He believes that the two short stories “ JJ ” and “The Hair Cut” rather talk about rich people in Uganda who can afford better schools. Asked for a justification of this statement, he explains: Weil ich denke, diese arme Bauernfamilien/ also ich glaube nicht, dass es in Uganda Schulpflicht gibt. Und ich denke, dass es sich solche arme Bauern jetzt nicht unbedingt leisten können (…). [Because I think that poor farmer families/ well, I do not believe that there is compulsory schooling in Uganda. And I think that such poor farmers may not necessarily be able to afford it (…).] (Interview) Having said that, he briefly hesitates and adds after a short pause: “Aber ich kenne mich da jetzt auch noch nicht so/ auch noch nicht wirklich aus mit so afri‐ kanischer Kultur [But I do not really know African culture that well]” (inter‐ view). This statement shows that Philipp is not very firm in his interpretation. As also became apparent above, he seems to be aware that he knows very little about Uganda and to some extent also realises that his conclusions are based on this limited knowledge. In the reading diaries of various texts, Philipp states that one cannot learn from this particular story. He elaborates on this statement in the interview and explains that he is of the opinion that “Märchen [fairy tales]” cannot teach us 6 Research Findings: Cases 232 <?page no="233"?> anything about Ugandan culture. He considers the content of fairy tales to be unreal and thus not instructive: “Da feiern Ziegen irgendwelche Feste und da weiß man ja nicht, was die ugandische Bevölkerung den ganzen Tag macht [You get goats celebrating some parties and you do not know what the Ugandan popu‐ lation is doing for the whole day]” (interview). Philipp is of the opinion that fairy tales do not give him an insight into everyday life of people in Uganda and are therefore not educative. Although fairy tales are rooted in oral traditions and have been handed down from generation to generation, Philipp does not look at them as part of culture, which in his eyes appears to consist only of people’s everyday life. Philipp is, however, not very consistent in his judgements. Despite his earlier reference to The Precious Calabash as fairy tale and thus not instructive, Philipp sees it as the most suitable of all the texts that he has read for getting to know more about Uganda. He justifies this in the following way: Da erfährt man ja auch so ein bisschen etwas über das Arbeitsleben, Topfverkauf/ Topfverkäufer. Weil das erfährt man sonst irgendwie nie, in keinem Buch. Und, halt auch wie die Mädchen mit den Jungen umgehen, so ein bisschen. [There you get to know something about the working life, pottery selling / pottery seller. Because this you do not get to know in any of the other books. And also a bit how the girls deal with the boys.] (Interview) What Philipp learns through the narratives seems to focus mainly on ‘the other’. Only in the reading diary for “The Hair Cut” does Philipp’s statement suggest that the narrative also animated him to self-reflection: Ich denke mir ist ein bisschen mehr klar geworden, dass ich mit meinem Lebensstan‐ dard einen enormen Luxus genieße und nicht auf Kleinigkeiten herumhacken sollte, die mich stören [I think, I realised a bit that with my lifestyle I enjoy enormous luxury and that I should not get so bothered about small things that annoy me.] (Reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) 6.9.6 HIV / AIDS For Philipp, AIDS is a central topic in the narratives. He has only read one text that deals with this topic (“ JJ ”) but he states that he also heard from his fellow classmates that HIV / AIDS plays an important role in many texts. He concludes from this “dass es halt dann auch so ein relativ großes Problem ist in Uganda, weil da so viel darüber geschrieben wird. [that it is a relatively big problem in Uganda because there is written a lot about it]” (interview). For himself, the topic is, however, not that important: 6.9 Philipp 233 <?page no="234"?> Also für mich persönlich jetzt ist es nicht so wichtig, weil ich denke, die Gefahr, dass man jetzt AIDS kriegt, ist doch relativ gering in Deutschland. Aber, ja, es ist halt schon ein großes Problem in Afrika und dass, wenn man das jetzt hat, denke ich mir, dann ist es halt auch schwierig damit umzugehen. Dass man halt sicherlich niemanden ansteckt. (…) Ja (…) [Well, for me personally it is not that important now because I think the danger that you get AIDS is relatively small in Germany. But, yes, it is a big problem in Africa and that, when you have it, I think, then it is difficult to deal with it. That you do not infect anyone.] (Interview) This suggests that Philipp considers HIV / AIDS rather more a topic for other countries. Also in this context, however, his statements partly contradict each other. Later on in the interview, he makes the following remark in which he emphasises the importance of this topic to be discussed in Europe: In genau der Art habe ich noch nichts erlebt, jedoch gibt es überall Probleme wie AIDS über die niemand spricht, jedoch gesprochen werden sollte. Mein Leben unterscheidet sich grundsätzlich nicht von dem der ugandischen Jugendlichen, nur um AIDS wird sich in Europa leider weniger gekümmert. [I haven’t yet experienced anything of exactly this type but there are problems like AIDS everywhere about which no one speaks but they should be spoken about. My life does not fundamentally differ from those of the young adult, only AIDS is unfortunately less cared about in Europe.] (Interview) Philipp perceives his knowledge concerning HIV / AIDS as limited. He explains in the interview that the topic was only talked about briefly at school and he merely learnt biological facts about it in class, such as that it weakens the im‐ mune system. He states that he got to know through the short story “ JJ ” that HIV -positive people may live a “normal” life: Ähm (…) ja, dass halt die Leute, die halt HIV infiziert sind, sag ich mal, dass die halt trotzdem ein ganz normales Leben haben und ja, dass die halt nicht irgendwie immer dauerhaft krank sind oder (…) Ich weiß auch nicht, ich habe/ ich weiß jetzt auch noch fast nichts über AIDS, also (…). [Yes, that the people are infected with HIV, let’s say, that they still live a normal life and yes, that they are not always constantly sick or (…) I do not know, still now, I do not yet know much about AIDS, well (…).] (Interview) In the context of HIV / AIDS , Philipp also reflects upon stigma. In his reading diary for “ JJ ”, he points out: Ich denke Schüler könnten Angst haben sich anzustecken, weil sie nicht ausreichend über AIDS informiert sind, trotz solcher Seminare. Vielleicht denkt Julie auch, dass die anderen Schüler ein festes Vorurteil haben, dass Leute mit AIDS schlecht sind, 6 Research Findings: Cases 234 <?page no="235"?> was bei manchen Leuten durchaus möglich ist. Eigentlich gibt es keinen Grund Julie anderst [sic] zu behandeln als davor, nur wollten manche das nicht einsehen, weil sie sich von der normalen Masse abhebt und anderst [sic] ist. [I think students may be scared to get infected, because they are not sufficiently informed about AIDS despite such seminars. Maybe Julie also thinks that the other students have fixed prejudices that people with AIDS are bad, which is actually possible for some people. Actually there is no reason why Julie should be treated differently than before, only some did not want to see that because she stands out from the crowd and is different.] He adds in the next line: “Genauso sollten Leute mit schwarzer Hautfarbe gleich behandelt werden wie andere, Mensch bleibt Mensch [In the same way people with a black skin should be treated in the same way as the others, people are people after all.]” (reading diary for “ JJ ”). Philipp, therefore, draws connections between the discrimination of HIV -positive people and Black people. 6.9.7 Summary Philipp does not like reading and he also did not enjoy the reading project. He expresses his dislike concerning the texts he read in the reading project which he does not consider educative. Philipp perceives his prior knowledge con‐ cerning Uganda as limited and frequently expresses uncertainties grounded in this restricted knowledge. Uganda is portrayed differently in the narratives than he expected it, he states. Philipp’s constructions and deconstructions focus on ‘the other’; he shows a low potential for self-reflection. 6.10 Anna “ich habe ja selber viele Vorurteile, ohne dass ich es eigentlich bewusst weiß so. [I have many prejudices myself, without actually being aware of them.]” (interview) 6.10.1 Case Description Anna is 16, almost 17 years old. She lives in a city in Bavaria and attends school B. She is a bit older than most of her classmates because she is currently re‐ peating Year 9. Her parents are separated and she lives with her father, his new wife and her half-brother. Up until a year ago, Anna still lived with her mother but for a year now she has not been in contact with her any longer. Anna has an older sister who is 27 years old and is training to be a teacher. 6.10 Anna 235 <?page no="236"?> Regarding her family background, Anna describes herself in the first ques‐ tionnaire as monocultural since she notes that she and both her parents are German; however, she explains in the interview that her mother’s partner is English and she lived with him and her mother for five years. He spoke to her only in English and therefore she was confronted with English on a daily basis. She, therefore, considers herself as bilingually and biculturally raised. However, in her mental processes during and after the reading process, Anna does not refer to this bicultural background at any time. Anna is interested in languages. She would like to be able to speak many languages but considers herself to be too lazy to get really deeply involved with them. English is her favourite subject at school. The fact that English was a natural language in her household for five years helps her to have good marks at school, she explains: Eben dadurch, dass ich, äh, sozusagen fünf Jahre lang so Englisch aufgewachsen bin, habe ich dann/ also ich muss nichts tun, um halt gute Noten zu haben, und das ist halt ganz gut. [Because of the fact that I have grown up with English for five years so to say, I do not have to do much to have good grades and that is quite good.] (Interview) Anna does a lot of sports. She goes to the fitness centre three or four times a week. She also spends a lot of time with her pets, a dog, turtles and rabbits. She states that she actually prefers being with animals to being with people. Concerning cultures, Anna has mixed feelings. She likes it to get to know more about “fremde Religionen und so [foreign religions and something of that type] (interview)” but she also considers it very difficult for people from “andere [other]” cultures to integrate into “neue [new]” cultures: Ähm, ich glaube, Menschen sind halt so Gewohnheitsmenschen und wenn man dann so in eine fremde Kultur kommt ist es, glaube ich, schon schwer, wenn man andere Dinge gewöhnt ist. [I believe, human beings are creatures of habit and when one comes into a foreign culture, I think it is difficult for that person if one is used to other things.]” (Interview) She also talks about concrete encounters with other cultures that she has had at school: Ja, ähm, also, in der Schule hier ist ja alles gemischt. Da gibt es ja eigentlich von allem so ein bisschen etwas. Und ich bin halt ein sehr offener Mensch und sage halt immer meine Meinung und alles und so. Ähm, Leute aus dem Islam, zum Beispiel, die sind da ja immer sehr vorsichtig und da bin ich halt auch schon oft angeeckt, so wenn ich dann herausgehauen habe, was ich denke und dann so ‘Was? ’ [At school everything is mixed. There is a little from everything. And I am a very open person and always 6 Research Findings: Cases 236 <?page no="237"?> say my opinion openly. People from Islam, for example, they are always very careful and I have often rubbed somebody up the wrong way, when I then said what I thought and then they’re like ‘What? ’] (Interview) Anna loves travelling. She notes that she has already travelled extensively; e.g. she has been to England, Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, America and Egypt, she explains. She aspires to a profession in which she can travel a lot. 6.10.2 Reading Background In the first questionnaire, Anna indicates that she likes reading. She is interested in complicated texts which are thought-provoking. She does not like kitschy love stories. In the interview, Anna explains that over the years her enthusiasm for books waned slightly. Whereas she used to read a lot in primary school and in the lower years of secondary school, she reads less now: Als so Grundschulkind habe ich ganz ganz viel gelesen. Also meine Schwester, da‐ durch, dass sie 11 Jahre älter als ich ist, hat sie mir halt schon vor der Grundschule das Lesen beigebracht. Und, ähm, in der Grundschule und so fünfte, sechste, siebte Klasse habe ich ganz, ganz viel gelesen. Ähm, halt immer so Mädchenbücher. Und dann so achte Klasse habe ich mich auch so an anderen Sachen probiert. Ähm, ja. Und jetzt, ich lese schon noch, aber weniger. [When I was still in primary school, I read very, very much. Well, my sister, since she is 11 years older than I am she has already taught me reading before I went to school. And in primary school and Year 5, 6, 7 I have read very, very much. Always these girls’ books. And then in Year 8 I also tried out other things. And now, I still read but less.] Anna also likes reading in English. In the past, her mother’s partner gave her many books in English that she read. In the reading project, Anna read three texts: Voice of a Dream, Our Cousins from Abroad and “ JJ ”. She had some difficulties in understanding the first book, Voice of a Dream, which was labelled with a red dot (difficult linguistic level). In the interview, it becomes apparent that she cannot remember most of the plot, particularly the last chapters, which suggests that she indeed had problems in understanding it and maybe did not even complete it. She is of the opinion that she should have read the books in another order: first Our Cousins from Abroad, then “ JJ ” and finally Voice of a Dream. Anna liked the short story “ JJ ” most of the three texts she read in the reading project. She points out that on the one hand she could easily relate to the story and identify with the protagonist but on the other hand the story talked about a topic that was somehow foreign to her: HIV / AIDS . 6.10 Anna 237 <?page no="238"?> Ähm, ja ich konnte mich halt so bisschen damit so identifizieren. So Jugendliche ist verliebt und wird aber nicht zurückgeliebt. Und, ähm (…) Dann aber halt so der Hin‐ tergrund halt so total anders, mit diesem HIV-postiv. [Yes, I could a bit identify with that. A young adult being in love and not being loved in return. And, yes (…) Then, however, the background is completely different, with being HIV-postive.] (Inter‐ view) Anna states that before the reading project she was sceptical about it. At first, she expresses this scepticism rather timidly: Also, ähm, am Anfang konnte ich mir da nicht so viel darunter vorstellen und war auch so ein bisschen so ‘Hm? Ähm, ich weiß nicht, ob das so meine Art von Büchern ist, die ich so gern lese.’ [Well, at the beginning I did not know what to imagine but it was also a bit like ‘Hm? I do not know if that’s the type of books that I like reading’.] (Interview) Later on in the interview, she speaks more openly: Weil am Anfang dachte ich mir schon so ‘Oh, jetzt muss ich Bücher lesen über ir‐ gendwelche Leute aus armen Ländern’, aber das war so ein egoistischer Gedanke. [Because at the beginning I thought, ‘Oh, now I have to read books about people from poor countries’, but that was an egoistic thought.] In the final questionnaire, Anna indicates that she liked the reading project but also regards it to have added supplementary pressure to the students. 6.10.3 Prior Knowledge Before the reading project, Anna associates with Uganda the following: Ich glaube, dass es dort sehr warm ist. Die Atmosphäre stelle ich mir angenehm vor, obwohl ich denke, dass dort Armut herrscht, aber dadurch lernen Menschen erst zu schätzen, was sie haben. Die Kiesstraßen sind bestimmt voller Kinder, die gemeinsam spielen und die Mütter kochen viele verschiedene afrikanische Gerichte. [I think it is very warm there. The atmosphere I imagine to be pleasant although I think that there is poverty but through that people just learn to appreciate what they have. The gravel roads are always filled with children who play together and the mothers cook many differen African foods.] (First questionnaire) Anna states that she does not know anything about Uganda: “Ich habe noch nichts davon gehört, aber ich würde mich im Internet informieren. [I’ve never heard anything about it, but I would get informed about it on the internet]” (first questionnaire). Anna therefore considers the introductory lessons that were 6 Research Findings: Cases 238 <?page no="239"?> conducted at the beginning of the reading project as very helpful. She explains that she did not even know where Uganda was located and thus some back‐ ground to the geography and history of Uganda was very meaningful to her: Es [die Einführungsstunden] hat mir schon geholfen, weil, wenn Sie jetzt einfach uns die Bücher hingeklatscht hätten und gesagt hätten ‘So, das sind jetzt ugandische Bücher, die lest ihr jetzt.’ (…) Ich bin in Geographie sehr, sehr, sehr schlecht. Hätte dann so ‘Uganda, ist das bei Russland? Ich habe keine Ahnung’. Ähm, ja, also es hat mir schon geholfen so, dass ich so wusste, ja das ist so in der Gegend, wo wahr‐ scheinlich sehr andere Verhältnisse und auch Klimaverhältnisse herschen. Und so da sind wohl wahrscheinlich auch Farbige. [It [the introductory lessons] has helped me because if you had just given us the books and said ‘So, these are the Ugandan books which you will read now.’ (…) I am very, very bad at geography. I would have [asked] ‘Uganda, is that close to Russia? I have no idea.’ Yes, well it has helped to know, yes that is an area where there are probably very different conditions and also climate conditions. And there are probably also coloured people.] (Interview) In the first questionnaire, Anna also points out that she is particularly interested in getting to know more about typical customs in Uganda and the religion of the people. Moreover, she expresses uncertainty whether she would participate in a student exchange with the country. It would depend on the actual conditions that prevail there. 6.10.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Anna constructs many differences between Uganda and Germany and her own life and the lives of the characters in the reading diaries and interview. She states that the texts which she read in the project are very different from those she normally reads and the life conditions of the characters contrast greatly with her own: Zum Beispiel da, dass sie halt/ ihre Hütte sozusagen, dass das halt so/ die, ähm, ich weiß nicht mehr, weiße Cousine, beschreibt das ja so als abgeranzt und ich weiß nicht wie. Und das kann ich mir ja gar nicht vorstellen. [For example there, that they/ their hut, so to say, that/ I don’t remember, the white cousin describes it as run-down and I do not know how. And that I can somehow not imagine.] (Interview) Because of the lack of similarities with her own situation, Anna finds it very difficult to identify with the characters of the literary texts. She can best em‐ pathise with Mercy in Our Cousins from Abroad who she calls “das weiße Mäd‐ chen [the white girl]” (interview). Mercy is in Uganda for the very first time 6.10 Anna 239 <?page no="240"?> where she, her brother and mother are visiting their relatives. Mercy has diffi‐ culties in getting used to the situation in Uganda, something Anna can under‐ stand very well: Hm, also da konnte ich mich sehr, sehr gut in das weiße Mädchen hineinversetzen, weil ich glaube genauso wäre. Wenn ich jetzt aus meinem jetzigen Umfeld einfach so dahin fahren würde. Da/ Also, ich bin überhaupt nicht irgendwie / ich bin schon, ja schon verwöhnt und so. Und dann, ähm, da so rein zukommen. Also mit dem weißen Mädchen konnte ich mich sehr gut identifizieren. [I could empathise very, very well with the white girl because I would be like her, I think. If I were now to just travel there from my current environment/ Well, I would somehow not at all/ I am rather spoilt and so. And then, to get in there. Well, with the white girl I could identify very well.] (Interview) As time goes by, Mercy, however, increasingly adapts to the situation and Anna is of the opinion that this would also apply to her: Aber eben auch, dass man dann am Ende so darüber hinwegsieht und dann doch so sieht, das sind auch nur so Menschen, genauso wie wir alle. Und ich könnte genauso jetzt so dort geboren sein. Das ist ja eigentlich so eine Schicksalsache, in welches Umfeld man rein geboren wird. [But also that in the end you overlook it and then you see that they are only human beings, like everyone else. And I could also be born there. It is actually a matter of destiny in which environment you are born.] (Interview) With Julie in “ JJ ” Anna can only identify partly, up to the point at which she declares that she is HIV -positive: Und mit dem Mädchen [zeigt auf "JJ"] konnte ich mich auch identifizieren. Genau bis zu dem Punkt eben, wo sie aufgestanden ist und gesagt hat ‘Ich habe AIDS’ (…) Ja, ich habe kein AIDS. [And with the girl in “JJ” I could also identify. Exactly up to the point when she stood up and said ‘I have AIDS’ (…) Yes, I don’t have AIDS.] (Inter‐ view) Despite the many differences Anna comes up with between her own life and the lives of the characters, she also constructs similarities: Also sie gehen ja auch in die Schule. Ähm, Familie ist dort/ also bei mir ist Familie sehr wichtig und bei denen also, auch/ also dort ist es mir aufgefallen [zeigt auf Our Cousins from Abroad]. Und hier, so viel ich noch weiß, ähm, ist sie ja auch wegen ihrer Familie dann letztendlich da geblieben [zeigt auf Voice of a Dream]. Und, ja also, Fam‐ ilie, Schule, ähm, Freundschaft und auch Liebe und so. [Well, they also go to school. Family is there/ Well, for me family is very important and for them/ well, in Our Cousins from Abroad I noticed it. And here also, in Voice of a Dream, she remained 6 Research Findings: Cases 240 <?page no="241"?> there because of her family eventually, if I remember it well. And yes, family, school, friendship and also love and that.] (Interview) Anna is of the opinion that it is less the individual thoughts and actions of the characters that she cannot identify with than situations which are in general unfamiliar or foreign to her: Also es ging nicht so um die Charaktere, dass ich mich nicht hineinversetzen konnte, sondern um die Situation eher so. Also ich habe immer eigentlich so die Gedanken‐ gänge von allen schon verstanden und warum die so reagieren, ähm, ja, aber die Sit‐ uation so/ zum Beispiel, dass die einfach ewig lang laufen, um Wasser zu holen. Das konnte ich mir nicht vorstellen. Aber so von den Leuten hineinversetzen, das ist mir eigentlich/ das ging eigentlich schon. [Well, it was not about the characters that I could not empathise with them but about the situation rather. Well, I understood every‐ body’s train of thougt and why they reacted like that, but the situation/ For example, that they walk endlessly to get water. That I could not imagine. And to empathise with the people that was actually okay.] (Interview) 6.10.5 (De)Construction and Reflection Anna asserts in the interview that the narratives she read in the project generally mirror the expectations she already had concerning Ugandan children’s fiction before reading: Also ich dachte eben, dass es viel um AIDS gehen würde, und das hat sich, ähm, in den beiden Büchern ja [zeigt auf Voice of a Dream und "JJ"] bestätigt. Und ich habe mir auch so ein bisschen gedacht so mit Vorurteilen, und halt, dass halt so Weiße so Vorurteile gegen die Schwarzen haben. Und das war ja dann da [zeigt auf Our Cousins from Abroad] so ein bisschen so. Genau. Und, ähm. Und ja, ärmliche Verhältnisse eben, dass dort herrschen. [Well, I thought it would be about AIDS a lot and that has been confirmed in those two books [points at Voice of a Dream and “JJ”]. I also thought a bit with prejudices and that whites have prejudices against blacks. And that was also the case a bit in Our Cousins from Abroad. Exactly. And yes, poor conditions which prevail there.] (Interview) Also the associations Anna had about Uganda were in general confirmed through the narratives, she explains. With reference to the novella Our Cousins from Abroad she states: Ja, schon, so, dass man sehr lang laufen muss, um Wasser zu holen, so etwas. Und das war schon krass, das so zu lesen. Weil, ich glaube, das ist halt wirklich so dort. Und ich gehe halt zum Wasserhahn und hole mir ein Glas Wasser und wenn es das mir 6.10 Anna 241 <?page no="242"?> nicht so schmeckt, mache ich dann einen Saft rein. Und die müssen halt sehr lange laufen, um Wasser zu kriegen und das ist dann nicht einmal so zu 100 % sauber, das ist schon krass. [Yes, they did, that one has to walk long distances to collect water and so on. And that was pretty tough to read. Because, I think, it is really like that there. And I just go to the water tap and get myself a glass of water and when it does not taste good, I add some juice. And they have to walk long distances to get water and then it is not even 100 % clean, that is gross.] (Interview) Here, she compares the situation of the people in Uganda with her own, evalu‐ ates her own situation as better and expresses pity for the people in Uganda. An excerpt from the book, however, shows that the character of the novella, Kale, has a completely different perspective on this situation: ‘So what do you do when it is not raining and there is no water in the well? ’ ‘We travel a long distance, about three kilometres from here, to Kago to get water from a moun‐ tain spring,’ Kale explained. ‘Gosh, that’s quite a long way to carry these heavy con‐ tainers of water! ’ Mercy said. ‘It is quite fun, really. We usually go in a group of girls and play tip or tell stories as we go along.’ (Barungi, 2009, p. 34; see also Emma, case 4) The text does not say that the water which the children collect from the moun‐ tain spring or well is not clean which suggests that Anna projects her own associations onto the text here. Anna’s reaction is similar to that of the character Mercy who is in Uganda for the first time and has difficulties in adapting to the situation. As also becomes apparent in the example above, Anna occasionally uses the narratives to reflect upon her own living standard. She does that through com‐ parisons of her own situation with the one of the characters in the book which she considers to live a life like in “real” Uganda (see “Weil, ich glaube, das ist halt wirklich so dort [Because, I think, it is really like that there]” (interview)). Anna states that in contrast to the characters in Our Cousins from Abroad who have to walk long distances to the next well, she can simply open the water tap, drink clean water and even add juice to it if she wants. In another context, she also reflects upon the aspects of life she takes for granted: Ja, einfach, dass man/ das klingt jetzt vielleicht total oberflächlich, aber das man halt so nicht einfach so in die Stadt gehen kann und Kaffee trinken gehen. Oder, so etwas einfach. So Sachen, die für mich so voll selbstverständlich sind. Und ja auch so, die haben ja auch gar keinen Fernsehen, oder so. Das ist so, kann man sich gar nicht vorstellen. [Yes, simply, that you/ that may sound very superficially now but that you can just go to the city and drink a coffee. Or something like that simply. Such things, 6 Research Findings: Cases 242 <?page no="243"?> they are natural for me. And also, they have no TV, as well, and that. That you cannot imagine.] (Interview) Concerning this statement, it has to be noted that nowhere in the texts Anna read is it mentioned that it is impossible to drink a coffee in the next town or that people in the village do not have a TV . Here again Anna seems to project her own expectations onto the texts. Anna perceives racism and prejudices as central topics in the literary texts. According to her, these prejudices are held against people with a different skin colour, religion and people who have AIDS : “Eben so Vorurteile einfach. Gegen/ nicht nur gegen Hautfarbe, sondern auch gegen andere Religionen […] und AIDS halt auch [Such prejudices simply. Against/ not only against skin colour but also against religion […] and AIDS also]” (interview). In this context, Anna also reflects upon her own prejudices: “Also, ich bin/ ich habe ja selber viele Vorurteile, ohne dass ich es eigentlich bewusst weiß so [Well I am/ I have many prejudices myself, without actually being aware of them]” (interview). At first, she does not go into that matter in any further detail but at the end of the interview she elaborates on some of the prejudices she is aware of: Jetzt auch so zur Zeit mit den ganzen Asylanten. Da sieht man so/ Also das ist so unbewusst total im Kopf und man sieht einen Schwarzen auf der Straße laufen und denkt sich so ‘Hm ist der Asylant oder nicht? ’, ‘Ist der geflüchtet, oder nicht? ’. Und das hatte ich halt davor total so. Also, ich finde es gut, dass Deutschland hilft. Ähm, mein Vater vermietet auch ein ganzes Haus an Asylanten. Ich war da auch schon einmal und habe mich dann auch so mit denen unterhalten, also soweit das eben geht. Ähm, aber das ist halt einfach so im Kopf einfach so drin. Dieses ‘Ja, die brauchen Hilfe’ und dieses so ein bisschen von oben herabschauen, so ganz leicht. [Now at the moment with all these asylum-seekers. You think about it like/ Well, that is subcon‐ scious in your head and when you see a black person walking on the street, you think ‘Hm, is this an asylum-seeker or not? ’ ‘Has he fled, or not? ’ And I did that before all the time. Well, I consider it good that Germany helps. My father also rents out a whole house to asylum-seekers. I was also there one time and I talked to them as far as it was possible. But it is just in your head. This ‘Yes, they need help’ and this looking down on them slightly.] (Interview) She also reflects upon the associations she had about people in Uganda before the reading project and states that she learnt a lot through the narratives: Hm, eben dadurch, dass man einfach so. Ich hab/ weiß nicht/ Ich hatte irgendwie so im Kopf so, dass diese Leute so ganz anders als ich denken, so (…) so ja, haupt/ also 6.10 Anna 243 <?page no="244"?> halt, nur so einseitig sozusagen, so. Und ich wusste auch nicht, dass die so wirklich Religion haben, ähm, dass die in die Kirche gehen. Das wusste ich alles nicht. Und deswegen dachte ich mir so, die sind einfach so einseitige Menschen, die halt ir‐ gendwie nur so ‘Hauptsache einfach überleben’. Aber das ist ja gar nicht so. Die haben ja auch Familie, Kinder, Liebe. [ Just because you simply. I have/ don’t know/ I always had in my head that those people think very differently to me, so (…) So/ well, only one-sidedly, so to say. And I didn’t know that they really have a religion, that they go to church. That I did not know. And therefore I thought, they are rather one-sided people, who are somehow ‘just surviving’. But that is not the case. They also have family, children, love.] (Interview) She is of the opinion that the narratives influenced her prejudices and contrib‐ uted to a better understanding. She comes to the conclusion Dass halt letztendlich so alles auch nur so Leute sind wie wir halt. Also dass/ Ich habe mir halt nochmal so bewusst gemacht, dass, ähm, ich genauso dort geboren sein könnte und auch jeden Tag ewig lang laufen müsste, um Wasser zu holen. Und meine Vorurteile sind halt ein bisschen so heruntergegangen. Weil am Anfang dachte ich mir schon so ‘Oh, jetzt muss ich Bücher lesen über irgendwelche Leute aus armen Länd‐ ern’, aber das war so ein egoistischer Gedanke. Aber ja, das hat/ also letztendlich sind/ Also ich glaube besonders so die Jugendlichen sind auch verliebt und freuen sich auch über neue Schuhe und so etwas. Das ist letztendlich nichts anderes als bei uns außer eben einfach die Umstände. [That they eventually are only people like we are. I made myself aware again that I could also be born there and would have to walk long dis‐ tances every day to collect water. And my prejudices have gone down a bit. Because at the beginning I thought, ‘Oh, now I have to read books about people from poor countries’, but that was an egoistic thought. But I think especially the young adults they are also in love and happy about new shoes and so on. That is in the end not different than for us with exception of the circumstances.] (Interview) 6.10.6 HIV / AIDS Anna states that AIDS is a very important topic for her particularly because “es gibt ja schon auch HIV -positive Menschen in Deutschland [there are also HIV -positive people in Germany]” (interview). She explains that she has a boy‐ friend and that before she was prescribed the birth control pill, her parents asked them to go for an AIDS test: Mein Freund und ich, wir haben uns/ wegen unseren Eltern mussten wir auch erstmal einen AIDS-Test machen, bevor ich mir die Pille habe verschreiben lassen [My boy‐ 6 Research Findings: Cases 244 <?page no="245"?> friend and I, we had/ because of our parents we had to do an AIDS test before I got prescribed the birth control pill]. (Interview) Anna considers herself to be quite well educated about HIV / AIDS . She believes that people in Germany are better informed about it than people in Uganda and she thinks that she knows more about the virus than many of her classmates: Viele wissen, also auch aus meiner Klasse/ Ich glaube nicht, dass so alle genau wissen, was das ist und was das für eine Krankheit ist. Was man da so unterscheiden kann. [Many don’t know, also from my class/ I do not think that they all know what that is and what type of sickness it is. What you can tell the difference about.] (Interview) Nevertheless, Anna expresses also some uncertainties or unawareness con‐ cerning HIV / AIDS in the interview. She seems, for example, to have been un‐ aware before reading “ JJ ” that children may be HIV -positive already from birth: Ist es da so, dass da schon Kinder, also halt Jugendliche das haben? Ohne, dass sie das, also dass sie sich halt angesteckt haben, sondern, dass sie das halt schon sozusagen seit der Geburt haben, das ist krass. Also sie können praktisch nichts dafür. [Is it like that there that even children, young adults have it? Without having infected them‐ selves, but that they have that practically from birth, that is grim. It is not their fault practically.]” (Interview) Anna points out that she actually learnt a lot through the narratives. She got to know how central that topic is in other countries and that AIDS is a disease that has to be taken seriously: Also bei uns, man sieht ja immer diese ganzen Plakate, also ‘Ich mach's mit Erfahrung’ oder so. Ähm, und dann unten steht ja immer ‘Gib AIDS keine Chance’. Das sieht man ja mittlerweile nur noch so im Unterbewusstsein. Aber sonst ist das bei uns einfach kein wirkliches Thema, oder (…) Die Leute, die es halt haben, die sagen es wahr‐ scheinlich auch nicht, weil da wahrscheinlich auch so gesagt wird ‘Oh, der hat AIDS, Abstand’. (…) Und dort ist es halt so fast normal, dass es so verbreitet ist und dass es viele haben. (…) UND eben, dass, ähm/ das war hier [zeigt auf Voice of a Dream] auch so, dass man halt/ oder auch hier [zeigt auf "JJ"]/ dass die Krankheit halt wirklich eine ernstzunehmende Krankheit ist. [Well for us, you can always see these posters, well ‘Do it with experience’ and so on. And then down there is written ‘Don’t give AIDS a chance’. You only notice that subconsciously now. But otherwise it is not really a topic here. People who have it probably do not tell because it is probably also said ‘Oh that person has AIDS, distance’. And there it is almost normal that it is so widespread and that many have it AND that was also the case in Voice of a Dream or “JJ”or here [points at “JJ”] that it is a serious disease.] (Interview) 6.10 Anna 245 <?page no="246"?> The narratives encouraged Anna to get to know more about HIV / AIDS : “Ich habe mich dann wegen den Büchern auch so ein bisschen, äh, darüber informiert halt, was genau AIDS halt ist. [Because of the books I then informed myself a bit about what AIDS is exactly]” (interview). Her research showed her that there is a difference between being HIV -positive and having AIDS : Und es gibt ja aber auch Unterschiede zwischen HIV-positiv und AIDS. Also, das habe ich dann auch noch herausgefunden, dass das HIV-positiv sozusagen die Vorstufe ist und dass, wenn man halt die Möglichkeit hat, dann kann man mit Medikamenten eigentlich so verhindern oder verzögern, dass man AIDS kriegt. Und das wusste ich auch nicht, ich dachte, dass ist das gleiche (…). [And there is this difference between HIV-positive and AIDS. And I found out that HIV-positive is the preliminary stage and that when you have the opportunity, then medicine may actually prevent or delay that you get AIDS. And I did not know that, I thought it was the same (…).] (Interview) 6.10.7 Summary Anna openly states that she did not know anything about Uganda before the reading project. She is aware of her own prejudices and reflects upon them partly. Anna constructs many differences between her life and the lives of the characters. She evaluates her own life as better. Occasionally it becomes appa‐ rent that she projects her own expectations and associations onto the texts. HIV / AIDS is a very important topic for her, she gets deeply involved with it and the narratives animate her to do further research on the topic. 6.11 Rebecca “dass man Entwicklungsländern helfen muss, auf unseren Stand zu kommen [that one has to help developing countries to reach our level]” (interview) 6.11.1 Case Description Rebecca is 13 years old. She is younger than her classmates because she skipped Year 1. She has four siblings. Her mother is a primary school teacher and her father a doctor. The family used to live in a bigger town but moved to a smaller town in Baden-Württemberg about five years ago, where she now attends school A. Regarding her family background, Rebecca is monocultural. In her free time, Rebecca likes to do Capoeira and to read. 6 Research Findings: Cases 246 <?page no="247"?> Rebecca describes herself as not talented in languages; she particularly dis‐ likes grammatical issues. She is interested in cultures and differences in life-styles. Because of the large number of children in the family, she has not yet travelled anywhere. One day, however, she would like to travel to the Mediter‐ ranean Sea, for example. Rebecca has difficulties in expressing herself in the interview. She is relatively taciturn and constantly needs to be encouraged to elaborate more. Often she answers questions only with a single phrase. Her reading diary entries, however, give account of her close reading of the narratives. For example, in the reading diary for Moses in Trouble, she wonders why Rukia is the dorm prefect since she recalls that in Moses, the first book of the Moses series, King Kong became the dorm prefect. This shows that Rebecca also establishes links between the dif‐ ferent narratives she reads in the project. 6.11.2 Reading Background Rebecca loves reading. This was not always the case: When she was still younger, she did not like reading at all but this has changed and now she is an avid reader. She is mainly interested in fantasy literature that includes dragons, elves and fairies or narratives in a more realistic mode such as stories about anorexia and mobbing. She states in the first questionnaire that she is not interested in non-fictional texts. Rebecca also likes reading in English. She has already read the first two books of the Harry Potter series in English. In the reading project, Rebecca read 14 texts, which was the highest number of texts read by a student in this study. She repeatedly writes in the reading diaries that it is her intention to read all the books in the project. Eventually she did not read all of the texts but the texts she read include: I Will Not Fail, Moses, Moses in Trouble, Voice of a Dream, Children of the Red Fields, How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails, The Adventurous Sisters, The Jewels of Amuria, “The Hair Cut”, “ JJ ”, The Precious Calabash, The Baby in the Forest, The Unfulfilled Dream and Our Cousins from Abroad. Because of the many books Rebecca read, many other students who participated in the study asked Rebecca for her advice in the text selection process. They repeatedly mention her name in their reading dia‐ ries. It is interesting to note that at first Rebecca read the more difficult texts in the project, which were labelled with a red dot, and then turned to the easier texts, marked with green or yellow dots. In most of the reading diaries, she states that the texts were easy to understand. Some reading diary entries, however, show that she had difficulties in understanding important words in the narra‐ 6.11 Rebecca 247 <?page no="248"?> tives and misinterpreted them initially. Most of the words she later understood through the context or because she had looked them up which led to cross outs in her reading diaries and constant revisions. In the first part of the reading diary for How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails, for example, she assumed that it is a story about goats that lost their beautiful “Täler [valleys]”, a misunderstanding that is probably rooted in the phonological similarity of the English word “tails” and the German word “Täler”. She later crossed this sentence out and then ex‐ plained that she is interested in getting to know why they lost their beautiful “Schwänze [tails]”. In the reading diary for Voice of a Dream, Rebecca openly expresses her difficulties in understanding the text and points out: Ich mochte den Schreibstil nicht wirklich, weil er einen selbst im Deutschen schwer fallen würde. Im Englischen ist es somit eine richtige Herausvorderung [sic] den Inhalt zu verstehen. [I did not really like the writing style because even in German it would be difficult. In English it is a real challenge to understand the content.] Rebecca’s feelings concerning the texts in the project are mixed. She explains in the interview that they were good to read but she did not like all the topics they deal with. She states that she normally reads completely different books that are sometimes also more complicated and always longer. Her motto in text selection is usually: “je dicker, desto besser [the thicker, the better]” (interview). She perceived the Ugandan narratives she read as fairy-tale-like stories or nar‐ ratives that are written for younger children. But she does not view this as negative, she explains: Hm, ich finde das eigentlich ganz witzig. Bei uns daheim lese ich auch immer relativ oft so, ähm, (…) Bücher für Kleinere, weil ich es einfach witzig finde, wie die es da schreiben und was die da auch rein schreiben. [I actually find that quite funny. At home I read books for younger readers relatively often because I find it funny how they write there and what they write in there.] (Interview) However, in several reading diaries, she expresses the opinion that from such a story one cannot learn anything: • Ich denke meine Sichtweisen haben sich in diesem Buch nicht verändert, weil diese Geschichte vermutlich eine Legende ist und Legenden normalerweise nicht wahr sind. [I think my views have not changed in this book because this story is probably a legend and legends are normally not true.] (Reading diary for How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails) • Ich habe (glaube ich) nichts gelernt, weil es vermutlich eine frei erfundene Geschichte ist. Aus frei erfundenen Geschichten kann man, außer bei Fabeln, nichts lernen. [I haven’t learnt anything (I believe) because it is probably a freely 6 Research Findings: Cases 248 <?page no="249"?> invented story. From freely invented stories one cannot learn anything, with exception of fables.] (Reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) In other reading diaries, Rebecca declares her appreciation of stories with fan‐ tastic elements (e.g. in the reading diaries for The Baby in the Forest and The Adventurous Sisters). She considers it very important that everyone has read a story of that type once in her / his life: Ich würde diese Geschichte auf jeden Fall weiterempfehlen, weil ich es wichtig finde, dass jeder mindestens einmal im Leben so eine Geschichte gelesen haben sollte [I would totally recommend this story because I consider it important that everyone has read at least one story of that kind once in their lives.] (Reading diary for The Adven‐ turous Sisters) Rebecca particularly likes the narrative Children of the Red Fields. She has diffi‐ culties in explaining why this is the case. She notes that it appealed to her and that it was easy for her to get involved in the story. She cannot, however, give any reasons for this. Another book she finds funny is The Baby in the Forest because it reminds her of a book that she has already read before in German. A text which Rebecca does not like at all is The Unfulfilled Dream. She explains that she does not like the topic it deals with: HIV / AIDS . Rebecca identifies “Probleme [problems]” as a central topic across all the nar‐ ratives: Also ich denke, dass sie ziemlich zentral über ihre Probleme schreiben, weil in Children of the Red Fields, äh, schreiben, äh, sie über das Problem dass/ äh, der Kindersoldaten und da [zeigt auf Voice of a Dream] jetzt über AIDS und in I Will Not Fail über schlechte Bildung für Mädchen. Und dann in Moses eigentlich schon auch über die Probleme, die er in der Schule hat. [Well, I think that they focus on problems in their writing because in Children of the Red Fields they write about the problem of child soldiers and in Voice of a Dream about AIDS and in I Will Not Fail about the bad education for girls. And in Moses actually about problems that he has at school.] (Interview) She also states that despite the problems the characters face, the narratives usu‐ ally end positively. Rebecca speculates that these positive endings may indicate that the people in Uganda also want to end their own problems in the same manner. She likes these positive endings. In some reading diaries, she points out that she appreciates the happy ending; in other reading diaries she makes sug‐ gestions for changing the ending because it is not positive: • Da ich das gute Ende (Mutter kommt zurück, sie kann Krankenschwester werden) mag, werde ich mich wahrscheinlich noch länger daran erinnern. [Be‐ 6.11 Rebecca 249 <?page no="250"?> cause I liked the positive ending (mother comes back and she can become a nurse) I will probably still remember it for longer.] (Reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Für mich ist ein einigermasen [sic] gutes Ende wichtig. In diesem Buch, denke ich, ist das Ende ok, weil (meiner Meinung nach) Kinder wichtiger sind als lange Schwänze. [For me a fairly positive ending is important. In this book the ending is okay, I think, because (in my opinion) children are more important than long tails.] (Reading diary for How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails) • Ich würde das Ende dieser Geschichte ändern. Bei mir würde es wahrscheinlich so aussehen, das [sic] Akello und Ruth schließlich wieder akzeptiert werden und nicht, dass sie wegen einem Fehler direkt aus der schule [sic] geschmissen und verachtet werden. [I would change the ending of this story. In my version it would end with Akello and Ruth being accepted again and not being expelled from school and despised because of one mistake.] (Reading diary for The Un‐ fulfilled Dream) Rebecca does not appreciate that most of the narratives focus on problems. She is of the opinion that young people in Uganda must be aware of their own prob‐ lems and do not want to read about problems in books, too: “Und in den Büchern will man dann sicher auch vergessen, dass man so viele Probleme hat und nicht noch mehr darüber lesen [And in the books one wants to forget that one has a lot of problems and does not want to read more about them]” (interview). She only considers the “Fabeln [fables]” (interview) as rather positive narratives in the reading project. In the final questionnaire, Rebecca points out that she liked the reading project: “Mir hat das Projekt gefallen, da es interessant war auch Bücher aus einer anderen Kultur und in Englisch zu lesen. [I liked the project because it was in‐ teresting to read also books from another culture and in English]” . 6.11.3 Prior Knowledge In the first questionnaire, Rebecca expresses the following associations with Uganda: “ärmlich, farbige / stark pigmentierte Menschen, Slum, wenige Schulen, wenig Geld [poor, coloured / strongly pigmented people, slum, few schools, little money]”. Rebecca states that she hears about African countries mainly in logo, a news programme for children that is broadcast daily on Kika. Rebecca would like to get to know more about the life-styles of the people in Uganda. She would participate in a student exchange with Uganda because she wishes to travel and also because she wants to improve her English skills. 6 Research Findings: Cases 250 <?page no="251"?> 6.11.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Rebecca looks at Ugandan fiction for children and young adults as very different from its German equivalent. Only concerning the “Fabeln [fables]” (interview) does she construct similarities. She does not consider them to give an insight into life in Uganda and points out that “solche Fabeln gibt es eigentlich überall [such fables exist everywhere]” (interview). Between her own life and the lives of the characters, Rebecca constructs many differences. She locates these differences on various axes; e.g. nationality, gender and fantastic elements. In the reading diary for Moses, she makes the following statement: Mein Leben ist komplett anderst [sic] als das von Moses, weil ich nicht auf einem Internat bin, weil es in Deutschland verboten ist Kinder zu schlagen, weil ich ein Mädchen bin und Moses ein Junge und weil ich nicht rauche und trinke. [My life is completely different from that of Moses because I am not in a boarding school, because it is forbidden to beat children in Germany, because I am a girl and Moses is a boy and because I do not smoke and drink.] Particularly in the reading diaries dealing with the “Fabeln [fables]”, Rebecca points out many differences: • Mein Leben ist komplett anderst [sic], wie [sic] das der Ziegen im Buch, weil ich erstens keine Ziege bin, mich zweitens keiner fressen will, drittens ich noch nie in einem Tanzwettbewerb war, viertens ich keinen Schwanz habe und fünf‐ tens weil keiner (vermute ich) auf mich eifersüchtig ist. [My life is completely different to that of the goats in the book because first of all, I am no goat, secondly, no one wants to eat me, thirdly, I have never been in a dancing com‐ petition, fourthly, I do not have a tail and fifthly, because no one (I assume) is jealous of me.] (Reading diary for How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails) • Ich habe noch nie im geringsten [sic] so etwas erlebt, aber das liegt, glaube ich, dran, dass die Geschichte völlig frei erfunden ist und man solche Berge, Länder, Tiere und auch alte Frauen bei uns nicht antreffen kann. [I have never experi‐ enced anything close to that but this is, I believe, grounded in the fact that this story is completely freely invented and such mountains, countries, animals and also old women cannot be encountered here.] (Reading diary for The Adven‐ turous Sisters) Fantastic elements, therefore, seem to be a decisive diversity marker for Rebecca. Despite the many differences that Rebecca constructs between her own life and the lives of the characters, she states in several reading diaries that she can 6.11 Rebecca 251 <?page no="252"?> empathise very well with the characters in the narratives. Occasionally, she also constructs similarities in this context: • Ich finde man kann sich während des ganzen Buches gut in Namukose here‐ inversetzen, sodass man ein Gefühl der Verbundenheit zu ihr spürt. Man kann in dem Text richtig spüren, wie hart Namukose arbeiten muss, um ihre Ziele zu erreichen und um wenigstens halbwegs gleich behandelt zu werden wie die Jungen. [In my opinion throughout the whole book you can empathise very well with Namukose so that you have a feeling of great connectedness with her. You can really feel in the text what hard work Namukose has to do to reach her goal and to be at least partly treated in the same way as boys.] (Reading diary for I Will Not Fail) • Bis jetzt habe ich noch nichts ähnliches [sic] erlebt. Ich kann die Personen jedoch trotzdem gut verstehen, weil es mir zurzeit [sic] sogar schwerfällt nur einen halben Tag nichts zu Essen [sic]. Moses musste dies sogar mehrere Tage aushalten. [Until now I have not yet experienced anything similar. Nevertheless I can understand the people well because at the moment it is even difficult for me not to eat anything for half a day, while Moses had to endure this for several days.] (Reading diary for Moses in Trouble) Only in the reading diaries of a few of the narratives does Rebecca express dif‐ ficulties in empathising because the topic or book as such was “ungewohnt [unfamiliar]” (interview) to her. This was particularly the case with the narrative The Unfulfilled Dream and it was a major reason for her rejection of the text, she explains. Rebecca points out in the interview that the content of the books was never foreign to her. She justifies this with the fact that she is a very experienced reader who often reads books that are set in other countries. She explains that whenever she comes across something that appears foreign to her, she just continues reading. Still, she sometimes expresses irritation in the reading diaries. She is, for example, surprised that relatives can play such an important role in the lives of orphans: Ist es normal in Uganda, dass Verwante [sic] die Rolle der Eltern übernehmen, wenn die Eltern abhauen, sterben oder zu krank sind, um weiter für ihre Kinder zu sorgen? [Is it normal in Uganda that relatives take up the role of parents when the parents run off, die or are too sick to care for their children? ] (Reading diary for Voice of a Dream) 6 Research Findings: Cases 252 <?page no="253"?> 6.11.5 (De)Construction and Reflection It comes through repeatedly in the reading diaries and interview that Rebecca perceives her knowledge concerning Uganda to be quite restricted. When she is asked how she had imagined Ugandan young adult literature to be before the reading project started, she expresses uncertainty which is based on her limited knowledge about the country: “Hm, (…) Weiß nicht. Ich habe mir da wirklich kaum Vorstellungen gemacht, weil ich einfach nichts weiß [Uhm, (…) I don’t know. I hardly had any expectations because I actually do not know anything]” (in‐ terview). In the reading diary for The Baby in the Forest, Rebecca voices her surprise about the fact that Ugandan literature contains as many different types of stories as the German one. She did not expect it to be so manifold. Rebecca states that the associations with Uganda she had before the reading project were largely confirmed in the narratives: Also, schon, dass es ziemlich stark getrennt ist, die Armen halt und dann die Reichen. Und dass die einander auch nicht so ganz, äh nicht ganz so mögen, weil sie unter‐ schiedliche Rassen sind. […] Ja, und, dass halt die Ärmeren manchmal noch ziemlich naturverbunden leben. Und (…). [Well, that it is rather strongly separated, the poor and the rich. And that they do not like each other very much because they are of different races. […] And also that the poor people sometimes have a life rather close to nature. And (…).] (Interview) When Rebecca talks about “unterschiedliche Rassen [different races]”, she is probably referring to the narrative Our Cousins from Abroad, in which two growing up in Great Britain young adults visit their cousins in Uganda. Such a statement points to the salience of ‘race’ for her. In addition, a rather evolutionist perspective becomes apparent when Rebecca talks about the closeness of the poor people to nature. In the reading diary for “The Hair Cut”, Rebecca hints at a process of decon‐ struction of her prior knowledge: Ich denke, dass meine Sichtweise vor dem Lesen war, dass alle in Uganda arm sind und um Bildung kämpfen müssen. Jetzt denke ich, dass manche Kinder in Uganda vielleicht ein ähnliches Leben führen wie Kinder in Deutschland. [I think that my view before reading was that everyone in Uganda is poor and has to fight for education. Now I think that some children in Uganda maybe live a similar life to children in Germany.] At times, Rebecca is very quick to draw conclusions. She seems to read the books as if portraying reality. In the reading diary for Moses, for example, Rebecca notes that she learnt from the text “dass Kinder in Uganda immernoch [sic] 6.11 Rebecca 253 <?page no="254"?> geschlagen werden [that children in Uganda are still beaten]”. She concludes here from a single incident in the book that children in Uganda are beaten. Only in the reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria does she show some awareness about the fictionality of the story: Ich denke meine Sichtweise hat sich durch diesen Text nicht oder so gering verändert, das [sic] ich es nicht gemerkt habe (Außer es ist in Uganda wirklich noch so, dass Väter ihre Töchter verheiraten, ohne das [sic] diese etwas daran ändern können). [My view was not changed by the text or only so slightly that I didn’t notice it (unless it is really still the case in Uganda that fathers marry their daughters off without them being able to do anything about that).] Here, she expresses her doubts whether the story in fact mirrors reality. Rebecca looks at the life of the characters from her own Eurocentric per‐ spective. She considers the characters in The Adventurous Sisters, for example, to live a very poor life although the author never talks about poverty in the narrative. From the way the life of the characters is described, Rebecca seems to conclude that they are actually poor, not bearing in mind that poverty is relative and norm-oriented: Ich frage mich, warum vor den Mädchen noch niemand das Land hinter den Bergen erkundet hat, obwohl die Leute davor (vor den Bergen) ärmlich leben müssen? [I ask myself why no one before the girls explored the country on the other side of the mountains although people in front of the mountains have to live a life in poverty? ] (Reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) The texts also initiate Rebecca’s reflections about her own living standard (“da man sich erst durch solche Dinge bewust [sic] wird, wie gut wir es haben [because you only become aware through things like that how well off we actually are]” (reading diary for I Will Not Fail) but instead of questioning her own privileges or perceptions, she comes to the conclusion that the people in “Entwicklung‐ sländern [developing countries]” need to be helped to achieve a standard of living equal to “ours”: Meiner Meinung nach ist es eine sehr interessante Handlung, da man sich erst durch solche Dinge bewust [sic] wird, wie gut wir es haben und, dass man Entwicklung‐ sländern helfen muss, auf unseren Stand zu kommen, statt selbst immer weiter nach oben zu streben. Solche Geschichten zwingen ‘zivilisierte’ Kulturen fast dazu die Probleme dort zu erkennen und diesen Leuten zu helfen. [In my opinion, the plot is very interesting because one becomes aware through things like that what a good life we have and that one really has to help developing countries to come to our level, instead of striving steadily upwards on our own. Such stories force ‘civilised’ cultures 6 Research Findings: Cases 254 <?page no="255"?> almost to recognise the problems there and help those people.] (Reading diary for I Will Not Fail) This statement shows evolutionist perspectives and may be interpreted as a sign of paternalistic racism. Rebecca seems to consider ‘developed’, Western cultures as civilised and therefore superior. The fact that she puts “zivilisiert [civilised]” in quotation marks may, however, indicate that she is aware of the construct‐ edness of this word. In the interview, when Rebecca is asked what possibilities she sees for aid, she says: Man könnte irgendwie, ähm, ja den Armen vielleicht ein bisschen Geld geben oder die halt unterstützen, dass die richtigen [unv.] haben oder, dass die Mädchen halt auch, äh, in die Schule gehen können, dass man vielleicht [unv.] wenn man sagt, dass viel‐ leicht irgendein Gleichberechtigungsgesetz machen sollen, oder so (lacht). [One could somehow give the poor a bit of money or support them that they have real [inc.] or that the girls may also go to school that one maybe [inc.] when one says that they should maybe make a law for gender equality, or something like that (laughs).] Her suggestions are testimony to a perhaps well-meant readiness to help but also naivety and a non-reflected feeling of superiority. Only when she is asked if there is also something that she has learnt through the narratives, Rebecca states that we can learn that we should not care so much about small problems because there are other people in the world who have bigger problems than us. Aside from that, she has not learnt anything from the narratives, she points out. 6.11.6 HIV / AIDS Also in the context of HIV / AIDS , Rebecca comes up with generalisations. In the reading diary for Voice of a Dream, she expresses her opinion that in some countries in the world almost all people have HIV / AIDS : Ich denke es ist schlimm, dass in manchen Ländern immernoch [sic] fast alle HIV / AIDS haben und besser versorgte Länder diesen nicht stark genug helfen um HIV / AIDS zurückzuschlagen. [I think it is bad that in some countries still almost everyone has HIV / AIDS and better off countries do not help them enough to fight HIV / AIDS.] When she mentions the lack of support from the “better off countries” in the fight against this problem, another paternalistic point of view becomes apparent. She seems to believe that the ‘developing’ countries are in permanent need of help from ‘developed’ countries. 6.11 Rebecca 255 <?page no="256"?> Rebecca does not like the fact that many of the narratives deal with HIV / AIDS . She finds it boring that so many texts talk about the same topic: Es wird halt in ziemlich vielen Büchern, so kommt es mir vor, über, ähm, das Problem geschrieben und dann eigentlich auch in jedem Buch fast etwas Ähnliches. Und das wird dann halt mit der Zeit so ein bisschen langweilig. [In quite a lot of books, it seems to me, it is written about this problem and then also actually in every books something similar. And with time this gets a bit boring.]” (Interview) Still, she considers it a relatively important topic for young adult books because she believes it raises young people’s awareness of this disease. In the reading diary for “ JJ ”, she also reflects upon HIV / AIDS and discrimi‐ nation. She states that she thinks HIV -negative and -positive people should be treated in the same way. She justifies this opinion in the following way: “Ich stehe für diese Meinung, weil es unfair wäre, Leute anderst [sic] zu behandeln nur weil sie eine spetzielle [sic] Krankheit haben. [I defend this opinion because it would be unfair to treat people differently ony because they have a certain sick‐ ness.]” 6.11.7 Gender Issues Rebecca shows a high degree of sensitivity concerning gender problems. In the reading diary for I Will Not Fail, for example, she expresses her indignation concerning the gender inequalities that are portrayed in the narrative: Ich werde mich wahrscheinlich noch lange über die starke Ungerechtigkeit in der Behandlung der verschiedenen Geschlechter aufregen. [I will probably still have strong feelings for a long time about this extreme inequality in the treatment of dif‐ ferent genders.] She also voices her irritation about the passivity of the male characters in the narrative in the fight for women’s rights: “Wieso haben auch die Männer nicht versucht etwas an der Situation der Frauen zu ändern? [Why did the men not try to change something about the situation of the women? ]” Furthermore, in the reading diary for The Baby in the Forest, she asks the following question: “Wieso redet die Autorin Kakazi so oft mit ‘his wife’ an und nicht mit ihrem Namen? [Why does the author often address Kakazi with ‘his wife’ and not with her name? ]” Statements as such show that she is highly aware of gender issues. Rebecca considers it as important that girls and boys have equal rights: Also, ich finde es schon ziemlich wichtig, dass, ähm, die gleichberechtigt werden und (…) ja, dass sie halt auch die gleichen Chancen dann für das weitere Leben haben. 6 Research Findings: Cases 256 <?page no="257"?> Und nicht, dass dann die Frauen zum Beispiel alle Putzfrauen werden müssen oder so etwas, oder Hausfrauen, weil sie, äh, nicht in die Schule gehen dürfen, oder so. [I find it relatively important that they are treated equally and (…) yes that they have the same chances then in their further life. And not that then the women, for example, have to become cleaning ladies or something like that, or housewives because they are not allowed to go to school, for example, or something like that.] (Interview) She does not, however, look at gender issues as an important topic for young adult novels. She is of the opinion that children in Uganda are probably already aware of this situation and therefore do not need to read more about it in their books. Rebecca does not elaborate more on whether she considers it an impor‐ tant topic for young adult books in Germany. In the reading diary for I Will Not Fail, Rebecca points out that only through this text she did become aware that gender inequality is such a serious matter in some countries. As the following statement illustrates as well, she seems to be of the opinion that gender inequalities are rather a problem of ‘the other’ than the self: “bei uns [ist] so etwas wie gleichberechtigung [sic] selbstverständlich [for us something like gender equality is self-evident]” (reading diary for I Will Not Fail). 6.11.8 War Involving Child Soldiers Rebecca considers the topic ‘war involving child soldiers’ as very important. She believes that people do not know very much about this topic: Also, ich finde das Thema schon ziemlich wichtig, weil man erfährt da, äh, relativ wenig darüber, halt ab und zu in den Nachrichten, dass da Kindersoldaten da sind, aber nie wirklich wie die behandelt werden, oder so. Und, äh, die Kinder, die Kinder‐ soldaten waren, äh/ die haben danach dann auch ziemliche Probleme, weil sie müssen vielleicht immer wieder daran denken, wie sie Menschen getötet haben und wie sie da behandelt wurden. Vielleicht können die dann auch nicht so gut weiterleben. Da sollte man dann halt schon ein bisschen etwas darüber wissen. [Well, I consider the topic as rather important because one gets to know relatively little about it, now and then something in the news, that there are child soldiers but never really how they are treated and so on. And the children, the child soldiers were/ they afterwards have problems then because they have to think again and again about how they killed people and how they were treated. Maybe they cannot go on living very well. So one should really know a bit about it.] (Interview) She states that the information which people usually get about child soldiers through the news does not give any further insights into the treatment of the 6.11 Rebecca 257 <?page no="258"?> child soldiers and their psychological problems. Therefore, the narrative text, Children of the Red Fields, represents for her a supplement to what she is told in the news. Rebecca points out that she learnt through the narrative that the children are not always forced to fight but sometimes also find a new family with the rebels: Ich habe erfahren, das Kindersoldaten nicht unbedingt gezwungen werden zu kämpfen, sondern, dass sie manchmal bei den Kämpfern eine neue Familie finden, wenn sie davor nicht so geliebt oder gut behandelt wurden. [I found out that child soldiers are not necessarily forced to fight but that they sometimes also find a new family with the fighters when they were not really loved before or treated well.] (Reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) She gets emotionally involved with the text. For instance, she points out that she considers it a pity when nice people like the character Kiden have become so bitter that they blindly obey commands and even kill other people. As her favourite quote in Children of the Red Fields, Rebecca mentions “‘You don’t hate me, right? ’ ‘I nod left and right.’”(p. 99) From her point of view, it is interesting that even people who kill others (i.e. Kiden) consider things such as being loved or not hated as important. It surprised Rebecca that Kiden was kidnapped by the rebels herself and that she still thinks of her sister back home and the past. All in all, the text made a very deep impression on Rebecca: Das, an was ich mich wahrscheinlich erinnern werde, ist, wie gnadenlos die Kinder gefangen und eingeschüchtert worden sind. Außerdem denke ich wahrscheinlich noch lange an den Wandel von Kiden, wie sie plötzlich Lakers Schwester werden wollte und an den Fluchtversuch von Laker und Kiden. [What I will probably re‐ member is how ruthlessly the children were abducted and intimidated. And I will probably still think for a long time about Kiden’s change, how she suddenly wanted to become Laker’s sister, and of the escape attempt of Laker and Kiden.] (Reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Both in the reading diary and the final questionnaire, Rebecca expresses a strong appreciation of the text: • Ich würde diesen Text weiterempfehlen, weil er so geschrieben ist, dass man ihn gut versteht und weil die Handlung, mich jedenfalls, gefesselt hat. Außerdem kann man sich gut in die Personen hineinversetzen, was für mich zu einem guten Buch dazugehört. [I would recommend this text because it is written in such a way that you can understand it well and because the plot was captivating, at least it captivated me. Besides you can empathise well with the 6 Research Findings: Cases 258 <?page no="259"?> people, which is part and parcel of a good book for me.] (Reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Mir hat Children of the Red Fields am besten gefallen, da es mich am meisten bewegt hat und ich mich am besten in die Person herreinversetzen [sic] konnte. [I liked Children of the Red Fields the most because it touched me and I could empathise best with the person.] (Final questionnaire) 6.11.9 Summary Of all the students participating in this study, Rebecca read the largest number of texts. She gets deeply involved with the narratives and establishes various links between the different texts. She likes happy endings and positive stories, still she points to Children of the Red Fields as her favourite book in the project. Her mental processes are sometimes characterised by naivety and paternalistic views. She repeatedly points to the ‘underdevelopment’ of Uganda and suggests that people need help, implying a rather evolutionist perspective. Some of her statements may be traced back to her age; at 13 she is two years younger than most of her classmates and therefore at a lower level of psychological develop‐ ment. 6.12 Hannes “das war einfach einmal so ein bisschen abgespeckt das Buch, so vom Deutschen her also [it was simply a bit dull, the book, compared to the German]” (interview) 6.12.1 Case Description Hannes is 15 years old. He lives with his parents and his older sister in a small house in a town in Baden-Württemberg, where he attends school A. Hannes’s hobbies are playing badminton, cycling and sports in general. He states that he also likes to come up with silly new ideas and create things. Regarding his family background, Hannes describes himself as monocultural. He is interested in “neue [new]” (interview) cultures, particularly different types of food. Until today, Hannes has not yet travelled much but he would like to do so in the future, if his financial situation allows. Hannes is not particularly enthusiastic about learning foreign languages: “Englisch geht noch, so Franzö‐ sisch habe ich keine Lust und so. [English is still okay, French I do not enjoy]” (interview). 6.12 Hannes 259 <?page no="260"?> 6.12.2 Reading Background Hannes does not like reading, particularly not in English. In the interview, he explains that he always had an aversion against reading and that only sometimes when he really liked a book would he complete it or even read a whole series. The books in the reading project he mainly read to do me, the researcher, a favour, he states laughingly in the interview. He read three narratives in the project: The Jewels of Amuria, The Precious Calabash and The Baby in the Forest. Hannes describes the texts which he read in the reading project as not very interesting but also “nicht so schlimm [not so bad]” (interview), with the excep‐ tion of The Baby in the Forest. This particular narrative he did not like at all. In the reading diary and in the interview, he describes it as “banal [trivial]”, “prim‐ itiv [primitive]”, “sinnfrei [meaningless]”, “unlogisch [illogical]” and “kindisch [childish]”: Das ist irgendwie so unlogisch. Also ich, ich bin ja auch ein bisschen naturwissen‐ schaftlich interessiert und, dass dann so ein Baby auf einmal zu einer Bestie wird, oder so und weil das ist so kurz geschrieben, wie so beim Aufsatz von kleinen Kindern. Wo dann in zu kurzen Texten zu viel reinkommt und das dann nicht richtig umschrieben ist und so. Und da war das bei den anderen beiden schon ein bisschen besser. [That is somehow very illogical. I am also a bit interested in natural sciences and that a baby suddenly transmutes into a beast or something of that type and because it is written in a brief way like in small children’s essays. Where a lot is packed into texts and it is not really described then. That was a bit better in the other two books.] (Interview) As the quote shows, Hannes justifies his aversion against the text also with the fact that he is interested in science and therefore does not believe in fantastic elements such as a baby which transmutes into a monster. That he always seems to look for logic behind ideas and does not want to use his imagination in sit‐ uations that appear illogical to him also becomes apparent in his statement in the creative part of the reading diary for The Baby in the Forest. Asked to imagine that the monster first talked to the villagers before they killed him, he simply writes: “the monster can’t speak, that’s the problem”. Of the three texts that he read, he liked The Jewels of Amuria the most because in comparison to the other texts, “das hatte irgendwie auch Sinn [this one somehow made sense]” (interview). He appreciates the fact that it has a logical structure with repetitive elements which makes it easier for him to understand the story. In the final questionnaire, he points out that he liked the reading project in general, but he did not like writing in the reading diary. 6 Research Findings: Cases 260 <?page no="261"?> 6.12.3 Prior Knowledge Before reading, Hannes associates “Armut [poverty]” and “Wassermangel. [water shortage]” (first questionnaire) with Uganda. He asserts that he receives information about African countries through the media. He seems, however, to be not very sure about his prior knowledge because in the first questionnaire he also states that he would like to find out whether Uganda is actually how he imagines it to be. Hannes would not like to participate in a student exchange with Uganda since there is not enough space to accommodate a student in his own home. Still, he would be interested in getting to know new cultures, he asserts. 6.12.4 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness Hannes comes up with various instances for comparisons. The content of the Ugandan narratives that he read in the project is according to him different to German narratives. He describes it as “einfach [simple]”: ich meine jetzt auch so, dass die sich wegen solchen Schalen und so, das ist halt ugan‐ disch, oder hier [zeigt auf The Jewels of Amuria], dass auch so banale Sachen wie durch den Regen laufen, oder so. Das ist halt anders wie im Deutschen, wo es dann einfach schon ein bisschen NORMAL ist, sage ich jetzt mal. […] das war einfach einmal so ein bisschen abgespeckt das Buch, so vom Deutschen her also. [I mean that they be‐ cause of such things, that is Ugandan or here in The Jewels of Amuria, such trivial things like walking through the rain. That is different to the German, where it is simply rather NORMAL, let’s say it like that. It was simply a bit dull, the book, compared to the German.] (Interview) Hannes notes that as a child or young adult in Germany he is not particularly interested in this type of literature because he cannot identify with the protag‐ onists in the narratives nor relate to the topics it deals with. He also points out that books for young adults normally deal with young adults but the books he read in the project had mainly adult protagonists. In addition, Hannes perceives some topics in the narratives as foreign. He states, for example, that the father in The Jewels of Amuria asks for a “Gegenleistung [compensation]” for marrying off his daughters which he considers as no longer common in Germany. It also astonishes him that a “Schale [bowl - here he refers to the calabash]” (interview) is considered to be very precious by the characters in The Precious Calabash. At the end of the interview, Hannes points out that he appreciates that the texts focus on the essential things in life and not so much on non-essentials such as money and wealth: 6.12 Hannes 261 <?page no="262"?> Ob man jetzt Geld hat oder nicht, das ist da eigentlich egal, das geht da eher darum, was die selber haben und so und was sie hinkriegen und nicht so, was man da ir‐ gendwie an Geld hat oder so, das ist irgendwie nicht wichtig. [If you have money or not does actually not matter, it is rather about what they have themselves and what they can do and not so much what you have for money and so, that is not so important.] (Interview) Here, an implicit desire for immaterialism is revealed. His difficulty in identifying with certain characters has a cultural basis. Hannes points out that he perceives the Ugandan culture as very different from his own: “Also auf mich hat es so gewirkt, dass es irgendwie eine andere Kultur ist [It gave me the impression that it is somehow another culture]” (interview). This connects to what he already said in the first questionnaire: “Ich denke, dass die Denkhintergründe der Ugander sich deutlich von den unsrigen unterscheiden. [I think that Ugandans’ way of thinking differs significantly from ours.]” 6.12.5 (De)Construction and Reflection The vocabulary Hannes makes use of in the questionnaire, interview and reading diaries (“banal [trivial]”, “abgespeckt [dull]”, “primitive [primitive]”, “einfach [simple]”) shows that he takes a rather evolutionist perspective and looks at the Ugandan texts he reads as reduced in comparison to the German texts that he is familiar with and so puts them to a lower level. Hannes’s statements occasionally contradict each other: He points out, for example, that the texts showed him that Uganda is a country with a completely different culture but on the other hand he asserts that many of the narratives could actually be set anywhere and the content is “übertragbar [transferable]” (interview) to other contexts. The Baby in the Forest could also be set in the Black Forest, he explains. Similarly, Hannes wonders in the reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria “[w]arum der Vater seine Tochter nicht normal an ihren zukünftigen Partner ‘ab‐ gibt’ sondern solche Prüfungen macht [why the father does not hand over his daughter in a normal way to her future partner but comes up with those tasks instead]”. Later on in the reading diary, he then states that he considers Chief Luba’s idea of asking for a high bride price for his daughters as “sehr gut [very good]”: Ich finde die Idee der Brautgabe sehr gut, da nicht so viele so reich sind und somit schon eine erste Auswahl getroffen wird. Desweiteren [sic] kann die Tochter von Chief Luba ihren gewohnten Lebensstandart [sic] dann weiterleben und hat keine 6 Research Findings: Cases 262 <?page no="263"?> finanziellen Probleme. [I look at the idea of the bridal dowry as very good because through this the first selection is made. Furthermore, Chief Luba’s daughter may maintain her usual standard of living and has no financial constraints.] He would recommend this text to others because one may learn through the text how carefully the father selects the “future” of his daughter which still plays an important role today, he points out. Ich würde den Text weiterempfehlen da der Text viel von Liebe handelt man lernt wie sorgsam der Vater die ‘Zukunft’ seiner Tochter auswählt und das spielt heut zu Tage [sic] auch noch eine Rolle. Außerdem zeigt die Geschichte, dass, wenn man jemanden wirklich liebt, man bereit ist alles zu tun. [I would recommend the text because it deals with love and you learn how carefully the father chooses the ‘future’ of his daughter and this still plays an important role today. Moreover, the story shows that if you really love someone, you are ready to do anything.] (Reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) As Hannes expresses in the interview, he assumes that the narratives mirror real life in Uganda: “Und das beschreibt halt wahrscheinlich auch so wie die leben. [And this probably describes how they live in reality]” (interview). Since he does not know Uganda very well, he seems to find it difficult to differentiate between what is real and what is fictitious. 6.12.6 Summary Hannes expresses his dislike concerning the texts in the reading project. He compares Ugandan to German literature and evaluates it as “einfacher [simpler]” (interview). He locates the difficulties he has in empathising with the characters in the narratives on a cultural axis. Frequently in his statements, contradictions become apparent. The vocabulary he makes use of in his reading diaries and interview points to a rather evolutionist perspective. 6.13 Overview of Cases The twelve students chosen for a detailed case analysis in my study approach the texts in different ways. Table 1 (see next page) provides an overview of the different cases. 6.13 Overview of Cases 263 <?page no="264"?> Table 1: Overview of Cases Case Important Quote Biography Reading Background Prior Knowledge Comparison (De)Construction and Reflection Niko (15 years) “NORMALE Denkweise, also normal, wenn ich jetzt von meiner ausgeh [NORMAL way of thinking, well normal, when I base it on mine]” Only child Raised monoculturally Interested in Greek way of life Does not like reading Expresses appreciation for most texts in the reading project Names relevant passages in the texts Simple lifestyle in Uganda, friendly people, tropical climate, little water, many children, black-skinned people Gets to know about African countries on the news, particularly about catastrophes Establishes links to his own life experiences Expresses his surprise about many similarities Reflects upon his prior knowledge and partly questions it Expresses irritations and questions his own normativitiy Partly revises and relativises his own statements At times, he is aware of his own cultural determination and bias Magdalena (15 years) “Hey, das könnte ich sein! [Hey, that could be me! ]” Lives with a foster family Very religious Attended boarding school for two years Raised monoculturally Likes reading a lot Literature as safe heaven Appreciates Ugandan literature particularly because she has already read many similar texts Afroamericans, heat, little water, poverty Gets to know about Uganda through pen friend letters but has not yet exchanged many Lists many similarities between her own life and the lives of the characters (e.g. problems, boarding school life, religion, poverty) Partly revises and contextualises her prior knowledge Is partially aware of her own cultural determination Lists various foreign aspects and difficulties in understanding ‘the other’ Oliver (16 years) “eine sehr, sehr einfache Kultur [a very, very simple culture]” Lists reading as a hobby Regularly visits his relatives in Canada Raised monoculturally Likes reading Is primarily negative about the texts Considers the texts/ topics as not relevant to him Poverty, hunger, inadequate school education Perceives his knowledge about the country as limited Points to various differences between his own life and the lives of the characters (e.g. supermarket vs. hunting in the forest) Considers his expectations and prior knowledge confirmed in the texts Partly also projects his own expectations onto the texts Occasionally takes on an evolutionist perspective 6 Research Findings: Cases 264 <?page no="265"?> Important Quote Biography Reading Background Prior Knowledge Comparison (De)Construction and Reflection Emma (15 years) “ und da denkt man eigentlich, das kann doch gar nicht sein [and you think that this cannot actually be true]” Likes reading fan fiction Hearing impaired Wants to go somewhere different after her A-levels Raised monoculturally Likes reading very much Likes thoughtprovoking texts Gets deeply involved with the texts, particularly the more difficult ones Praises honesty of the texts Heat, big families Has a pen friend in Uganda who provides her with information about the country Constructs several differences and similarities between her own life and the lives of the characters in the narratives (e.g. family, school and problems) Realises that she is well off in Germany Considers her prior associations partly confirmed through the texts Texts trigger self-critical processes in her Lists several aspects which are difficult for her to grasp (e.g. HIV/ AIDS, child soldiers) An ethnocentric perspective becomes partially apparent (e.g. name conventions, walk to the well) Lukas (15 years) “ Und ich gehe jetzt auch davon aus, dass die in Uganda jetzt nicht so, äh, also viel Wert legen auf Menschen-rechte [And I assume that in Uganda people don’t put so much value on human rights]” Likes travelling Expresses himself with flowery language Raised monoculturally Does not like reading very much but sometimes forces himself to read Particularly dislikes narratives with fantastic elements Uganda school study group, poor black population, AIDS, jihad, terror, Unicef Would participate in student exchange because immunisation against all types of diseases is possible Constructs various differences, particularly in narratives with fantastic elements Statements are often contradictory Considers his prior knowledge partly to be limited Frequently expresses uncertainties in his interpretations and unfounded conclusions An evolutionist perspective occasionally comes through (HIV/ AIDS education, illustrations and vocabulary that he makes use of) Ethnocentrism: is oriented towards ‘self’ as norm (e.g. Human Rights) Leyla (15 years) “ Also, ich war bei manchen Büchern ziemlich geschockt [Well, some of the books really shocked me]” Raised biculturally: Turkish and German Regularly visits Turkey in her holidays Appreciates having roots in two countries Likes reading a lot Expresses her shock about various aspects of the literature (arranged marriages, upbringing methods) Very emotional approach to the texts (they deeply affect her) Associations focus on nature and traditional tribes Learns about Africa in geography lessons and on world protection websites Migration background very important for her: is of the opinion that she can understand the texts better than her classmates because of this Constructs many similarities between Turkey and Uganda Prior expectations are partly confirmed through the texts (e.g village life) Statements reveal patronising tendencies (e.g. judgement over Moses: ungrateful) Ethnocentrism: e.g. in the context of beliefs (superstition) Evolutionist perspective: Uganda and Turkey as traditional vs Germany as modern 6.13 Overview of Cases 265 <?page no="266"?> Important Quote Biography Reading Background Prior Knowledge Comparison (De)Construction and Reflection Benjamin (15 years) “man hat uns sozusagen eingeredet, dass die hauptsächlich sehr, sehr arm sind [we were so to say led to believe that they are mainly very, very poor]” Moved from a rural area to a small city in Bavaria Likes travelling Raised biculturally Does not like reading in German but in English Shows a high level of analytical skills in the reading diaries Steppes, wild animals, heat, elephants, war, ivory, nature Got to know about Uganda mainly through fundraising activities at his former school Constructs many similarities between his own life and the lives of the characters in the narratives Considers it difficult to compare Uganda with Germany (lack of infrastructure and social net) Refers sometimes to Russia or other countries that he has visited in his comparisons Criticises the presentation of information during fundraising activities at his former school as stereotypical Choice of some words points to a rather evolutionist perspective Charlotte (15 years) “Und da war ich überrascht eben, dass es sich doch so ziemlich ähnelt wie unserer Gesellschaft und das fand ich dann eigentlich ganz cool [And I was surprised that it is quite similar to our society and I found that actually quite cool then]” Only child Hearing impaired Raised monoculturally Likes reading Particularly appreciates longer texts Very detailed and elaborated reading diary entries States that the fact that she read many texts in the project aided her understanding of them Heat, humid weather, sun, dusty, dry soil, isolated villages, small huts, mothers with many children, long way to the next water place, few cultivation areas Would not participate in a student exchange because she is scared of diseases and crime Constructs many similarities between her own life and the lives of the characters Expresses her surprise and appreciation concerning these similarities The texts both confirmed and unsettled her prior expectations Sometimes she draws quick and rather unfounded conclusions Occasionally tendencies of othering become apparent in her reading of the texts (e.g. AIDS and stigma) Philipp (15 years) “ja, ich weiß eigentlich fast nichts über Uganda [yes, actually I hardly know anything about Uganda]” Raised monoculturally Likes sports and music Spent his last summer holidays in England Does not like reading, hardly ever reads Did not like the reading project and the texts that were part of it (not educative) Gets to know about countries such as Uganda mainly through educational partnerships Perceives Ugandan and German literature as different, constructs similarities on the ground of fairy tales Constructs many similarities between his own life and the lives of the characters Perceives his knowledge to be limited Is of the opinion that Uganda was portrayed differently in the narratives than he expected His constructions and deconstructions focus on ‘the other’ He shows a low potential for self reflection 6 Research Findings: Cases 266 <?page no="267"?> Important Quote Biography Reading Background Prior Knowledge Comparison (De)Construction and Reflection Anna (16 years) “ ich habe ja selber viele Vorurteile, ohne dass ich es eigentlich bewusst weiß so [I have many prejudices myself, without actually being aware of them]” Repeating Year 9 Lives with her father now but used to live with her mother and her English partner Raised biculturally Likes reading Has difficulties in understanding more difficult texts ( Voice of a Dream ) Has positive associations with Uganda: pleasant atmosphere, children playing with each other on the streets, women cooking African dishes States that she did not know anything about Uganda before the reading project Considers her life to be very different from the characters, evaluates it as better Projects her own expectations and associations onto the text Partly reflects upon her own privileges Is aware of her own bias and prejudices and reflects upon them The HIV/ AIDS narratives animate her to do further research on the topic Rebecca (13 years) “ dass man Entwicklungsländern helfen muss, auf unseren Stand zu kommen [that one has to help developing countries to reach our level]” Two years younger than her classmates Has not yet travelled anywhere Raised monoculturally Loves reading, reads a lot Read the highest number of texts in the project Close reading, establishes links between the texts poor, coloured/ strongly pigmented people, slum, few schools, little money Gets to know about Africa through the news programme logo Constructs many differences: fantastic elements as decisive diversity markers Can empathise with the characters quite well Expresses uncertainties concerning her prior knowledge A rather evolutionist perspective becomes apparent (e.g. closeness to nature of poor people) At times quick to draw conclusions and generalisations (e.g. children are still beaten in Uganda) Reflects upon her own privileges and concludes that ‘developing’ countries need to be helped to reach ‘our’ standard Hannes (15 years) “ das war einfach einmal so ein bisschen abgespeckt das Buch, so vom Deutschen her also [it was simply a bit dull, the book, compared to the German]” Raised monoculturally Has not yet travelled much Does not like reading Does not like the texts in the reading project Poverty, water shortage Receives information about African countries through the media Compares Ugandan literature with German literature and evaluates it as simpler Grounds difficulties he has in empathising with characters on culture Makes use of vocabulary such as primitive, banal, sensefree, childish: a rather evolutionist perspective becomes apparent Some of his statements contradict each other Table 1: Overview of Cases 6.13 Overview of Cases 267 <?page no="268"?> 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure Having provided insights into individual cases, in the following I present the thematic structure across cases. In this chapter, responses of students who were not chosen for a case analysis are also included. The mental processes of all the students participating in my study are compared and correspondences / differ‐ ences analysed. The results are structured in four thematic units: 1) Contexts, 2) Mental Processes, 3) Global Topics and 4) the Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project. 7.1 Contexts Firstly, three relevant contexts that students draw on in their mental processes are presented: 1) Prior Knowledge; 2) Reading Background and 3) Biography. 7.1.1 Prior Knowledge The first context analysed is the students’ prior knowledge concerning ‘the other’. It focuses on students’ associations with and expectations of Uganda and Ugandan children’s fiction. These data were collected in the first questionnaire. Associations with Uganda In this questionnaire, the students were asked for their associations with Uganda. As the table with the most frequent student answers shows (see Table 2), the majority of students’ associations with Uganda are oriented either to‐ wards problems (e.g. POVERTY , DISEASES , WATER SHORTAGE ) or nature (e.g. HEAT , NATURE AND VEGETATION , ANIMALS AND SAFARI ). In ad‐ dition, students make frequent references to the skin colour of the people in Uganda. Category Example Frequency POVERTY Armut, wenig Geld [poverty, little money] (Sophie) 32 <?page no="269"?> HEAT schwüles Wetter, Hitze, staubig, trocken [humid weather, heat, dusty, dry] (Emma) 28 NATURE AND VEGETATION Savannen [savannas] ( Jennifer); Steppen [steppes] (Anita); Wüste und Ödland [desert and waste‐ land] (Paul) sehr schöne und vielfältige Natur [very nice and diverse nature] (Bilal) 15 ANIMALS AND SAFARI wilde Tiere [wild animals] (Ben‐ jamin) 10 WATER SHORTAGE Wassermangel [water shortage] (Anita) 10 DISEASES Krankheiten, die an jeder Ecke lauern [illnesses at every corner] (Bilal) 9 WAR AND VIOLENCE Evtl. ist dort Bürgerkrieg, wie in vielen afrikanischen Ländern. [Maybe there is civil war, as in many African countries.] ( Julia) 9 HUNGER hungernde dürre Menschen [hungry skinny people] (Akin) 8 SKIN COLOUR dunkelhäutige Menschen [dark‐ skinned people] (Michelle) 8 INADEQUATE SCHOOLING nicht genügend Bildung [not enough education] (Franziska) 7 Table 2: Students’ Most Frequent Associations with Uganda (n=45) Further associations which are not depicted in the table because they are not part of the most frequent answers suggest that the students imagine Uganda to be rather rural, underdeveloped and traditional, i.e. with a prevalence of long-es‐ tablished customs. They come up with references such as “kleine Dörfer [small villages]” (Emma), “Menschen müssen weit bis zu Brunnen mit Wasser laufen [people have to walk long distances to the next well]” ( Jessica) and “Hütten [huts]” (Franziska). They likewise associate Uganda with “einfache[n] Lebens‐ weisen [simple lifestyles]” (Niko), “schlechte[n] Lebensstandarte [sic] [bad living standards]” or “Stämme[n] und Familien, die sehr an ihre Kultur gebunden sind [tribes and families that are closely linked to their culture]” (Leyla). In addition, 7.1 Contexts 269 <?page no="270"?> some students’ associations suggest that they believe Uganda is a country in need, dependent on other people’s donations (“Unicef” (Lukas), “Spenden [don‐ ations]” (Vanessa)). In their associations, the students also come up with comparisons of the Ugandan culture with their own and imagine it to be completely different: They relate Uganda with a “völlig andere Kultur [completely different culture]” (Monika) and with “interessante Bräuche und lustige Feste [interesting customs and funny celebrations]” (Lea). Some express their interest in these foreign cus‐ toms about which they would like to get to know more. In addition, the students associate Uganda with “fröhliche Menschen [happy people]” (Alexander) or “freundliche Menschen [friendly people]” (Niko). In the first questionnaire, students repeatedly refer to their lack of knowledge and state that they consider themselves to be relatively uninformed about Uganda: • Über Uganda im einzelnen [sic] weiß ich praktisch nichts, weil ich die afrika‐ nischen Staaten nicht außeinanderhalten [sic] kann. [About Uganda in partic‐ ular I know practically nothing because I cannot differentiate between the dif‐ ferent African states.] (Leonie) • Ich weiß nicht so viel über Uganda und bin deshalb sehr unerfahren über das Land. [I don’t know a lot about Uganda and therefore have very little experience with this country.] (Oliver) • Ich kenne das Land nur vom Namen der Fußballmannschaft und flüchtig von der Karte im Atlas. [I just know this country through the name of the football team and briefly from the map in the atlas.] (Mia) Sources of their Knowledge The students were also asked in the first questionnaire for the sources through which they usually get information about African countries, particularly Uganda. Table 3 gives an overview of the four most frequently mentioned sources of information about African countries by the students. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 270 <?page no="271"?> 1 German news television service Category Example Fre‐ quency MASS MEDIA Informationen über Afrika (und Uganda) erhält man gelegentlich aus Nachrichten wie z. B. Tages‐ schau 1 . [Information about Africa (and Uganda) you get occasionally through the news like, for ex‐ ample, in Tagesschau.] (Emil) 59 PEN PAL/ EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP über den Austausch unserer Schule (Uganda-Ag), Brieffreunde [through the exchange at our school (Uganda study group), pen friends] (Lisa) 12 SCHOOL / LESSONS Ich wurde zum Thema Uganda das erste mal [sic] in Geografie (Schulfach) konfrontiert, indem wir die verschiedenen afrikanische Kolonien befasst haben. [I was confronted with the topic Uganda first in geography lessons when we dealt with the different African colonies.] (Paul) 9 FAMILY / FRIENDS In Uganda war ich noch nie, aber meine Eltern waren beide über längere Zeit in Afrika. Sie er‐ zählen davon. [I have never been to Uganda but my parents have both been in Africa for a longer period of time. They talk about it.] (Michelle) 5 Table 3: Students' Most Frequently Mentioned Sources of Information about African Countries (n=45) Most of the students state that they read or hear about African countries in the mass media. They make frequent references to the internet, TV , newspapers and magazines. Besides, more than half of the students of school A, which maintains an educational partnership with a Ugandan school, indicate in the questionnaire that they get to know more about Uganda in the letters that they receive from their Ugandan pen friends. In the interviews, however, several students qualify this by pointing out that they only exchange letters sporadically and do not get a deeper insight into their pen friend’s life through the letters or the educational school partnership. Other sources that are time and again listed by students in my study are geography lessons or information from friends or family who have visited African countries. Only a few students mention sources different from that. Rare references are made to literary texts, contacts to people from African countries, fundraising activities and travel agencies. 7.1 Contexts 271 <?page no="272"?> Students repeatedly point out in the questionnaires that they do not read or hear about African countries very often. This becomes apparent in the following quotations: • Manchmal kommt etwas im Fernsehen, aber nicht so oft. [Sometimes there is something on TV, but not very often.] (Emma) • Ich krieg davon nichts mit. [I do not hear anything about it.] (Alexander) • Ansonsten erfahre ich eher selten etwas über solche Länder. [Apart from that, I hardly ever hear anything about such countries.] (Philipp) The statements of some students in my study also show that they are predom‐ inantly exposed to negative reports about Africa. Gabriell, for example, makes the following remark in the first questionnaire: Ich erfahre Informationen über Afrika im Internet oder in den Nachrichten. Dort werden dann die Probleme dieser Länder angesprochen. [I get to know more about Africa on the internet or in the news. That’s where the problems of these countries are dealt with then.] Niko also states a similar case when he writes that he gets information about Africa mainly through the news and only when there are catastrophes such as the outbreak of diseases. Interest in Uganda Another question students were asked in the first questionnaire refers to their areas of interest concerning Uganda. The answers of the students to this ques‐ tion are illustrated in Table 4. Category Example Fre‐ quency CHILDHOOD/ YOUTH Mich würde interessieren, wie die Jugendliche [sic] ihre Freizeit verbringen und wie der Schulalltag in Uganda aussieht. [I would like to know how young people spend their free time and what school life is like in Uganda.] (Martin) 13 LIVING STAND‐ ARDS ob die Menschen wirklich so arm sind, wie das Leben mit wenig Geld und ohne Elektro [sic], weg von jeder Zivilisation so ist [whether people are really that poor, what life is like with little money and without electricity, far away from civilisation] ( Jessica) 10 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 272 <?page no="273"?> CULTURE (IN GENERAL) Mich würde es interessieren, wie die Kultur in Uganda ist. [I would like to know what culture is like in Uganda] (Vanessa) 9 CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS ob es typische Bräuche gibt [if there are typical customs] (Anna) 8 EVERYDAY LIFE Ich würde gerne erfahren, wie diese Menschen in diesem Land leben. [I would like to get to know how people in this country live.] (Leyla) 7 Table 4: Students’ Most Frequently Mentioned Areas of Interest Concerning Uganda (n=45) Most of the students of my sample express particular interest in the life of young adults in Uganda. They indicate that they would like to get to know more about their leisure time activities, school life and friendships. In addition, many stu‐ dents are interested in the living standards of the people in Uganda. Their afore‐ mentioned associations with Uganda suggest that they imagine the country as poor but in several statements concerning their interest in Uganda, uncertainties about the actual level of poverty become apparent. The students, for example, want to know “ob die Menschen wirklich so arm sind [whether people are really that poor]” ( Jessica) or “wie die Menschen es sich überhaupt leisten können, sich Gebäude zu bauen (und ähnliches [sic]) [how people manage at all to construct buildings (and similar things)]“ (Vanessa). The students repeatedly also point out their interest in “Kultur [culture]”. They do not specify what they understand by culture. Many of them, however, express a particular interest in “Sitten und Bräuche [customs and traditions]”. Furthermore, some students are interested in getting to know more about the everyday life of people in Uganda. Expectations Concerning Ugandan Children’s Fiction Before reading, the students were also asked for their expectations concerning Ugandan children’s fiction. The majority of students assume that the narratives deal with problems: “Ich denke es werden oft Probleme geschildert wie z. B. Armut, Familien Unglücke [sic], Schule … [I think often problems are described, e.g. poverty, family disasters, school … ]” (Michelle). In addition, they expect nar‐ ratives about everyday life, e.g. daily routines of the people in Uganda. When formulating their expectations, many students also draw comparisons and state that they imagine the children’s texts from Uganda to be rather different from the texts they are familiar with in Germany: 7.1 Contexts 273 <?page no="274"?> • Sie beschäftigen sich wahrscheinlich mehr mit Themen, die in Afrika interes‐ sant sind, und die die Jugendlichen dort beschäftigen, was wahrscheinlich etwas komplett anderes [sic] sein wird wie bei uns, da die Menschen dort ein ganz anderes Leben führen. [They probably deal with topics that are interesting in Africa and which are of concern to the young people there. This will probably be completely different than here for us because people there live a completely different life.] (Anita) • Ich erwarte einen anderen Schreibstyl [sic], zudem einen anderen Altag [sic] in der Geschichte, evtl. mit anderen Problemen. [I expect a different writing style, a different everyday life in the stories with maybe different problems.] (Emil) • Ich denke es wird um den Alltag der Jugendlichen gehen und auch um das Familienleben, da der Autor vielleicht zeigen will, was alles anders und even‐ tuell auch schwieriger ist. [I think it will be about the everyday life of young people and also about family life because the author maybe wants to show what is different and maybe also more difficult.] (Emma) Interest in Student Exchange The students were also asked in the first questionnaire whether they would participate in a student exchange with a Ugandan school. They were requested to give reasons for their answer. The majority of the students in my study, ap‐ proximately two third, express interests in the participation in a student ex‐ change with a Ugandan school. The most frequent reason which they give for their interest in this exchange is that they would like to get to know more about the “andere / fremde Kultur [another / foreign culture]”. They seem particularly interested in differences between the other / foreign and their own culture: • Ich würde daran teilnehmen, weil es mich reitzen [sic] würde, mit so einer anderen Kultur zu tauschen, und in eine neue Welt einzutauchen. [I would participate because it would appeal to me to exchange with such a different culture and to submerge myself into another world.] (Paul) • Ich würde teilnehmen, weil ich fremde Kulturen kennenlernen möchte, insbe‐ sondere afrikanische, da ich wenig über sie erfahre. Außerdem ist es eine ein‐ malige Chance. [I would participate because I want to get to know foreign cultures, particularly African ones because I get to know little about them. Besides it is a unique opportunity.] (Niko) • Ja, ich würde teilnehmen, da es eine wundervolle Möglichkeit wäre, etwas über fremde Kulturen zu erfahren und zu sehen, wie andere Menschen leben. [Yes, 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 274 <?page no="275"?> I would participate because it is a great opportunity to get to know something about foreign cultures and to see how other people live.] (Leyla) Moreover, they are interested in getting to know new people / their Ugandan pen friend or having first-hand / new experiences. Some also state that they would like to get an insight into the way people live there and their standard of living. Gabriell remarks that he considers such a student exchange as helpful to become aware of one’s own standard of living: “Ich würde daran teilnehmen, da einem vor Augen geführt wird, wie gut man es in Deutschland hat. [I would par‐ ticipate because it makes you aware how well off one is in Germany]”. A few students state that they would participate in a student exchange with Uganda to improve their English skills and some students’ statements suggest that they consider a student exchange the only possibility to travel to Uganda. Niko, for example, points out that this would be “eine einmalige Chance [a unique oppor‐ tunity]” and Julia explains that she would participate in a student exchange because Uganda is no country for holidays with the family. There are also quite a few students in my study, approximately one third, who indicate that they would not participate in a student exchange with Uganda. The most frequent reasons which they give are worries about diseases and crime in Uganda: Ich würde eher nicht mitmachen aufgrund vieler Krankheiten oder Infektionsmö‐ glichkeiten. Außerdem hört man immer wieder, dass es in Afrika eine höhere Krimi‐ nalität herrscht als in Deutschland. [I would rather not participate because of the many diseases and risks of infections. Besides we hear time and again that there is a higher crime rate in Africa than in Germany.] (Charlotte) Besides this, students state, for example, that they are not interested in Uganda / student exchanges in general or consider Uganda to be too far away from Germany. Alexander points out that he would not participate in a student exchange because he cannot imagine a life of that type. Two students express uncertainties regarding participation in a student ex‐ change. For one of them it would depend on the conditions which actually pre‐ vail there (Anna) and for the other it depends on the length of the stay (Claudius). Summary and Interpretation In the first questionnaire, the students of my study reveal a rather one-sided and / or negative image of the country with tendencies to stigmatisation and exotisation. The language they make use of in their associations is often mark‐ edly colonial. These results mirror outcomes of earlier studies on the images of 7.1 Contexts 275 <?page no="276"?> Africa that young people who live in Germany have (Reichart-Burikukiye, 2001; Schmidt-Wulffen, 1998; Tröger, 1993). These images people have of Africa are usually traced back to representations of the continent in the mass media. The answers of the students in my study also confirm this. However, there are also other sources for the prevailing Africa images of people in Germany: Die dominanten Afrikabilder werden vornehmlich über die Massenmedien, Schul‐ bücher und Spielfilme, sodann über zwischenmenschliche Kontakte, Werbung, Kinder-, Jugend- und Erwachsenenliteratur, Comics sowie Reisemagazine vermittelt. Auch historische Reiseberichte und die kolonialistische belletristische Literatur sind noch immer wichtige Reproduzent / innen von Afrikabildern. [The dominant images of Africa are primarily transmitted through the mass media, school books and feature films, thereafter through interpersonal contacts, advertisement, children’s, young adult and adult literature, comics and travel magazines. Historical travel reports and colonial belletristic are also still important means of reproduction of images of Africa.] (Arndt, 2006a, p. 25) The fact that students in my study do not mention many of the other sources in their answers may point to the absence of information about Africa, for example, in the school books, feature films or literary texts that they are usually exposed to. Africa is definitely still underrepresented in these media in Germany. But it may also show that the students are not aware of the representations of Africa that they encounter from a young age, e.g. in children’s books. Unless there is news about wars, starvation, epidemics or scandals within governments, Africa is also underrepresented in Western mass media. As Maddy and MacCann (2009, p. 102) note, “[t]he mythology about ‘Darkest Africa’ is frequently discernable in these reports”. Media coverage of Africa is one-sided and superficial as it omits the presentation of complex backgrounds most of the time. Occurrences in single areas or countries are generally transferred to the whole continent; thus, a Ugandan crisis may be referred to as ‘African’ in the media. The focus on negative aspects only, gives the impression of crises as part of the African condition. The students’ associations mirror this representation of Africa in the mass media. Their associations are focused on problems and negative aspects. The vast majority of the students associate Uganda with poverty and related aspects (water shortage, hunger and inadequate schooling). Many of them also make references to diseases in their first questionnaires. At the time the study was conducted, the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa (2013-2016) was omnipresent in the news. The fact that so many students associate Uganda with diseases may 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 276 <?page no="277"?> be traced back to this circumstance. For Leon, for example, Ebola is the reason why he would not participate in a student exchange with Uganda. He makes the following statement in the first questionnaire: Zur Zeit [würde ich] nicht [teilnehmen], da die Gefahr vor dem EbolaVirus [sic] zu hoch ist. Unter anderen Umständen schon. [At the moment I wouldnot participate because the danger of the ebola virus is too high. Under other circumstances I would.] It seems to be irrelevant for him that Uganda is located in East Africa and was officially announced as Ebola free at that time. A second central focus of the students’ image of Uganda is “nature”. The students associate Uganda with heat, beautiful landscapes and wild and dan‐ gerous animals. In addition, they relate Ugandan people with a simple lifestyle and closeness to nature. Getting to know this different and simple lifestyle of the people is a central reason for the students to participate in a student exchange with Uganda. Though they do not express the wish to live such a simple life themselves or give up their own privileges, they consider it interesting to get an insight into this unfamiliar way of living. Furthermore, they voice particular interest in foreign customs and traditions. Here, processes of othering, i.e. exo‐ tising become apparent. According to Danielzik and Bendix (2011, p. 633), also exotism may be judged as racism: Intuitiv scheinen sich Exotismus - als die faszinierte Betrachtung des vermeintlich Fremden - und Rassismus gegenseitig auszuschließen. Rassismus wird üblicherweise mit Diskriminierung, Nationalismus, Hass und Gewalt in Verbindung gebracht und somit negativ assoziiert; Rassismus will vermeintlich Fremdes fernhalten. Exotismus hingegen will diesem näher kommen und schreibt ihm scheinbar positive Attribute zu. Mit ‘Exotik’ werden ‘Südsee’, saftig-süße Früchte, aufgregend Unbekanntes, Ge‐ nuss und Lust verbunden. Das ‘Exotische’ wird als ‘Fremdes’ begehrt, ‘exotische’ Länder werden zum Reiseziel für ‘Abenteuer_innen’ und ‘Europamüde’. […] Tatsä‐ chlich sind aber Rassismus und Exotismus nicht voneinander zu trennen: Exotismus ist ein inhärenter Teil, eine Spielart von Rassismus. Das bedeutet, dass Rassismus als Abgrenzung / Abstossung und Exotismus als Anziehung / Begehren sich nicht antag‐ onistisch gegenüberstehen. [Exoticisim, as the fascinated look at the alleged foreign, and racism seem intuitively to exclude each other. Racism is usually brought into connection with discrimination, nationalsocialism, hate and violence and therefore negatively associated; racism allegedly wants to keep the foreign at a distance. Exo‐ ticism, on the other hand, wants to get closer to the foreign and ascribes seemingly positive attributes to it. ‘Exotic’ is associated with ‘South Sea’, juicy sweet fruits, the exciting unknown, pleasure and desire. The ‘exotic’ is desired as ‘the foreign’, ‘exotic’ countries become the travel destinations for ‘adventure seekers’ and ‘Eu‐ 7.1 Contexts 277 <?page no="278"?> rope-weary’. […] In actual fact, however, racism and exoticism cannot be separated from one another: exoticism is an inherent part, a variety of racism. This means that racism as delimitation / rejection and exoticism as attraction / desire are not diametri‐ cally opposed.] In their first questionnaires, students repeatedly also make use of language that is branded as colonial. For example, they refer to “afrikanische Stämme [African tribes]”, “afrikanische Völker [African peoples]” or “Ureinwohner [indigenous people]”. In German, these terms carry historical and cultural assumptions that Arndt (2011b, pp. 214-218) exemplifies by the word “Stamm”. In the age of col‐ onialism, the term “Stamm”, which in the German context was and still is used primarily to refer to the primeval societies of the Teutons, was transferred to representations of Africa. When the colonisers referred to African societies as “Stämme [tribes]”, this implied that they perceived and portrayed them as back‐ ward and primitive and in need of civilisation. These colonial conceptions and processes of othering are carried further when the term is used today to refer to societies in Africa: African societies are presented as different in the sense of being inferior, primitive, not-civilised, not-modern, etc. The term “Stamm [tribe]” usually triggers chains of associations of ‘tradition’ and ‘nativeness’. In addition, “Stamm” implies homogeneity of very diverse societies and suggests that clear geographical and cultural lines can be drawn between them, which does not reflect the given realities. Therefore, according to Arndt (2011b), “Stamm” is a term that, with reference to societies in the present time, should completely disappear from linguistic usage. Instead, when referring to African societies, those terms which are also commonly applied in the context of Western societies should be used, she argues: So wie im europäischen Kontext nicht vom ‘S’ der Schotten, sondern einfach von ‘den Schotten’ gesprochen wird, lässt sich ebenso von Hausa und Wolof oder, analog und je nach Kontext, von Nigerianer_innen und Senegales_innen sprechen. [ Just as in the European context the Scots are not referred to as a tribe, but simply the Scots, one should also speak about the Hausa and Wolof or, analogically and depending on the context, of Nigerians and Senegalese.] (Arndt, 2011b, p. 670) In my study, students’ statements also demonstrate that their references to “Stamm / Stämme [tribe / tribes]” are linked to images of timelessness, primitivity and backwardness. Leyla, for example, associates Uganda with “afrikanische Stämme und Familien, die sehr an ihre Kultur gebunden sind. [African tribes and families that are very much bound to their culture]” (first questionnaire). This shows that for her African tribes are closely linked to traditions. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 278 <?page no="279"?> Aside from the focus on problems and nature, it is also interesting to observe that students in my study frequently make references to the skin colour of the people in Uganda in their associations. They make use of various adjectives in this context: “schwarz [black]”, “schwarzhäutig [blackskinned]”, “dunkelhäutig [darkskinned]”, “farbig [coloured]” and “stark pigmentiert [strongly pig‐ mented]”. According to Weicker and Jacobs (2011, p. 202), constructions of skin colour are inseparably linked to theories about ‘races’. When references to skin colour are made, people are classified with respect to the degree of pigmentation of their skin and this categorisation is based on racial theories, they argue. As also manifested in the use of certain colour adjectives in the German and English language, white is constructed as the norm: whereas ‘hautfarben [skin-col‐ oured]’ in German refers to white skin, the adjective ‘farbig’ points to an devi‐ ation from white (Arndt, 2011a, pp. 340-341). The same applies to the word ‘col‐ oured’ in the English language. This orientation towards white as the norm also becomes apparent in my study; students’ references to skin colour are asym‐ metrical since the students do not focus on skin colour when they talk about themselves or the German context. The variety of adjectives the students make use of when they refer to the skin colour of people in Uganda reflects discussions about political correctness and its pitfalls in Germany. Many people use words such as “dunkelhäutig”, “stark pigmentiert” and “farbig” as euphemisms for “Schwarz”. Critics (e.g. Sow, 2001-2013, 2008) remark that the use of these words implies that there is some‐ thing about blackness that needs to be diminished or embellished. Moreover, they argue, these terms are other-directed and not self-determined denomina‐ tions since they are not commonly used and accepted by Black people them‐ selves. The fact that students make use of these adjectives may suggest that they intend to express themselves in a politically correct way. It is, however, also possible that they just make use of terms they are familiar with simply because they are commonly used in their own contexts, which makes it difficult to de‐ termine whether the students are aware of the historical background of the words and have reflected upon the underlying meanings and / or use terms that they consider socially desirable here. Occasionally, students ascribe positively connoted attributes to Uganda or the people in Uganda that are beyond references to nature. Anna, for example, states in her first questionnaire that she imagines the atmosphere in the country as “angenehm [pleasant]” despite the poverty because she believes that people come to appreciate more what they have when they are in such a situation. Vanessa writes in the first questionnaire that she expects the Ugandan children’s fiction to be funny and light: 7.1 Contexts 279 <?page no="280"?> 2 I decided to focus on the students’ attitudes to reading in these two languages, German and English, because other studies (e.g. Yamashita, 2004) have shown that the reading motivation in the L1 may have a strong effect on students’ attitudes towards reading in other languages. Although German is not the L1 of all the students in my study, it is their common language of educational socialisation. As became also apparent in this research, it cannot be assumed that students are always able to read in their L1. Leyla (case 6) and Silvia who both indicate in the first questionnaires that their L1 is not German, state in the interview that they cannot read in their respective L1s (Turkish and Russian). Therefore, I opted to rely on German as a common language of educational socialisation of all students in this study and to inquire further for the students’ reading experience in the L1 in the interview. Ich glaube es wird eine etwas lustigere, lockere Literatur. Es wird wahrscheinlich um die lustige Kindheit gehen. Wie sie froh, glücklich & zufrieden mit ihrem Leben sind, obwohl sie nichts haben, oder nicht so viel haben. Ich stelle mir vor, wie die Kinder aus Uganda mit selbstgemachten Trommeln trommeln. [I believe the literature will be funny, light. It will probably be about their fun childhoods. How they are glad, happy and content with their lives although they do not have anything or not that much. I imagine the children from Uganda drumming with home-made drums.] Despite the positive nature of the attribution, statements as such express an implicit hierarchy (Böcker, 2011, p. 658). When attributes of that type are as‐ cribed to people in Uganda, this is also an indicator of processes of othering and exoticising. 7.1.2 Reading Background The second context which is investigated is the students’ reading background, i.e. their reading competence and reading motivation. Degree of Reading Appeal In the first questionnaire, the students were asked to indicate on a five-point Likert scale how much they like reading literary texts in their free time in German and in English. 2 The students’ answers to this question are depicted in Figure 1: 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 280 <?page no="281"?> 3 Whereas the majority of students in my study do not list English as a language spoken at home, one of the students, Anna (case 10), indicates in the first questionnaire that she speaks German and English at home. In the interview, she elaborates that she was exposed to English on a daily basis when she lived with her mother and her English speaking partner with whom she only spoke in English for five years. She describes herself as bilingually raised. From a constructivist perspective, taking her personal per‐ ception into account, English may be perceived as Anna’s second rather than a foreign language. Figure 1: Appeal to Students of Reading Literary Texts in Their Free Time (n=45) The figure shows that most of the students in my study like reading literary texts in German in their free time (very much). There are only few students who indicate that they dislike doing this (very much). Thus, the majority of the stu‐ dents have a positive attitude towards reading literary texts in German in their free time. When asked for their attitudes towards reading literary texts in Eng‐ lish in their free time, the students’ answers are not quite as positive. Many students indicate that they do not like reading literary texts in English in their free time (at all). None of the students states that s / he likes doing it very much. This shows a clear discrepancy between the students’ attitudes towards reading in German and in English in my study. This difference in attitudes may be ex‐ plained with the fact that German is the L1 of most of the students who par‐ ticipated in this study (39), suggesting that they are, therefore, more familiar with reading in German. English, on the other hand, is learnt as a foreign lan‐ guage by most of the students participating in this study. 3 Therefore, these stu‐ dents might consider English texts to be more difficult to read or they are not yet accustomed to reading texts in English. 7.1 Contexts 281 <?page no="282"?> Frequency of Reading Literary Texts The students were also asked for the frequency with which they read literary texts in their free time in German and in English. Their answers to this question are displayed in Figure 2. Figure 2: Students’ Frequency of Reading Literary Texts in Their Free Time (n=44) As the figure illustrates, the majority of the students read literary texts in their free time in German a couple of times a month or even more frequently. None of the students, however, reads literary texts in English regularly in their free time. This shows that the students of my study are still rather inexperienced in reading literary texts in English, which might be a reason for some of the diffi‐ culties in understanding that they express in the reading diaries and interviews. In the interviews, some of the students state that they would like to read more literary texts in English in the future. Reading Interest In the first questionnaire, students were also asked about the type of literary texts they are most interested in (multiple answers could be given). Their areas of interest covered a variety of different aspects, e.g. the topics, genre or other characteristics of the literary texts. In the following two tables, their answers are categorised according to genre. The first question focused on the types of text students are most interested in. The students’ answers to this question are displayed in Table 5. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 282 <?page no="283"?> Category Example Fre‐ quency FANTASY Wenn ich lese, dann etwas mit Fantasy. [If I read something, then something which includes fan‐ tasy.] (Philipp) 20 CRIME FICTION/ THRILLER Mich interessieren Krimis. [I am interested in crime stories.] (Isa) 15 ROMANCE Ich mag vorallem [sic] Liebesromane. [I like par‐ ticularly romance novels.]” (Emma) 10 SCIENCE- FICTION Science-Fiction (Niko) 9 REALISTIC FICTION Geschichten, die in Realität auch so sein könnten. [Stories which could happen like that in reality.] ( Jessica) 5 Table 5: Literary Genres Students Are Most Interested in (n=45) According to this table, many of the students in my study express interest in fantasy literature and crime fiction. In addition, some of the students are inter‐ ested in romance and a group of others state that they like science-fiction. Some students also point out that they are particularly interested in stories which are close to reality. Other topics or genres such as adventure, horror or war are only listed by a few individual students in my study. The most frequent answers to the second question focusing on literature genres the students are the least interested in may be taken from Table 6. Category Example Fre‐ quency ROMANCE Auf keinen Fall interessieren mich Liebesromane. [I am not interested at all in love novels.] (Gabriell) 18 FANTASY Ich interressiere mich nicht für ‘Fantasy’. Alles an‐ dere ist in Ordnung. [I am not interested in ‘fan‐ tasy’. Everything else is okay.] (Simon) 10 HISTORICAL FIC‐ TION Historische Romane [Historic novels] (Monika) 8 CRIME FICTION Ich lese Kriminalgeschichten nicht so gerne, da diese etwas monoton und sehr kompliziert werden. [I do not much like reading crime stories because 6 7.1 Contexts 283 <?page no="284"?> they are a bit monotonous and get very compli‐ cated.] (Leyla) Table 6: Genres Students Are Not Interested in (=45) It becomes apparent that three genres which the students are most interested in are also amongst the top four genres they are not interested in: fantasy, ro‐ mance and crime fiction. Particularly concerning fantasy and romance, the at‐ titudes of the students in my study, therefore, seem to be divided. Many students like fantasy very much but quite a few students also indicate that they are not interested in fantasy at all. In the case of romance, it is particularly boys who express their aversion against this genre. Some girls, however also indicate that they do not like (kitschy) love stories. Text Selection Criteria In the reading diaries, students give various reasons for opting for a certain text, which provide further insights into their reading preferences. As their individual selection criteria they frequently mention: • the title, cover picture or cover text • their interest / disinterest in certain topics / writing styles • the level of difficulty or length of the text • recommendations by fellow students • selection by chance • selection by force (circumstances required them to select a certain text) Many of the students indicate in the reading diaries that they chose a particular story or book because of its title, cover picture or cover text. They explain that these features aroused their interest in the text, its topics and / or writing style. They state, for example, that a certain title sounds funny, mysterious or abstract and therefore stimulates their interest. Concerning the cover picture, some stu‐ dents remark that they opt for a particular book because the picture promises an action-packed story or a story full of adventure. Other students seem to be looking out for rather positive stories when they choose a book for its colourful cover picture or its title that sounds rather optimistic, which they consider an indicator for a happy ending. Personal relevance also plays an important role in the selection process. Magdalena, for example, chooses the book Moses because it triggers associations with the biblical story in her which she explains is relevant to her because she is a Christian. Vanessa, on the other hand, states for the same book: “Vom Titel 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 284 <?page no="285"?> her alleine hätte ich das Buch wahrscheinlich nicht genommen, da es mir schon etwas religiös vorkommt. [ Just considering the title I would probably not have opted for the book because it appears a bit religious to me]” (reading diary for Moses). Independent of the fact that this particular book does not talk about religion in any way, the title awakens associations of that type in the students and influences them in the selection process. For some students, gender-oriented criteria also seem to play a role when choosing a particular narrative. Franziska indicates in the reading diary that she selects the short story “The Hair Cut” because she assumes that it is written for girls, and Felix picks I Will Miss Mr Kizito because there is a boy depicted on the cover picture and he wants to read a story with a male protagonist. With regard to the cover text, some students express their interest / disinterest in the topic the text deals with. Julia, for example, points out that she is interested in the topic AIDS and therefore decides to read I Will Miss Mr Kizito. Anna, on the other hand, chooses Our Cousins from Abroad because she does not want to read another book which talks about AIDS . In the text selection process, the division of students also becomes apparent into those who would rather read texts written in a realistic mode and those who prefer texts that include fantastic elements. Whereas Sophie states that she chooses The Adventurous Sisters because its cover page and title promises a story with many fantastic elements, Anita explains that she selects The Unfulfilled Dream as there are real people in ‘modern’ clothes on the cover picture and she therefore expects a realistic story. The number of students who opt for a par‐ ticular text because they assume it to be close to reality or talking about everyday life prevails. The length of the text and the level of difficulty also plays an important role in the text selection process. Data analysis shows that the majority of the stu‐ dents in my study choose rather short and easy texts in the reading project. The short story “The Hair Cut”, the novella I Will Miss Mr Kizito and the folktales The Adventurous Sisters, The Jewels of Amuria and The Precious Calabash are the texts which are most frequently read by the students in the reading project. All of these texts have two features in common: they are rather short and they are marked with either a green or a yellow dot, indicating a low or medium level of linguistic difficulty. Longer and more difficult texts such as Children of the Red Fields, Moses, I Will Not Fail, etc. are read by fewer students in my study. This might be based on the students’ attitudes to reading and the reading socialisation of the students. Though there are many students in my study who like reading in German, students’ attitudes to reading literary texts in English are not quite as positive. In addition, they are not yet very experienced with reading in Eng‐ 7.1 Contexts 285 <?page no="286"?> lish. Particularly at the beginning of the reading project many students write in the reading diaries that they opt for a shorter or easier text because they have never read a literary text in English before and therefore want to start with something not too difficult and long. There are only few students who start with the texts marked with a red dot. Later on in the reading project, students in‐ creasingly also read more difficult books and indicate in the reading diaries that they want to read something more demanding now. There is, however, also quite a number of students who only read rather short and easy texts in the reading project. Emil explains his choice of such texts in the following way: Also, wenn ich jetzt eimal ganz ehrlich bin, ich wollte mir jetzt auch nicht die dicksten Bücher heraussuchen, die schwersten. Ähm, ja, und die anderen jetzt wahrscheinlich eher auch nicht so, vor allem meine Freunde. Weil wir lesen jetzt halt nicht so viel. Und wenn dann halt eher etwas Kurzes. [To be honest, I didn’t want to pick the thickest books, the most difficult ones. And nor did the others probably, particularly my friends. Because we do not read that much. And if we read, then rather something short.] (Interview) Recommendations by fellow students play also an important role in the reading project. Some students state that they select a certain text because their friend or classmate describes it as a nice read. Not only positive descriptions by class‐ mates, however, are decisive in the selection process. For example, Rebecca is encouraged by a friend to read a book because it is “crazy and irrational”: Meine Freundin hat mir gesagt ich solle dieses Buch nehmen, weil es anscheinend verrückt und unlogisch sei. Obwohl das nicht gerade ein guter Grund ist mich für dieses Buch zu entscheiden, habe ich es trotzdem getan, weil es mich interessiert, warum dieses Buch verrückt und unlogisch ist. [My friend told me I should take this book because it is apparently crazy and irrational. Though it is not really a good reason to opt for this book, I still did so because I want to know why it is crazy and irrational.] (Reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) Repeatedly, students also state in the reading diaries that they make a random choice. One student explains that there is not always enough time for careful text selection decisions in between the lesson (Leonie, reading diary for Cher‐ ished Dreams). Some students also explain that circumstances require them to choose a particular text, for example when most of the other literary texts are taken by other students. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 286 <?page no="287"?> Emotions to the Texts in the Reading Project In the reading diaries and interviews, the students express their attitudes to‐ wards certain characteristics of the literary texts or texts as a whole. Their emo‐ tions were either categorised as POSITIVE or NEGATIVE . Categorisation as POSITIVE was, for example, applied when the reader expressed joy, excitement or admiration. Emotions that are connoted negatively, e.g. sadness, boredom, dislike were categorised as NEGATIVE . In general in the reading diaries and interviews, the positive attitudes of the students to the texts prevail. There are, however, individual differences and some students are also primarily negative about the texts (e.g. Hannes (case 12), Leonie, Philipp (case 9) and Silvia). Writing Style Most of the attitudes that students express in the reading diaries and interviews are directed at the writing style of the texts. An overview of some of their atti‐ tudes concerning this aspect is given in Table 7: POSITIVE NEGATIVE Der Schreibstil ist weniger auf Spannung, sondern mehr auf Beschreibung der Be‐ ziehungen / Gefühle aus, was mir gefällt. Er ist schlicht und gut verständlich. [The writing style less focuses on tension than the description of relationships / feelings, which I like. It is plain and good to under‐ stand.] (Leonie, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Mir war er [der Schreibstil] etwas zu nüchtern. Ich hätte gern mehr über Gwens Gefühle erfahren. [In my opinion, the writing style was a bit too plain. I would have liked to get to know more about Gwen’s feelings.] (Emma, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) Ich mag diesen Schreibstil sehr, er ist sehr flüssig zu lesen, es werden sehr viele Ge‐ fühle ausgedrückt, Metaphern verwendet und ich mag den Perspektivenwechsel zw. den Hauptprotagonisten. [I really like this writing style because it can be fluently read, many feelings are expressed, meta‐ phors used and I like the change of per‐ spectives between the main protagonists.] (Charlotte, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) Der Text war sprachlich sehr leicht, fast sogar etwas zu kindgerecht (‘She is six‐ teen. She does it just to tease me, …’) [The text was linguistically very simple, almost too child-oriented (‘She is sixteen. She does it just to tease me …)] ( Julia, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Ich finde es gut, dass der Autor nichts ver‐ schönert / verpackt. Er erzählt ohne Gnade / Verschleierung der Realität. [In my opinion it is good that the author does not embellish anything. He tells the story without mercy / disguising reality.] (Emma, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) Mir hat der Schreibstil nicht gefallen, da er sehr verworren mit vielen Nebensätzen oder eingefügten Gedanken ist. [I did not like the writing style because it is very confusing with many sub-clauses or in‐ serted thoughts.] (Niklas, reading diary for “First Kiss”) 7.1 Contexts 287 <?page no="288"?> Ich fand den Schreibstil sehr gut, da er ‘mit mir geredet’ hat (I told you …). [I liked the writing style a lot because ‘it spoke to me’ (I told you …).] (Franziska, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Der Schreibstil wirkt manchmal verwir‐ rend, da ein anderer Satzbau verwendet wird, als ich ihn kenne. (‘They then go’). [The writing style appears sometimes confusing because other sentence struc‐ tures are used to the ones I am familiar with. (‘They then go’).] (Silvia, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) Es ist wie eine Sage, ein Märchen ges‐ chrieben und die Charaktere gefallen mir sehr, weil sie so gegensätzlich sind. Die Geschichte gefällt mir sehr gut. [It is written like a saga, a fairy tale and I like the characters a lot because they are are so contrary to each other.] (Mia, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) The Adventurous Sisters [hat mir am we‐ nigsten gefallen]: Weil es für mich per‐ sönlich zu unrealistisch war bzw. man sich nicht so gut in die Geschichte versetzen konnte. Der Schreibstil erscheint mir im Nachhinein sehr langweilig. [I liked The Adventurous Sisters the least because for me personally it was too unrealistic and you could not get yourself involved in the story well. Retrospectively, the writing style appears very boring to me.] (Magda‐ lena, final questionnaire) Table 7: Students’ Attitudes to the Writing Style In my study, it becomes apparent that the students appreciate texts in which the feelings of the characters are described in detail. Students repeatedly point out in the reading diaries that they like these texts which provide them with a deep insight into the feelings of the characters. Leonie, for example, states in the reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito that she values this novella for not fo‐ cusing so much on tension but rather on the description of relation‐ ships / thoughts / feelings. Other students praise the use of adjectives, adverbs or metaphors in the description of the feelings of the characters (Charlotte, reading diary for Voice of a Dream). Emma (reading diary), on the other hand, criticises the writing style of The Unfulfilled Dream for not sufficiently focalising feelings. Repeatedly, students point out that they like the honest way in which the narratives are written. Emma, for example, notes her appreciation of the fact that the writer of The Unfulfilled Dream does not hide or embellish any un‐ pleasant information, and Charlotte (reading diary) admires the same book for the “knallharte Darlegung der Wahrheit [brutal exposition of truth]”. Some students also mention that they like the writing style of a particular text because it includes many dialogues or because it addresses them personally. Theresa, for instance, states in the reading diary for “ JJ ” that it is easier for her to understand texts consisting mainly of dialogues and Franziska appreciates the writing style of I Will Miss Mr Kizito for speaking to her. In addition, some students like it when writers make use of youth language in their texts. Martin 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 288 <?page no="289"?> (reading diary), for example, values that the writing style of I Will Miss Mr Kizito is rather “jugendlich [youthful]”. Other students criticise the writing style of a particular text for being too childish (e.g. Julia, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) or too demanding (e.g. Niklas, reading diary for “First Kiss”). Furthermore, students repeatedly state that they dislike a text for being written in an unrealistic way. Plot Concerning the plot, students frequently point out that they find a certain nar‐ rative “interessant [interesting]”, “spannend [exciting]” or “lustig [funny]”. They particularly like passages in the texts that are positive and talk, for example, about harmonious relationships or achievements of the characters. As the fol‐ lowing quotes illustrate, many of the students also emphasise in the reading diaries and interviews that a happy ending is very important for them: • Für mich war wichtig, dass es am Ende gut aus geht. [sic] [For me it is important that it ends positively.] (Miriam, reading diary for Moses) • Für mich ist ein einigermasen [sic] gutes Ende wichtig. [For me a fairly positive ending is important.] (Rebecca, reading diary for How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails) • Ich finde es schön, dass die Geschichte ein ‘Happy End’ hat und gut ausgeht. [I consider it nice that the story has a ‘happy ending’ and ends well.] (Emma, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Repeatedly, students criticise passages of texts or whole texts that according to them are primarily negative. Leonie, for example, states that she does not like the pessimistic and brutal plot of Children of the Red Fields. Many students in‐ dicate in the reading diaries that they would rewrite certain negative passages of a narrative to make them more positive. In addition, many modification re‐ quests that students express are directed at the negative endings of the texts, as may be exemplified through the following quotes: • Ich würde in der Geschichte ein glücklicheres Ende einfügen, dass ‘Maama’ nicht an AIDS erkrankt ist und zumindest ein Elternteil übrig bleibt. [I would insert a happier ending in the story so that ‘Maama’ does not get AIDS and at least one parent remains.] (Benjamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Ich würde daran verändern, dass Julius Julie am Ende auch ‘liebt’. [I would change that eventually Julius ‘loves’ Julie, too.] (Franziska, reading diary for “JJ”) • Ich würde das Ende dieser Geschichte ändern. Bei mir würde es wahrscheinlich so aussehen, das Akello und Ruth schließlich wieder akzeptiert werden und 7.1 Contexts 289 <?page no="290"?> nicht, dass sie wegen einem Fehler direkt aus der schule [sic] geschmissen und verachtet werden. [I would change the ending of this story. In my version it would end with Akello and Ruth being accepted again and not being expelled from school and despised because of one mistake.] (Rebecca, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) On the other hand, some students also express their appreciation concerning endings that are according to them not (entirely) happy but credible and / or educational instead: • Ich finde es auch gut, dass fast alle Probleme gelöst wurden und es ein Happy End gibt, das nicht unlogisch oder kitschig ist. [I like it that almost all problems are solved and there is a happy ending which is not irrational or kitschy.] (Emma, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Ich fand das Ende zwar schrecklich, jedoch würde ich nichts daran ändern, da es womöglich als Abschreckung für Kinder dienen soll, um nicht so zu enden wie Akello. [In my opinion, the ending is terrible but I would not change it because it probably serves as deterrent for children so as not to end up like Akello.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) Other students also state that they judge certain entirely positive parts or de‐ velopments in the texts as not credible. Oliver (case 3), for example, does not appreciate the fact that Mpaka and Kakazi, who could not have any children before, suddenly have so many as soon as they started helping others (reading diary for The Baby in the Forest). In the same book, Emil criticises that the vil‐ lagers help Mpaka and Kakazi without any hesitation, although these two treated the villagers so badly before. The students look at these aspects as not credible. Furthermore, a few students assert that they do not like it when the plot of a narrative is predictable. Some of the students also refer to the plot of certain narratives as “langweilig [boring]” or “sinnlos [meaningless]”. Particularly Philipp (case 9) and Hannes (case 12) repeatedly indicate that the plot of various narratives which they read in the project is illogical, confusing, incredible or banal. Some other students miss a real storyline in the stories. Benjamin (case 7), for example, evaluates “The Hair Cut” as the worst text in the project, which he justifies with the fol‐ lowing statement: Die Geschichte hat keinen wirklichen Höhepunkt außer einem kleinen Abschnitt am Anfang. Es hat keine richtige Einleitung. Es hat keine wirkliche Story, sondern zeigt nur den übertriebenen Alltag eines Schulmädchens. [The story does not have a real climax except a short section at the beginning. It has no real introduction. It has no 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 290 <?page no="291"?> real story but shows the exaggerated everyday life of a school girl.] (Final question‐ naire) Characters The students also express their sympathy or antipathy towards the characters in the books and short stories. Despite the fact that the protagonists or major characters are presented in more detail in the narratives than the minor char‐ acters, the attitudes the students formulate with reference to the characters in the reading diaries and interviews are addressed to both major and minor ones almost equally. Students mainly admire characters for being strong and persistent but also for being helpful and devoted. They repeatedly refer to strength and endurance when they talk about the protagonist of Voice of a Dream (Nanfuka) or I Will Not Fail (Namukose), as the following quotes illustrate: • Der Hauptcharakter, Nanfuka, ist super. Sie symbolisiert Stärke und Durch‐ haltevermögen. [The main character, Nanfuka, is great. She symbolises strength and perseverance.] (Emma, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Ich bewundere die Tapferkeit bei Nanfuka sich gegen Naka durchzusetzen und in dieser Situation durchzuhalten, [wie sie] sich um die Säuglinge kümmert und alles im Griff hat. [I admire Nanfuka’s braveness to win through against Naka and to persevere in this situation, how she cares for the babies and has every‐ thing under control.] (Benjamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Ich bewundere Nanfukas Stärke. [I admire Nanfuka’s strength.] (Anna, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Ich bewundere Namukose dafür, dass sie so hart dafür gekämpft hat, etwas aus sich zu machen und sich für die Frauen / Mädchen einsetzt. [I admire Namukose for fighting so hard to get somewhere and for standing up for women / girls.] (Helena, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) • Ich bewundere das Durchhaltevermögen von Namukose und die Unterstützung von Namaganda. [I admire Nanfuka’s perseverance and Namaganda’s support.] (Magdalena, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) Their appreciation of readiness to help and devotion to others is mainly ex‐ pressed with reference to minor characters in the stories, e.g. Namukose’s mother in I Will Not Fail or Uncle George in “The Hair Cut”. The students value that these characters care for their fellow human beings and are also ready to make sacrifices themselves. 7.1 Contexts 291 <?page no="292"?> Students repeatedly point out that they like it when a certain character goes through a development and changes for the better, as becomes apparent in the following quotes: • Am sympatischsten [sic] ist mir Sendi, da er anfangs ein Frauenheld war und sehr ‘Macho’-mäßig auftrat und sich in Nanfuka verliebt und im laufe [sic] der Zeit verändert und alles dafür tut, um mit ihr eine Beziehung zu haben. [I con‐ sider Sendi the most likeable person because at the beginning he was a wom‐ aniser and acted like a ‘macho’ but then he falls in love with Nanfuka and changes with time and tries everything to have a relationship with her.] (Ben‐ jamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Ich bewundere an Alex, dass er über sehr kurze Zeit um einiges reifer geworden ist, so wie auch viele andere Charaktere in dieser Geschichte. [I admire Alex for becoming more mature in a very short time, as many other characters in the story.] (Vanessa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich bin von der Charakterentwicklung von Alex beeindruckt gewesen. [Alex’s character development impressed me.] (Martin, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Occasionally, students, however, judge character descriptions or their drastic change and development as not credible. Sophie, for example, makes the fol‐ lowing statement in her reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters: Nyabwangu hat sich zu leicht umstimmen lassen. Das ist nicht wirklich realistisch. Ich hätte sie etwas frech belassen, aber nicht mehr ganz so gemein wie vorher. [It was too easy to change Nyabwangu’s mind. That is not realistic. I would have carried on depicting her as daring, but a little bit less mean than before.] The students express their antipathy particularly concerning minor characters, such as the mother in The Precious Calabash, the father in The Unfulfilled Dream, Mercy in Our Cousins from Abroad or Aunt Naka in Voice of a Dream. Students dislike these characters for being mean, not understanding, arrogant and / or unjust. Some also express their dislike of characters who are portrayed as weak and submissive (e.g. Leonie in her reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters). In several students’ comments, it becomes apparent that they consider it very important for the protagonist of a narrative to be likable. Rebecca, for example, makes the following statement: Ich fand es total gemein, dass Mpaka und Kakazi am Anfang so gemein zu allen waren. Zum Glück bessert es sich mit der Zeit, da ich es garnicht [sic] leiden kann, wenn die Hauptpersonen gemein sind. [I thought it really nasty that Mpaka and Kakazi were so mean to the others at the beginning. Luckily this got better with time because I do 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 292 <?page no="293"?> not like it when the main characters are mean.] (Rebecca, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Leonie, points out that she almost always likes the protagonists of the narratives she is reading but that this is different in the case of the books she read in the reading project: Ich habe jetzt 4 Bücher gelesen und nur bei einem (I Will Not Fail) mochte ich die Charaktere. Z. B. ist Moses die Hauptperson und meistens mag ich die Hauptperson vom Charakter her, Moses aber nicht. Ist mir einfach so aufgefallen. [I have now read 4 books and only in one (I Will Not Fail) I liked the characters, e.g. Moses is the main character and most of the time I like the main person’s character, but not Moses. Something I’ve just noticed.]” (Reading diary for Moses in Trouble) The analysis of students’ responses also shows that their attitudes to certain characters may differ completely. Whereas some describe Flora’s mother in “The Hair Cut” as very caring, others do not like the way she treats her daughter. Similarly, some students appreciate Chief Luba’s care for his daughters in The Jewels of Amuria but others look at him as egoistic because he does not allow them to marry. Diverse attitudes of the students to some of the characters in the narratives are depicted in Table 8. Character Positive attitudes of the students Negative attitudes of the students Flora’s mother in “The Hair Cut” Die Mutter von Flora und ihr Onkel kümmern sich sehr um Flora, was ir‐ gendwie schön ist. [Flora’s mother and her uncle care for Flora, which is nice somehow.] (Helena, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Ich bewundere das Ver‐ ständnis, das die Mutter gezeigt hat und dass sie ihrer Tochter vorschlug zum Friseur zu gehen. [I admire the understanding her mother shows and that she suggests to her daughter to go to the hair‐ dresser.] (Theresa, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Ich finde die Mutter ir‐ gendwie nicht ganz sym‐ pathisch. Wenn sie ein Problem mit dem Kind hat, soll sich der Onkel darum kümmern. Sie wirkt nicht so, als könne sie sich durchsetzen. Und ich ver‐ stehe ja, dass sie das Beste für ihre Tochter will, aber ihr dann die Bettelkinder zu zeigen, um ihr zu sagen, was für ein gutes Leben sie hat, nachdem sie vom Onkel zusammen ges‐ taucht wurde, ist nicht net [sic]. [Somehow I do not like the mother. When she has a problem with her child, the uncle has to take care of it. She seems to be unable to assert herself. 7.1 Contexts 293 <?page no="294"?> And I understand that she wants the best for her daughter but to show her begging children to tell her what a good life she has after having been bawled out by the uncle is not nice.] (Emma, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Father in Jewels of Amuria Ich empfinde den Vater als sehr fürsorglich und nett. Er liebt seine Töchter wir‐ klich. (…) Ich kenne selber eine Person, die einen bösen Vater hat und mich hat der Vater berührt. Ich habe von vielen Afrika‐ nern gehört die ihre Kinder zur Heirat verkaufen an viel ältere Männer und die sie dann böse behandeln. [I consider the father as very caring and nice. He loves his daughters really (…) I know a person who has a mean father and the father has affected me. I have heard of many Africans who sell their children for marriage to much older men and who then treat them badly.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) Ich finde den Chief zum Teil sehr unsympatisch [sic], da er aus liebe [sic] zu seinen Töchtern was für sie verlangt. Ich weiß, bei uns heute dürfen wir zum Großteil selbst ent‐ scheiden, wen wir heiraten möchten, früher war das ja anders, dennoch finde ich den Chief dadurch, dass er nicht auf die Gefühle seiner Töchter achtet un‐ sympatisch [sic]. [I con‐ sider the chief to be very unlikeable at times be‐ cause out of love for his daughters he demands something for them. I know, we can now mainly decide on our own whom we marry but it used to be different, still I consider the chief unlikeable be‐ cause he does not respect the feelings of his daugh‐ ters.] (Miriam, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) Table 8: Different Attitudes of the Students to the Same Characters Moral / Theme The students often point out that they like a particular text or text passage because it contains a certain moral or teaches the reader a lesson. Charlotte, for example, makes the following statement in the reading diary for The Precious Calabash: Ich bewundere an allen Büchern von diesem Projekt, die ich bisher gelesen hab, welch’ große Bedeutung und Nachricht an den Leser vermittelt wird und ich finde es klasse, 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 294 <?page no="295"?> wie es manche Autoren schaffen, mithilfe von ein paar Seiten Text und einer kurzen Geschichte, den Leser nachdenklich zu stimmen und ihm eine neue Sicht- und Denk‐ weise über bestimmte Themen zu ermöglichen. [I admire about all the books in this project that I have read so far how much meaning and what a message they convey to the reader and I consider it great how some of the writers manage to make the reader reflective and give him / her new views and perspectives on certain topics with just a few pages of text and a short story.] Many students seem to appreciate it when the text gives the readers food for thought or passes on a message which may also be applied to their own lives like “nicht gleich verzweifeln [don’t give up so quickly]” (Emma, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”), “auf sein Herz hören [to look into one’s own heart]” (Char‐ lotte, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) or “dass man sein Leben selbst in der Hand hat [that you have life in your own hands” (Elias, reading diary for The Precious Calabash). They frequently state that a moral, an educational lesson or a clear writing intention by the author is important to them: • Ich würde diese Geschichte weiterempfehlen, weil man von ihr etwas lernen und fürs Erwachsen werden gebrauchen kann. [I would recommend this story because you can learn something through it and use it for growing up.] (Mag‐ dalena, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Ich fande [sic] es toll, dass Flora und ich uns in gewisser Hinsicht ähneln und dass man von dieser Geschichte auch etwas gelernt hat. [In my opinion, it was great that Flora and I resemble each other in many aspects and that you can learn something through this story.] (Charlotte, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) • Ja, ich würde es weiterempfehlen, da man aus diesem Buch wirklich etwas lernen kann. [Yes, I would recommend it because you can really learn some‐ thing through that book.] (Vanessa, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Some students also criticise a certain text for lacking a moral or suggest in their proposals for improvements that a lesson could be integrated into the text. Other participants of my study, however, state that they appreciate it when the moral of a story is rather subtle and not too obvious. Emma likes Voice of a Dream because she perceives it as a nice story from which one can learn “ohne von der ‘Moralkeule’ erschlagen zu werden [without being hit over the head with the moral]” (reading diary). Leonie criticises the blatant presentation of morals in The Adventurous Sisters: 7.1 Contexts 295 <?page no="296"?> Ansonsten sieht es aus wie ein typisches Schulbuch, das keiner lesen will, weil es nur geschrieben wurde, um eine Moral zu vermitteln, in diesem Fall ‘sei nett und brav und mach was man dir sagt’. [Otherwise, it looks like a typical school book that no one wants to read because it was only written to transmit a moral, in this case ‘be nice and well-behaved and do what you are told’.] (Reading diary) Length of the Text Concerning the length of the texts, students’ answers diverge. Some students appreciate the short stories and novellas for being not too long so that they can be read in a short time, whereas others state that they prefer longer texts because they get to know more about the characters which makes it easier to empathise with them, for example. The two diverging quotes in Table 9 may illustrate these diverse attitudes. Preference for short texts Preference for long texts Ich würde dieses Buch weiterempfehlen da es kurz und einfach zu verstehen ist, zudem nimmt es unerwartete Drehungen in der Handlung. [I would recommend this book because it is short and easy to un‐ derstand, furthermore there are unex‐ pected twists in the plot.] (Emil, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Ich fand das eigentlich schön, dass es ers‐ tens recht lang ging und auch ziemlich dick war, die anderen waren alle recht dünn. Und daher konnte halt auch mehr passieren, mehr Handlung und so. [I kind of liked it that it was first of all quite long and also relatively thick, the others were all rather thin. And because of this more could happen, more plot and so on.] (Charlotte, interview) Table 9: Students’ Appreciation of the Length of the Texts Level of Linguistic Difficulty Repeatedly, students point out that they appreciate the texts in the reading project being quite easy to read: Der Text war recht einfach gehalten, wodurch es auch mehr Spaß gemacht hat, ihn zu lesen. Es wurden meistens nur Wörter benutzt, die ich aus meinem Vokabular schon kannte und wenn es mal vorgekommen ist, dass ich ein Wort nicht verstanden habe, wurde es doch aus dem Kontext heraus verständlich. [The text was relatively simple, which made it more pleasant to read. Mostly words were used, which I already had in my vocabulary and when a word came up that I did not understand, I could get it from the context.] (Lukas, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) They state, for example, that they could understand most of the words in the text and therefore follow the plot quite easily. Some students, however, also 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 296 <?page no="297"?> criticise that the writing style of a certain text, e.g. the sentence structure ( Julia, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito), is too childish. Conversely, other stu‐ dents indicate in the reading diaries of the more difficult books that they ap‐ preciate that the particular book they are reading is not too easy and that its writing style is not “zu kindisch [too childish]” (Philipp, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”). Only a small number of students criticise a text that they read in the project for being too complicated, for example, because it contains long and complex sentences (Niklas, reading diary for “First Kiss”) or makes use of an unusual sentence structure (Silvia, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters). Text Comprehension In my reading project, the students do not express many language-based prob‐ lems in their text comprehension process. Most of them state that they could comprehend the texts quite well. They mention several linguistic and stylistic aspects of the texts which aided their comprehension process: • many familiar words • many common words • short and simple sentence structures • short descriptions without unnecessary details • direct speech • pictures In addition, students justify the ease with which they understand the texts with, for example, their experience of reading English texts (Rebecca, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) or their good English skills (Sophie, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest and Claudius, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters). Particularly for the books which are marked with a red dot, students, however, repeatedly express comprehension difficulties arising from linguistic issues. Some of these difficulties become apparent in the following quotes: • Ich habe einzelne Seiten nicht ganz verstanden, da ich die Wörter nicht wusste. [I did not completely understand some individual pages because I did not know the words.] (Lea, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Der Text war für mich an einigen Stellen ziemlich schwer zu verstehen, da öfters Sätze wie ‘The dumb, handsome Bajombora boys, six of them’ keinen Sinn für mich ergaben. Auch wurden viele Wörter wie ‘dazzling’, ‘alas’ oder ‘potholes’ verwendet, die ich nicht kannte. [Some parts of the text were very difficult to understand for me because often sentences such as ‘The dumb, handsome Ba‐ jombora boys, six of them’ did not make sense for me. Moreover, many words 7.1 Contexts 297 <?page no="298"?> such as ‘dazzling’, ‘alas’ or ‘potholes’ were used which I did not know.] (Niklas, reading diary for “First Kiss”) • Durch eine Vielzahl unbekannter Wörter und Formulierungen ist es notwendig, einige Zeilen mehrmals zu lesen, um Zusammenhänge zu verstehen. [Because of a high number of unknown words and phrases it is necessary to read a few lines several times to understand the context.] ( Jennifer, reading diary for Moses) However, comprehension problems did not emerge only from the texts marked with a red dot; Leonie makes the following statement in the reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters: Es hat mich überrascht, dass ich bei dem Buch für kleine ugandische Kinder mit grünem Punkt am wenigsten verstehe. [It surprised me that I understood the least in the book for small Ugandan children with a green dot.] Various other students also point out difficulties in understanding the texts which I categorised as rather simple concerning the linguistic level and therefore marked with a green dot. The following quotes may illustrate this: • Ja, der Text war schwierig, da er viele Wörter beinhaltet hat, die ich nicht wusste. [Yes, the text was difficult because it included many words which I did not know.] (Claudius, reading diary for The Precious Calabash) • Ich wusste ein paar Vokabeln nicht, was manche Textstellen schwierig gemacht hat. Ich hätte gern jemand gefragt, was manche Sätze übersezt [sic] heißen. [Some of the vocabularies I did not know, which made some of the text passages difficult. I would have liked to ask someone what some of the sentences mean in translation.] (Miriam, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Ich habe einige der Wörter aus dem ugandischen nicht verstanden und leider gab es auch keine Fußnoten, durch die die erklärt werden. [I did not understand some of the words from Ugandan (language) and unfortunately there were also no footnotes which explained them.] (Monika, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) These examples show that students had particular problems in understanding unknown vocabulary. Some of them express particular difficulties with refer‐ ence to texts that make use of code-switching and include words from other languages spoken in Uganda (e.g. Luganda or Kiswahili). In addition to the difficulties students refer to explicitly, it occasionally be‐ comes implicitly apparent that despite claiming they understood a certain pas‐ sage of a text, the opposite was actually the case. This lack of understanding is often limited to the misinterpretation of single words as in the case of Benjamin 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 298 <?page no="299"?> 4 Whereas Table 10 includes the ten most frequently mentioned texts by the students, Table 11 only comprises nine texts. The cut was made at nine in this case because texts different from the ones listed in the table were only listed by single students in my study. (case 7) who translated “nurse” with “Ärztin [doctor]” (reading diary) or in Re‐ becca’s (case 11) initial belief that “tails” in English equals “Täler [valleys]” in German (reading diary). Frequently, misinterpretations of that type get cleared up during the process of reading. In a few cases, however, the students’ lack of understanding affects the comprehension of the text as a whole. Emil, for ex‐ ample, is of the opinion that the character Aber in The Precious Calabash is not eaten by the lion because her mother protects her, which is incorrect and changes the meaning of the story entirely. Misinterpretations of this kind may be traced back to a lack of English language skills and / or inadequate reading competence in the foreign language on the part of the individual student, but other factors such as inattentiveness during the reading process or the possibility of non-com‐ pletion of the book / story may also play a role in this context. The students in my study also list various strategies which they make use of in their comprehension process, such as guessing words from the context or looking them up. Occasionally, they state that they failed in their endeavours to find out the meaning of a certain word, as was the case, for example, with Leonie, who points out in the reading diary for A Testing of Strength that she did not manage to find out what “embuta” means in German. Reactions to Individual Texts in the Project It becomes repeatedly apparent in the reading project that students’ attitudes to a particular literary text may diverge. This can be observed, for example, when students’ answers to the question “Which of the text in the reading project do you like the most / least? ” in the final questionnaire are analysed. The top ten / nine lists 4 with the most and the least liked texts are displayed in Tables 10 and 11. Category Example Fre‐ quency I Will Miss Mr Ki‐ zito Ich finde I Will Miss Mr Kitzo am besten, da es sehr lebensnah ist. [In my opinion, I Will Miss Mr Kizito is the best because it is very close to real life.] ( Julia) 6 The Adventurous Sisters The Adventurous Sisters, weil ich es einfach schön fand. [The Adventurous Sisters because I find it simply nice.] (Mia) 5 7.1 Contexts 299 <?page no="300"?> “The Hair Cut” “The Hair Cut” hat mir am besten gefallen, weil es gezeigt hat, dass SchülerInnen in Uganda die glei‐ chen kleinen Probleme haben wie hier in Deutsch‐ land. [I liked “The Hair Cut” most because it showed that students in Uganda have the same problems as we have in Germany.] (Gabriell) 4 The Jewels of Amuria Jewels of Amuria, da es das Buch ist, welches am meisten mit Sinn bestückt ist [ Jewels of Amuria because it is the book that is the most meaningful.] (Hannes) 4 Children of the Red Fields Mir hat The Children of the Red Fields am besten gefallen, da es mich am meisten bewegt hat und ich mich am besten in die Person herreinversetzen [sic] konnte. [I liked The Children of the Red Fields the most because it moved me the most and I could also empathise best with the person.] (Rebecca) 4 Voice of a Dream Voice of a Dream hat mir gefallen, da ich mich in die Hauptfigur hineinversetzen konnte und ich die Ge‐ schichte / die Aussage des Buches mochte. [I liked Voice of a Dream because I could empathise with the main character and I liked the story / the mes‐ sage of the book.] (Emma) 3 Moses in Trouble Moses in Trouble, da es sprachlich anspruchsvoller war als die anderen. [Moses in Trouble because it was more demanding language-wise than the others.] (Elias) 3 The Precious Cala‐ bash The Precious Calabash. Es ging um ein normales Leben und nicht über Aids. [The Precious Cala‐ bash. It was about normal life and not about AIDS.] (Felix) 3 How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails, weil es sehr kreativ geschrieben wurde und viel Fantasie bein‐ haltet. [How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails be‐ cause it is written in a very creative way and con‐ tains much fantasy.] (Claudius) 3 “JJ” “JJ” hat mich sehr an mich erinnert und ich habe großen Respekt vor dem Mädchen. [“JJ” reminded me very much of myself and I have a lot of respect for the girl.] (Anna) 3 Table 10: Top Ten Texts in the Reading Project That Were Liked the Most by Students (n=44) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 300 <?page no="301"?> Category Example Fre‐ quency The Precious Cala‐ bash The Precious Calabash fand ich am schlechtesten, da es eine total unwirkliche Geschichte bzw. ein Märchen war und das mochte ich nicht. [The Pre‐ cious Calabash was the worst, in my opinion, be‐ cause it was a completely unrealistic story or fairy tale and I did not like that.] (Charlotte) 6 The Adventurous Sisters The Adventurous Sisters: Weil es für mich persön‐ lich zu unrealistisch war bzw. man sich nicht so gut in die Geschichte versetzen konnte. [The Adven‐ turous Sisters: Because for me personally it was too unrealistic and you could not get yourself involved in the story well.] (Magdalena) 5 The Baby in the Forest Baby in the Forest da es keinen Sinn gemacht hat. [Baby in the Forest because it did not make sense.] (Hannes) 4 The Unfulfilled Dream The Unfulfilled Dream. Es klingt wie ein Märchen dass man kleinen Kindern erzählt um ihnen Angst zu machen [The Unfulfilled Dream. It sounds like a fairy tale that you tell small children to scare them.] (Felix) 3 I Will Miss Mr Ki‐ zito I Will Miss Mr Kizito, da das Buch sehr langweilig war und das Thema mich nicht unbedingt intere‐ siert [sic] hat. [I Will Miss Mr Kizito because the book was very boring and the topic not of partic‐ ular interest to me.] (Theresa) 3 Our Cousins from Abroad Our Cousins from Abroad, da die Handlung ziemlich uninteressant war. [Our Cousins from Abroad be‐ cause the plot was rather uninteresting.] (Elias) 3 “JJ” “JJ”, der plötzliche Bruch in der Geschichte ist ver‐ blüffend und spannend aber es ist auch enttäu‐ schend und unerwartet. [“JJ”, the sudden break in the story is surprising and exciting but it is also disappointing and unexpected.] (Akin) 2 Children of the Red Fields Mir hat das Buch Children of the Red Fields nicht so gut gefallen, da ich die Thematik sehr schlimm fand und auch etwas traurig. [I did not like Children of the Red Fields very much because I found the topic really terrible and also a bit sad.] (Lea) 2 “The Hair Cut” “The Hair Cut”. Weil es unwirklich erscheint, wie das Mädchen tagelang im Zimmer liegt, aber nach einem Haarschnitt wieder alles gut ist. [“The Hair Cut”. Because it seems unreal that the girl is lying 2 7.1 Contexts 301 <?page no="302"?> in her room for days but after she gets her hair cut, everything is fine again.] (Niko) Table 11: Top Nine Texts in the Reading Project That Were Liked the Least by Students (n=44) As Tables 10 and 11 show, the students come up with a wide range of answers to this question. Their answers are not focused only on a few narratives but widely dispersed across almost all the texts that are part of the project. In ad‐ dition, many texts are listed in both tables, which indicates that they are liked by some and disliked by others. Particularly The Adventurous Sisters seems to be a narrative as to which opinions diverge: Five students indicate that this is the book they liked the most in the reading project, whereas five other students liked it the least. The explanations which students give for their choice of the best and the worst text in the project give further insights into their reading interests. Whereas many of the students appreciate a narrative for being written in a rather realistic mode, other students particularly like a text for including fan‐ tastic elements: Example: Realistic mode Example: Fantastic elements Ich mochte am liebsten das Buch I Will Miss Mr Kizito, da es am realitätsnähestem [sic] ist. [I liked the most the book I Will Miss Mr Kizito because it is the closest to reality.] (Emil, final questionnaire) Mir hat das Buch The Adventurous Sisters am Besten [sic] gefallen, da es interessant war und es viel erfundenes [sic] enthält [I liked the book The Adventurous Sisters the most because it was interesting and in‐ cludes much that has been invented.] (Theresa, final questionnaire) Table 12: Students’ Preferences Concerning Realistic vs. Fantastic Elements in the Nar‐ ratives Again it should be noted that the number of the students who express their aversion to fantastic elements in the narratives is predominant in my study. Interestingly, it can even be observed that many of those students who indicate fantasy as the genre they are most interested in the first questionnaire, do not appreciate the fantastic elements in the different Ugandan narratives. Leyla, for example, states in the first questionnaire that she likes fantasy books but she criticises The Precious Calabash in the final questionnaire for a lack of references to reality. Niklas, who also indicates in the first questionnaire that he is inter‐ ested in fantasy novels, points out that he dislikes The Adventurous Sisters be‐ 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 302 <?page no="303"?> cause it is neither completely realistic nor completely unrealistic and therefore irrational in his opinion: The Adventurous Sisters hat mir am wenigsten gefallen da die Geschichte einerseits realistisch war, andererseits aber auch unrealistische Stellen vorkommen die die Handlung unlogisch machen. [I liked The Adventurous Sisters the least because the story was on the one hand realistic and on the other hand also contained plot passages that make it irrational.] (Final questionnaire) Summary and Interpretation The analysis of the data shows that the majority of the students participating in my study are interested in reading in German and do not like reading in English equally as much. This may also be grounded in the fact that they are not yet very experienced in reading in English and do not regularly get exposed to lit‐ erary texts in English. Most of them indicate that they do not frequently read literary texts in English. Many of the students who were interviewed state that they find it difficult to access reading materials in English in Germany and some express their wish to read more in English in the future. Several students also point out in the final questionnaire that they appreciate the fact that the exten‐ sive reading project gave them the chance to read several texts in English which they usually do not have. Individual students in my study have very different attitudes to reading. Whereas some describe themselves as book lovers, others state that they do not like reading and (almost) never read. These attitudes are partly reflected in the number and length of the texts the students read in the project. The students who read the most texts in the project, Emma (eight texts, three long texts), Leonie (ten texts, five long texts), Rebecca (14 texts, five long texts) all indicate in the first questionnaire that they like reading in German very much and that they like reading in English or like it moderately. On the other hand, there are also many students in my study who claim in the first questionnaire to like reading in German and in English, but they do not read many or any texts in the reading project. Gürkan, for example states that he likes reading in German very much and reading in English moderately but he does not read a single text in the reading project. Some students who express their aversion against reading in the first questionnaire, however, read five or six texts in the reading project which is more than the average of 4.4. Here, the social desirability bias could also have played an important role. Hannes (case 12), for example, openly admits that he just read the texts in the reading project to do me, the researcher, a favour. Hence, generally speaking it may be concluded that students’ descriptions of 7.1 Contexts 303 <?page no="304"?> their attitudes to reading and their reading behaviour during the project do not always correspond. It is assumed that students who like reading and read a lot also reach a better understanding of the texts (see virtuous circle of a good reader; Nuttall, 1982, pp. 167-168). In my study, this seems to be true for some of the avid readers such as Magdalena (case 2), Emma (case 4), Charlotte (case 8), Rebecca (case 11) and Leonie. Their deep understanding of the texts becomes, for example, apparent in comparably long reading diary entries which feature detailed character anal‐ yses, reflections and frequent links to other literary texts. These links in par‐ ticular seem to give an insight into their advanced understanding since they suggest that they have quite a lot of prior knowledge concerning literary texts and are able to read texts closely. The following quotes provide some examples of links which these students establish between different texts in the reading project: • Schon im ersten Buch wurde gegen Ende King Kong ‘dorm prefect’. Warum ist es in diesem Buch wieder Rukia? [King Kong already became the ‘dorm prefect’ in the first book. Why is it Rukia again in this book? ] (Rebecca, reading diary for Moses in Trouble) • Ich fand den Schreibstil sehr angenehm zu lesen (Ich-Perspektive, viele Meta‐ phern). Er hat dem von Moses geähnelt, was aber durchaus typisch für Bücher eines Autor ist. [I considered the writing style very pleasant to read (first person perspective, many metaphors). It was similar to that of Moses which is common for books by the same author.] (Magdalena, reading diary for Moses in Trouble) • In den Büchern, die ich schon gelesen habe, wurden nur die negativen Seiten beleuchtet. Ich hatte den Eindruck, dass Eltern ihre Kinder überhaupt nicht mögen und sie überhaupt nur gezeugt haben, um damit später Geld zu ver‐ dienen. In diesem Buch mag Namukoses Mutter sie und versucht ihr zu helfen. [In the books which I have already read only the negative aspects were exam‐ ined. I had the impression that parents do not like their children at all and just procreated to make money with them later on. In this book, Namukose’s mother likes her and tries to help her.] (Leonie, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) In the case of some other students, however, their attitudes to reading and their understanding of the text do not seem to correspond. Niko (case 1), who does not like reading literary texts and does not frequently read, expresses himself very reflectedly in the interview, while Oliver (case 3) likes reading but generally rejects the texts and projects his own perceptions onto them instead of trying to understand them. However, it should be noted that the degree of students’ 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 304 <?page no="305"?> understanding of a text is difficult to evaluate and influenced by various factors; the aforementioned criteria therefore only serve as points of reference. The data analysis shows that the students’ reading interests differ consider‐ ably: While 20 students indicate in the first questionnaire that they are interested in fantasy literature, ten state that this is the genre they like the least. Further‐ more, the students list a huge variety of different texts when they are asked in the final questionnaire about the text they liked the most and the least in the project. When they express their emotions to the texts in the reading diaries, interviews and final questionnaire, the division of students into those who like realistic elements and those who prefer fantasy becomes apparent again. Whereas some students point out that they appreciate those books written in a realistic mode, others value the inclusion of fantastic elements. Anita, for ex‐ ample refers to the imaginary aspects of The Adventurous Sisters as “Zauberwelt [magical world]” (reading diary) and states that she admires the writer for cre‐ ating it. Magdalena, in contrast, points out in the final questionnaire that The Adventurous Sisters was the book she disliked the most in the project because she considers it to be too unrealistic and she could, therefore, not really get involved in the story. In general, the number of students who criticise the folk‐ tales for being unrealistic in my study prevails over those who appreciate them. It also becomes apparent that many students who indicate in the first question‐ naire that they like fantasy fiction despise narratives that make use of fantastic elements in the project. Students’ positive emotions to good story endings, strong and powerful char‐ acters and meaningful lessons that can be learnt through the narratives suggest that the students in my study enjoy reading texts about courage, hope and de‐ termination rather than about negative examples that deter. On the other hand, many students also point to the honest way serious topics are written about by some of the writers as very positive. 7.1.3 Biography Another context that has an impact on the mental processes of the students is their biography. In the following, an overview of the socio-demographic data which were obtained via the first questionnaire and biographical information gained through the reading diaries and interviews is given. Furthermore, ex‐ amples of instances in which students refer to their own biography in their mental processes are provided. 7.1 Contexts 305 <?page no="306"?> Sex / Gender According to the data obtained from the first questionnaire, 23 girls and 22 boys participated in this study. The concept of gender becomes relevant in different instances during the reading process. For some students, it seems to play an important role in text selection. They state that they select a certain text because they consider it to be meant for boys / girls (see also Chapter 7.1.2). Others ex‐ press difficulties in understanding a character which are based on gender per‐ spectives (see also Chapter 7.2.2). Age Students in my study were also asked for their year of birth and age in the first questionnaire. The majority of the students were born in the years 1999 or 2000 and were, therefore, at the time of the implementation of this study between 14 and 16 years old. A few students were a bit older (born in 1998), and one student, Rebecca (case 11) was born in 2002 and thus younger than her classmates. In the case of Rebecca, the difference in age may be noticed in her reading diaries and interviews, for example, when she explains that she likes reading books for younger children. Nationality / Cultural Background In the first questionnaire, the students also gave information concerning their nationality, country of birth and the countries of birth of their parents. These variables were used as first indicators for the students’ cultural background. According to the German Federal Statistical Office (2016), “all persons who have immigrated into the territory of today’s Federal Republic of Germany after 1949, and of all foreigners born in Germany and all persons born in Germany who have at least one parent who immigrated into the country or was born as a foreigner in Germany” have a migration background. Data analysis showed that based on these variables eight of the students could be identified as ‘with a migration background’ since they have a nationality different from German or either they themselves or one / both of the parents was / were born in another country. That the cultural background of the students may, however, not simply be based on their nationality or own / parents’ country of birth but is in fact a complex concept, becomes very apparent in the case of Anna (case 10). She describes herself as bicultural regarding her family background although she was born in Germany and both her parents were born in Germany as well. She explains in the interview that her mother’s partner is English and she has grown up with two cultures for five years. Taking complexities of that type into ac‐ count, an orientation towards the definition ‘with a migration background’ will 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 306 <?page no="307"?> be avoided in my study when referring to the cultural background of the stu‐ dents. Instead, I will rather rely on the descriptions of the students of their cul‐ tural background, i.e. whether they describe themselves as monoculturally or biculturally socialised in the interview. Students frequently make references to their nationality, country of origin or culture in the reading diaries and interviews of which most are embedded in comparisons (see Chapter 7.2.2). This is both the case for the students who de‐ scribe themselves as monocultural and those who describe themselves as bicul‐ tural regarding their family background. An especially high frequency of ref‐ erences to one’s own bicultural socialisation may be observed in the case of Leyla (case 6). She constantly refers to her country of origin, Turkey and compares it with Germany and Uganda. Independent of whether the students describe themselves as monoculturally or biculturally socialised, many of them construct their rootedness in a Western-European or German society and culture. They demarcate themselves, for example, from ‘primitivity’, underdevelopment’ and ‘traditions’ which they attribute to ‘the other’ (see for example Oliver, case 3; Lukas, case 5; Leyla, case 6; Philipp, case 9; Anna, case 10; Rebecca, case 11; Hannes, case 12). Languages and Cultures Students were also asked to talk in the interview about their attitudes to lan‐ guages they learn at school and experiences they already had with different countries and cultures. The majority of the students express themselves very positively about English, particularly because they consider it a language that can be used everywhere. Many of the students voice their disapproval of other languages they learn at school, e.g. French. All the students who were inter‐ viewed also state that they like travelling, although not all of them have yet had the opportunity to do so. They express interest in “foreign” cultures and tradi‐ tions. Only one student, Anna (case 10), also mentions difficulties in encounters with people from other countries / cultures. It is important to elaborate on the students’ concept of culture at this point. Despite the legitimacy of questioning the understanding of culture as a fixed entity, it appears that culture is exactly that, a rather closed concept, in the students’ minds. In my study, the students repeatedly refer to the Ugandan cul‐ ture or African culture and compare it with the German one. It seems that they frequently equate culture and nation / continent in this context. In addition, their understanding of culture, at least of the Ugandan / African one, appears to be rather material and ‘traditional’. They make frequent references to pots, huts and traditional values when they talk about Ugandan / African culture. Char‐ 7.1 Contexts 307 <?page no="308"?> lotte, for example, predicts from the title picture of The Precious Calabash which shows two girls carrying pots on their heads “dass diese Geschichte vielleicht von der Arbeit und Kultur von Uganda handelt [that this story might deal with work and culture in Uganda]” (reading diary). Monika considers the book The Precious Calabash to be the text in the project that best informs about Uganda Weil eben da viel die Kultur beschrieben wird oder wie sie leben, in was für Häusern oder eben das mit den Wasserkrügen. Und ich finde, das gehört schon zu einer Kultur dazu, vor allem weil es eben so anders ist wie [sic] bei uns in Deutschland. [Because there the culture is much described and how they live, in what type of houses or this with the water pots. And I think that is part of culture, especially because it is so different than here for us in Germany.] (Interview) The fact that they also see culture as something traditional and maybe even obsolete becomes apparent in the following quotes: • Ich habe viel über die Kultur von Sande gelernt. Sie haben eine andere Art die Welt zu sehen, weil sie teils auch sehr viel Aberglauben haben. [I have learnt a lot about the culture of Sande. They have a different way of seeing the world because they partly also have a great deal of superstition.] (Leyla, reading diary for Cherished Dreams) • Kulturell ist er [der Text] eventuell komplizierter, da ich die ugandische Kultur nicht kenne und ich nicht nachvollziehen kann wieso eine schwangere Tochter rausgeschmissen wird, anstatt mit ihr zusammen es durchzuziehen. [Culturally the text is maybe complicated because I do not know the Ugandan culture and I cannot understand why a pregnant daughter is thrown out instead of going through it together.] (Isa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Some students, however, also consider everyday life as an essential part of cul‐ ture. Philipp (see case 9), for example, believes that one can only learn about Ugandan culture in narratives that talk about real everyday life. He is of the opinion that fairy tales due to their fantastic elements may not give an insight into culture. For Anna (case 10), religion appears to be an essential part of culture. When asked for her experiences with culture, she states that she enjoys getting to know foreign religions. She explains that she has repeatedly had encounters of for‐ eignness in the context of religion in her school. There are only a few students who have a wider and reflected understanding of culture in this study. Niko (case 1), for example, emphasises that learning about cultures should go beyond stereotypes. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 308 <?page no="309"?> Religion A few students also make references to religion outside the context of culture (see also Chapter 7.2.2). In the first questionnaire, some students point out their interest in getting to know more about the religious beliefs that prevail in Uganda. In the reading diaries and interview, particularly Magdalena (case 2) repeatedly refers to her own religious faith. She explains, for example, that she chose a particular book (Moses) because its title reminded her of the Bible and she highlights passages with references to God as her favourites in the texts (see Chapter 7.1.2). Family Students also repeatedly point to their family background in the reading diaries and interviews, particularly in the comparisons which they construct (see Chapter 7.2.2). Magdalena (case 2), for example, whose family situation can be described as difficult establishes links between the plot of the narratives which focus in her opinion on problems and her own life that was for a long time “ein einziges Problem [one single problem]” (Interview). She states that she often thought during the reading process: “Hey, das könnte ich sein! [Hey, that could be me! ]” (interview). Other students instead construct differences between their own family life and the family lives of the characters in the narratives (see Chapter 7.2.2): • Und in dem Buch [zeigt auf I Will Miss Mr Kizito], glaube ich, dass das in dem war, dass die Schwester von dem Jungen, ähm, die war ja schwanger und dann haben die Eltern sie einfach ausgestoßen, weil sie halt schwanger war. Und das fand ich auch so/ Das, das würde meine Familie niemals machen. [And in I Will Miss Mr Kizito, I think it was in this one that the sister of the boy was pregnant and the parents simply threw her out because she was pregnant. And I found that/ My family would never do that.] (Silvia, interview) • Ich kann nur noch mal betonen, wie schockiert ich von der mangelnden Un‐ terstützung ihrer Familie bin. Es ist schließlich immer noch Gwen. Ich kann mich darauf verlassen, dass meine Familie immer hinter mir stehen wird. [I can only emphasise again how shocked I am about the lack of support of her family. It is still Gwen after all. I can rely on my family always supporting me.] (Emma, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) School References to their school education or school life are also frequently made by the students in their mental processes. Magdalena (case 2), for example, repeat‐ 7.1 Contexts 309 <?page no="310"?> edly compares her experiences at boarding school with those of Moses in Moses and Moses in Trouble. Furthermore, particularly students of school A, which maintains an educational partnership with a school in Uganda, often point to the knowledge and experiences that they get through this partnership and on which they build their mental processes. One student of school B, Benjamin (case 7), also reflects upon fundraising activities in his former school which, according to him, led the students to believe that people in Uganda are very poor: ich war ja auch noch an einer anderen Schule und man hat eigentlich jedes Jahr, hat man immer so Spenden, also so Sammlungen für Uganda gemacht. Äh, jedes Jahr/ hier [zeigt auf die Bücher] wurde das zum Beispiel nicht dargestellt, dass man/ Also wir haben zum Beispiel auch einen Vortrag bekommen. Wir konnten auch für ugandische Kinder so ein Patenkind haben. Und das/ sagen wir es so, man hat uns sozusagen eingeredet, dass die hauptsächlich sehr, sehr arm sind. [I used to attend another school and every year there were donations, well fundraising activities done for Uganda. Here it was not depicted/ We were also given a presentation, for example. We could also have a sponsored child in Uganda. And let’s put it like that, we were so to say led to believe that they are mainly very, very poor.] (Interview) Students make also frequent references to their Ugandan pen friends. Vanessa explains that she has already had several different Ugandan pen friends and then elaborates on one of them in particular: Und einer, der hat halt in dem sein [sic] ersten Brief gleich geschrieben, dass er Geld will und, dass er meine Familie so liebt, wie er seine Familie liebt. Und, dass ich meine Eltern darum bitten soll, dass, ähm, ich ihm irgendwie Geld mitgebe und wenn ich vielleicht auch noch etwas habe, dass ich ihm dem auch noch Geld gebe. Das haben Tanja und ich dann gleich abgebrochen mit dem. [And one of them, he already wrote in his first letter that he wants money and that he loves my family as he loves his own family. And that I should ask my parents that I give him money and if I maybe also have something, that I then also give him some money. So my friend and I stopped the letter contact with him straight away.] (Interview) The two quotes suggest that the relationship between the students in the dif‐ ferent schools is grounded in dichotomous hierarchies. Students’ statements of this kind reveal that an educational partnership of a school in the Global North with a school in the Global South may be subject to a hierarchical structure and can foster clichés, stereotypes and prejudices instead of deconstructing them. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 310 <?page no="311"?> Disability There are two students in my study, Emma (case 4) and Charlotte (case 8) who are hearing impaired. Whereas Charlotte talks about this hearing impairment during the interview, Emma does not mention it at all. In their reading process, neither student makes references to their hearing impairment. Hobbies In the interview, students also elaborate on their hobbies. The majority of the students are interested in sports, meeting friends, gaming and playing musical instruments. A few students (Oliver, case 3; Emma, case 4; Charlotte, case 8; Rebecca, case 11) also mention reading as their favourite leisure time activity. During the reading process, students do not make any references to their hob‐ bies. Summary and Interpretation The results of the analysis reveal that students consider different biographical contexts as relevant in their reading process. Whereas nationality seems to be a context that most of the students in my study explicitly or implicitly refer to, religion is only mentioned by a few students. Other contexts, such as disability, are completely left out by the students. Therefore, references to biographical contexts seem to be constructed but also excluded or suppressed. The students in my study repeatedly refer to their own cultural backgrounds. In contrast to other studies (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Fäcke, 2006), no profound differences in the type of references to their own country or culture can be observed between students who describe themselves as monoculturally or bi‐ culturally socialised. Of all the students with a bicultural background, only Leyla (case 6) considers many biographical contexts regarding her roots. The general lack of difference may, however, also be grounded in the fact that many of the students ‘with a migration background’ did not give their permission to be in‐ terviewed and therefore no deeper insight into their mental processes could be gained. The data analysis shows that the biographical context offers many possibil‐ ities for the reception of literary texts. It may allow access to texts and foster understanding. Magdalena (case 2), for example, explains that she could em‐ pathise very well with the characters in the narratives because she herself has had similar experiences before. On the other hand, it becomes apparent that when the biographical context is defined as the central moment of under‐ standing and essentialised, this can inhibit perturbations and ambivalences and lead to the cementing of differences. Anna (case 10), for example, repeatedly 7.1 Contexts 311 <?page no="312"?> refers to the differences between her own life and the lives of the characters and states that these differences inhibit her understanding. In addition, it may be observed that whereas the students repeatedly refer to their own biography in the reading process, they rarely reflect upon self. The students actually seem to avoid self-reflectional and self-critical mental pro‐ cesses (see also Chapter 7.2.3). 7.2 Mental Processes Drawing on the contexts explained in the previous chapter, students go through different mental processes when engaging with Ugandan children’s fiction. They repeatedly construct or deconstruct knowledge and attitudes and draw comparisons. Furthermore, they apply a variety of strategies in their under‐ standing process and also reflect. The present chapter is concerned with these mental processes. 7.2.1 Construction and Deconstruction Repeatedly in the reading diaries and interviews, the students state that they have learnt something through the narratives or gained new insights into a certain topic. They also revise their prior expectations and associations or state that they changed their attitudes through the texts. Some of these mental pro‐ cesses of construction and deconstruction concern the students themselves, ad‐ dress their own knowledge, attitudes or way of conduct (see Table 13) but the majority of the students’ mental processes refer to ‘the other’, e.g. Af‐ rica / Uganda / other countries or the people in Africa / Uganda / other countries (see Table 14). Ja, es hat sich für mich durch diesen Text etwas verändert und zwar konnte ich von Nanfuka und Sendi sehr viel lernen. Ich habe gelernt, dass es wichtig ist an sein Ziel zu glauben und immer dafür zu kämpfen. [Yes, something changed for me through this text which was that I could learn a lot from Nanfuka and Sendi. I have learnt that it is very important to believe in your goal and to fight for it.] (Charlotte, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) Ich habe durch den Text besser verstanden wie wichtig es ist einer Person keine Fal‐ schen [sic] Versprechen zu machen, da es sehr verletzend ist. Außerdem hilft der Text die Denkweise von Mädchen besser zu verstehen. [I have understood better through the text how important it is not to make false promises because that is very hurtful. The text also helps to understand girls’ way of thinking better.] (Niklas, reading diary for “First Kiss”) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 312 <?page no="313"?> Ich habe gelernt, dass es sich lohnt an seine Träume zu glauben und trotz einer schlimmen Situation durchzuhalten. [I have learnt that it is worth believing in your dreams and persevering despite a terrible situation.] (Benjamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) Table 13: Examples of the Students’ Processes of (De)Construction Concerning ‘Self ’ When the students’ statements, which may be interpreted as being addressed to the self, are analysed further, it becomes apparent that students only rarely make use of the pronoun “I”; most frequently they express themselves rather impersonally and make use of the pronoun “man [one]” or passive / infinitive constructions. This, and the fact that they only seldomly refer to themselves in their mental processes of (de)construction suggests that the students in my study show only a low potential for self-reflection. Instead, they appear to focus on the process of (de)constructing ‘the other’. Ich habe gelernt, dass die Lehrer eine engere ‘Beziehung’ zu den Schülern führen, als in Deutschland. Außerdem habe ich gelernt, dass die Kinder in anderen Ländern gen‐ auso manchmal gemobbt werden, wie in Deutschland. [I have learnt that teachers have a closer ‘relationship’ to students than in Germany. Moreover I have learnt that chil‐ dren in other countries are also sometimes bullied like in Germany.] (Charlotte, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Ich dachte immer Uganda ist eine ausgetrocknete Region aber das Buch hat mir gezeigt dass das nicht überall in Uganda so ist. [I always thought Uganda is an extremely dry region but the book showed that this is not the case everywhere in Uganda.] (Lisa, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Nach dem Lesen noch einiger anderer afrikanischer Bücher habe ich einen Eindruck über das Familienleben und die Art wie Frauen bzw. Männer ihren Ehepartner ken‐ nenlernen / heiraten entwickelt. [Having read a number of African books, I got an im‐ pression of family life and the way women or men get to know / marry their partners.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Precious Calabash) Ich habe gelernt, dass das Leben in Afrika sehr gefährlich sein kann. [I have learnt that life in Africa can be dangerous.] (Lea, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Ich denke das [sic] ich mir davor nicht wirklich Gedanken gemacht habe darüber das [sic] auch junge Menschen anderswo Schule evtl. hassen. Durch dieses Buch hat sich mein Horizont erweitert. [I think before I never really thought about the fact that young people elsewhere may also hate school. This book widened my horizon.] (Mia, reading diary for Moses) Ich denke, dass meine Sichtweise vor dem Lesen war, dass alle in Uganda arm sind und um Bildung kämpfen müssen. Jetzt denke ich, dass manche Kinder in Uganda vielleicht ein ähnliches Leben führen wie Kinder in Deutschland. [I think that my view before reading was that everyone in Uganda is poor and has to fight for education. Now I 7.2 Mental Processes 313 <?page no="314"?> think that some children in Uganda maybe live a similar life to children in Germany.] (Rebecca, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Table 14: Examples of the Students’ Processes of (De)Construction Concerning ‘the Other’ Elaborating on their mental processes of construction or deconstruction con‐ cerning ‘the other’, some students like Monika explain that they did not know much about Uganda before the reading project and therefore rather learnt something new instead of changing their existing preconceptions during the reading process: Aber da war es eigentlich mehr Dazulernen, als sich irgendwie, äh, sich dann Ge‐ danken darüber machen, wie es hätte sein können. Weil ich eben sehr wenig wusste vorher darüber und dann war es eben eher Dazulernen und nicht so, dass sich die Gedanken dann ändern. [But it was more learning something new than to think about how it could have been. Because I knew very little about it before and then it was rather learning something new, not that the thoughts were changing.] (Monika, in‐ terview) In many of the students’ statements it becomes apparent, however, that during the reading process the students frequently reproduce their existing precon‐ ceptions or even project them onto the texts and are, therefore, not blank slates as they sometimes believe or pretend to be. Simon seems to be aware of this and comments upon this aspect in his interview: Also Uganda habe ich vorher noch nicht gekannt. Äh, aber so an sich, habe ich schon irgendwie ein bisschen so über Afrika, ähm, gedacht und das hat es eigentlich durch die Bücher noch ein bisschen unterstützt. Also verändert hat sich da eher nicht/ nichts so. Nein. Weil man ja auch vieles irgendwie durch, ähm, die Medien mitbekommt, was passiert und (…) Ne, es hat sich eigentlich nichts da so (…) Also es ist wie vorher ungefährt, bloß, dass man jetzt im Detail genauer halt noch mehr davon weiß. [I did not know Uganda before. But somehow I had some thoughts about Africa and the books supported it a bit. There were not really any changes. Because you somehow get to know a lot through the media, what is happening. (…) No, actually not. It is roughly like it was before, just that you now know more details about it.] 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 314 <?page no="315"?> Reproduction The students find many prior associations and expectations concerning ‘the other’ confirmed in the texts they read in the reading project, as becomes ap‐ parent in the following quotes: • Also, von den Büchern hat man halt jetzt nochmal diesen verstärkten Ein‐ druck bekommen, dass das da zum Beispiel bei diesem hier [zeigt auf The Baby in the Forest], die halt mit diesen Speeren und Bogen zum Jagen gehen und das dann auch essen und alles verwenden. Und quasi mit der Natur zusammen‐ leben, die auch für die lebenswichtig ist. Die Tiere und die Pflanzen und alles. [From the books one got the reinforced impression that/ in the Baby in the Forest, for example, they go hunting with these spears and then also eat and use everything. They practically live with nature, which is vital for them. The animals and plants and everything.] (Oliver, interview, my emphasis) • Also zum Beispiel bei Moses in Trouble hat sich es halt bestätigt, dass da die Güter knapp sind zum Beispiel. Oder halt in vielen Teilen, dass da halt an‐ scheinend einfach eine Not herrscht auch. Und bei The Precious Calabash, dass da noch alte Traditionen gepflegt werden. [For example, Moses in Trouble has confirmed that there is a lack of goods. Or in many parts that there seems to be suffering. And in The Precious Calabash that still old traditions are main‐ tained.] (Leon, interview, my emphasis) • Ähm, also zum Beispiel in dem Buch [zeigt auf The Precious Calabash], wie das aufgebaut ist. Ja, genau. Ähm, dass sie in so einem kleinen Dorf gelebt haben und dass die von der Arbeit erzählt hatte, ähm, von den Töpfen und dem Ver‐ zieren von den/ ähm, dem Bemalen und (…) Das stellt man sich ja irgendwie immer ein bisschen vor in Afrika, ähm, dass die so in kleinen Dörfern wohnen und ihre eigene Kultur haben, pflegen und (…) ähm, ähm, und immer verschieden/ verschiedenst arbeiten und, ja genau, ähm, es gegenseitig sozu‐ sagen verkaufen. [For example, in The Precious Calabash how it is structured. That they lived in such a small village and that it tells about work and the decoration, the painting of pots. That is something you imagine in Africa that they live in small villages and have and maintain their own culture (…) work at different jobs and sell things to each other.] (Simon, interview, my emphasis) • Für mich selbst haben sich ein paar Sichtweisen verdeutlicht (z. B. alle Kinder gleich behandeln …). Meine Vermutung mit Wasser holen … hat sich auch bestätigt. Ich habe jetzt einen besseren Eindruck von Uganda. Ich selbst bin aber froh hier in Deutschland zu leben. [For me a few perspectives have been reinforced (e.g. to treat all children in the same way …). My assumption about collecting water … has also been confirmed. I have now a better impression 7.2 Mental Processes 315 <?page no="316"?> of Uganda. But I am happy to live here in Germany.] ( Jessica, final question‐ naire, my emphasis) • Ich persönlich habe nie etwas in der Art erlebt. Das Leben von Nyabwangu and Nyabucureera unterscheidet sich vom Lebensstandart, denn Nyabucureera er‐ wähnt einmal, dass man glücklich damit sein soll, was Gott einem gegeben hat. Das zeigt auch wieder, dass die Leute dort eben mit viel weniger Dingen auskommen und ohne viele Dinge glücklich sein können, was bei uns in Deutschland nicht der Fall ist. [I personally have never experienced anything of that type. The life of Nyabwangu and Nyabucureera differs from the living standard because Nyabucureerea once mentions that you should be happy with whatever God has given you. This shows again that people there can live with much less and still be happy, which is not the case here in Germany.] (Anita, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters, my emphasis) The texts, therefore, seem to trigger the students into reproducing associations and expectations that they already had before the reading project. This may also be noticed in the language they make use of in the reading diaries and interviews. They repeatedly use words which also prevail in their prior associations (see Chapter 7.1.1) such as “Stämme [tribes]”, “Hütten [huts]”, “ärmlich [poor]”: • Frauen werden in Stämmen eher als Objekte gesehen, wenn man sie heiraten will und dass sie zur Heirat gezwungen werden. [Women are rather regarded as objects in the tribes, when someone wants to marry them and that they are forced to marry.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Weil zum Beispiel The Precious Calabash ist ja jetzt wirklich, ich sage mal, noch so wie von einem, äh, Stamm noch, sage ich mal. Wo die dann noch, sage ich mal, wie so Ureinwohner leben. [Because The Precious Calabash, for example, that is still like a tribe, lets put it like that. In which they still live, let’s put it like that, like indigenous people.] (Leon, interview) • Also, hier [zeigt auf The Jewels of Amuria] ist es ja schon einmal so, da leben die noch wie vor 100 Jahren oder wie vor mehreren 100 Jahren, in so einem, ich weiß nicht wie man es nennt, Dorf mit so Hütten. Also ganz primitiv ei‐ gentlich. Und das ist ja bei uns schon anders. Wir haben Häuser, ganz normal und Autos. Und hier ist halt noch keine so technische Entwicklung, oder so. [Well, here in The Jewels of Amuria they live like 100 years ago or several 100 years ago in, I do not know how it is called, a village with huts. Very primitively actually. And that is different here. We have houses, very normal and cars. And here there has not yet been any technical development and so on.] (Emil, in‐ terview) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 316 <?page no="317"?> • Es unterscheidet sich, da die Geschichte von einem Stamm handelt, die keine moderne Technik hat (so wie jeder Stamm). [It differs because it is a story about a tribe that does not have modern techonology (like all tribes).] (Claudius, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Ich wusste zwar schon, dass da schlimm/ dass da Krankheiten sind und dass es eher altertümlich, also mit Speeren gejagt wird oder halt geringt [sic; gerungen] und so mit Tontöpfen Wasser geholt wird und halt ärmlich eher ist. Das hätte ich mir schon vorgestellt, dass es eher solche Geschichten sind. [I already knew that there are disesases and that it is very antiquated, they hunt with spears, wrestle and fetch water in clay pots and it is rather poor. I had already imagined that the stories are rather like that.] (Lukas, interview) Leyla, for example, stated in the first questionnaire that she associates Uganda with “afrikanische Stämme und Familien, die sehr an ihre Kultur gebunden sind [African tribes and families that are very much bound to their culture]”. The above quoted statement, which she makes in the reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria, reproduces this association. In general, when comparing the students’ statements listed above with the students’ associations presented in Chapter 7.1.1, many similarities may be identified. Therefore, many of the students in my study seem to remain in this status of the allegedly known. Furthermore, they appear very sure about what they construct and deconstruct, which may be interpreted as a strategy of avoiding irritations and uncertainties (see also Chapter 7.2.3). Projection Some of the students’ statements also reveal that they project their associations, expectations and attitudes onto the texts. In the following examples (see Table 15), clear discrepancies between what the literary text actually says and how the students read or understand it become apparent. Students’ Under‐ standing of the Text Excerpt from the Narra‐ tive Interpretation Also auch bei diesem Baby in the Forest, da ist die eine ja auch zum Jagen, um ir‐ gendetwas zum Essen Jagen in den Wald ge‐ gangen und hat da dann das Kind gefunden und alles. [Well, also in The Baby in the Forest, she went to the forest to hunt, One day Kakazi went to the forest to collect fire‐ wood. After she had col‐ lected enough dry twigs and sticks, she tied them together in a bundle. She was about to put the bundle on her head when she heard a baby crying. (Barungi, 2009, p. 7) In the interview, Oliver re‐ calls that Kakazi is hunting for food in the forest when she suddenly finds the baby. As the excerpt from the narrative, however, shows, Kakazi is in the forest to collect firewood. Oliver, therefore, seems to have projected his own ex‐ 7.2 Mental Processes 317 <?page no="318"?> to hunt something to eat and then she found that child and everything.] (Oliver, interview) pectations onto the text here. ‘Both the children were punished’ (S. 16 / Z. 23 f.). Das zeigt, dass das Land ein Entwicklungsland ist, da dort die Schüler noch geschlagen werden (dürfen). [‘Both the chil‐ dren were punished’ (p.16 / l. 23-24). This shows that the country is a devel‐ oping country because stu‐ dents there (may) still be beaten.] (Gabriell, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) But on the road, Bogere did not want to walk fast. Na‐ mukose urged him to move faster, but he would not. He sulked and dragged his feet. By the time they got to school, the bell had al‐ ready rung and the teacher on duty was waiting for latecomers. ‘Sir, my brother refused to walk fast,’ Namuose pleaded, but the teacher did not listen to her. Both the children were punished. Namukose was very angry with her brother. (Kisubi, 2008, p. 16) Gabriell concludes from the sentence “Both the children were punished” in the novella I Will Not Fail that children in Uganda are still beaten. This proves for him that Uganda is a de‐ veloping country because he purpots to know that children in developing countries are beaten when they do something wrong. It is, however, not actually stated in the novella that the children receive cor‐ poral punishment. Thus, Gabriell rather seems to project his association of ‘developing countries’ and ‘beating the children’ onto the text here. Table 15: Students’ Processes of Projection In cases like the ones illustrated in Table 15, the students seem to transfer what they know or believe to know to the text. In this way, they reproduce clichés, stereotypes and prejudices. Perturbation In their mental processes, the students, however, do not only reproduce prior associations and expectations or project them onto the texts, but also encounter perturbations and go through processes of change and mental development. In the reading diaries, interviews and final questionnaires, the students comment on their revision of knowledge, unsettling of expectations and change of atti‐ tudes during the reading process. Some examples of the students’ perceptions of change are given here: • Ich habe gedacht, es gibt diese, diese/ was man halt so denkt, so diese Bauern‐ dörfern und so Siedlungen von den Bewohnern da. Aber das sind ja dann doch richtige Städte, also richtig GROSSE Städte. [I imagined that there are/ what one usually thinks of/ those farming villages and settlements of the people 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 318 <?page no="319"?> there. But there are real cities, well really BIG cities.] (Niko, interview, my emphasis) • Ich denke, dass meine Sichtweise vor dem Lesen war, dass alle in Uganda arm sind und um Bildung kämpfen müssen. Jetzt denke ich, dass manche Kinder in Uganda vielleicht ein ähnliches Leben führen wie Kinder in Deutsch‐ land. [I think that my view before reading was that everyone in Uganda is poor and has to fight for education. Now I think that some children in Uganda maybe live a similar life to children in Germany.] (Rebecca, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”, my emphasis) • Meine Sichtweisen haben sich ein wenig verändert, da ich immer dachte, sie leben in einer ganz "anderen Welt". Das denk ich nun nicht mehr, da man einen guten Einblick in ihr Leben hatte. [My perspectives have changed be‐ cause I always thought they live in a completely ‘different world’. I do no longer think so because one has had a good insight into their life.] (Michelle, final questionnaire, my emphasis) • Ich habe aus der Geschichte gelernt, dass auch ugandische Mädchen einen ‘Zickenkrieg’ führen können. Davor hätte ich eher gedacht, dass ugandische Mädchen NUR dankbar, nett, sozial und respektvoll gegenüber anderen sind. Aber eigentlich ist es ja klar, dass nicht jeder nett zu jedem sein kann. [I have learnt from the story that Ugandan girls may also be involved in ‘cat fights’. Before I thought that Ugandan girls are ONLY grateful, nice, social and re‐ spectful towards others. But actually it is obvious that not everyone can be nice to everyone.] (Vanessa, reading diary for Our Cousins from Abroad, my em‐ phasis) • Ich dachte immer die Afrikanischen [sic] Väter sind böse und wollen ihre Kinder nur verkaufen um Geld zu bekommen. Ich habe gelernt das [sic] es auch nette Väter gibt die wollen das [sic] es ihren Kindern gut geht und viel Geld verlangen in der Hoffnung niemand kann das bezahlen. [I always thought African fathers are mean and just want to sell their children to get money. I have learnt that there are also nice fathers who want their children to be fine and ask for large amounts of money in the hope that no one can pay it.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria, my emphasis) From a constructivist or deconstructivist perspective (see also Chapter 2.6), sur‐ prise and irritation are important elements or triggers of mental processes. They arise from discrepancies between expectations based on certain contexts (e.g. prior knowledge, reading background or biography) and may trigger feelings of uncertainty and changes of perceptions. Therefore, they are essential for the comprehension process. In the following, some students’ expressions of surprise and irritation are presented: 7.2 Mental Processes 319 <?page no="320"?> • Ähm, also, was, worüber ich jetzt überrascht war, war eher, ähm, dass die oft ziemlich ehrlich gesprochen haben und jetzt auch so Themen angesprochen haben, was man jetzt in deutschen Büchern nicht so oft liest. [Something I was rather surprised about was that they spoke quite honestly and about topics that you do not read about very often in German books.] (Charlotte, interview) • Was mich äußerst überrascht hat, war dass manche Teile von Uganda weniger weit entwickelt ist als andere Teile von Uganda. [What really surprised me was that some parts of Uganda are less developed than other parts of Uganda.] (Lea, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) • Mich hat überrascht, dass die beliebte Tochter gefressen wird. Ich hatte er‐ wartet, das [sic] die unbeliebte stirbt und sich die Mutter freut. [It surprised me that the popular daughter was eaten. I would have expected that the unpopular one dies and the mother is happy.] (Felix, reading diary for The Precious Cala‐ bash) • Ich frage mich allerdings, wie der Titel zum Buch past. [sic] [I ask myself how the title matches the book.] (Monika, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Ist Namukose Lucys Zweitname? Sie stellt sich als ‘Lucy Namukose’ vor, aber eigentlich müsste ihr Nachname ja gleich wie der ihrer Mutter sein (Mukose). Also ist es ihr Zweitname? [Is Namukose Lucy’s second name? She introduces herself as ‘Lucy Namukose’ but actually her second name should be the same as that of her mother (Mukose). Is it therefore her second name? ] (Emma, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) Generalisations Many of the students’ processes of constructions or deconstructions that con‐ cern ‘the other’ carry tendencies of generalisations. Students, for example, fre‐ quently make use of the words “afrikanisch [African]” or “Afrika [Africa]” when they actually refer to Uganda, people in Uganda or certain characters in the narratives. This becomes apparent in various reading diary entries, interviews and questionnaires: • Ich wusste nicht, dass Afrika ein Land ist wo nach der Hand eines Mädchens bei dem Vater gefragt wird. [I did not know that Africa is a country in which the father is asked for the hand of the girls.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Ich dachte immer die Afrikanischen [sic] Väter sind böse und wollen ihre Kinder nur verkaufen um Geld zu bekommen. [I always thought African fa‐ 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 320 <?page no="321"?> thers are mean and just want to sell their children to get money.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Nach dem Lesen noch einiger anderer afrikanischer Bücher habe ich einen Eindruck über das Familienleben und die Art wie Frauen bzw. Männer ihren Ehepartner kennenlernen / heiraten entwickelt. [Having read a number of Af‐ rican books, I got an impression of family life and the way women or men get to know / marry their partners.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Precious Cala‐ bash) • Ich dachte auch Menschen in Afrika unterstützen sich in Zeiten wie Schwan‐ gerschaft oder Krankheiten. Das zu lesen hat mich enttäuscht. [I thought also people in Africa support each other in times of pregnancy or disease. To read that disappointed me.] (Silvia, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich dachte, dass Afrikaner insgesamt ein ganz anderes Leben haben und froh sind in die Schule zu durfen [sic] (trifft nur auf ein Bruchteil zu), jetzt denke ich, dass sie sehr ähnlich wie Deutsche sind. [I thought that African people in general have a completely different life and are happy to go to school (this applies only to a small fraction), now I think that they are very similar to Ger‐ mans.] (Michelle, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) With references such as these, different nations and societies are roughly sum‐ marised and homogenisingly subsumed (Weicker & Jacobs, 2011, p. 204). Nega‐ tive or positive attributes are often applied to a whole continent that consists of more than 50 countries with completely different histories and societies. In addition, many students state that they have learnt from a single narrative in the project, what life or aspects of life in Uganda are like. Also here, gener‐ alisations become visible: • Ich habe gelernt, wie die Beziehungen zwischen Lehrern und Schülern in Uganda sind. [I have learnt, what the relationship between teachers and stu‐ dents in Uganda is like.] (Martin, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich habe durch diesen Text gemerkt, dass Kinder in Uganda noch geschlagen werden. [I have realised through this text that children in Uganda are still beaten.] (Rebecca, reading diary for Moses) • Auch habe ich gelernt, dass in Uganda die Leute sehr schnell ausgegrenzt werden, nur weil sie einen Fehler begangen haben. [I have also learnt that people in Uganda are quickly excluded only because they have committed a mistake.] (Isa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich habe gelernt, dass das normale Leben in Uganda vom Grundprinzip her unserem ähnelt, es allerdings viel gefährlicher sein kann. [I have learnt that in 7.2 Mental Processes 321 <?page no="322"?> principle normal life in Uganda resembles ours but it can be much more dan‐ gerous.] (Monika, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Unter anderem habe ich einen Einblick auf [sic] das schwere Leben in Uganda bekommen und mit wie vielen Problemen sie ringen müssen. [Among other things I got an insight into the difficult life in Uganda and how many problems they have to struggle with.] (Benjamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) Students repeatedly draw conclusions from what they read. The examples show that they read the literary texts as if they mirrored reality. Only occasionally do they reflect upon the fictionality of the narratives (see Chapter 7.2.3). Summary and Interpretation In my study, it becomes apparent that students are not blank slates before the reading project but come to the learning situation with prior knowledge and understandings which provides the basis for new constructions and decon‐ structions. They reproduce prior knowledge and expectations or project them onto the text. Repeatedly, however, the students participating in my study also encounter perturbations and go through processes of change and mental de‐ velopment. Part of their construction and deconstruction processes are gener‐ alisations and rather unfounded conclusions, as when, for example, they ascribe certain aspects to the whole of the African continent or conclude from a narra‐ tive that life in Uganda is as it is described in the story. Each of the students in my study goes through processes of construction and deconstruction but for some of the cases, tendencies of either change or stag‐ nation may be observed in their mental processes. Some of the students repeat‐ edly express irritation and go through processes of mental development (e.g. Niko, case 1 and Emma, case 4), while others seem to prevail in the status of the allegedly known or reproduce clichés, stereotypes and prejudices (e.g. Oliver, case 3; Lukas, case 5 and Hannes, case 12). 7.2.2 Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness The students participating in my study permanently construct comparisons. The guiding questions in the reading diary and interview encourage them to com‐ pare their own life with the lives of the characters, but the students also come up with comparisons in other contexts. Frequently the nation serves as a point of reference here. Some examples of these contexts in which the students draw comparisons are given in Table 16. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 322 <?page no="323"?> Context Examples Life of the characters vs. own life Die Jungs aus Dorm 3 haben mich mit ihrem nächtlichen Rausschleichen sehr an meine Internatszeit erinnert. [The boys from dorm 3 with their habit of sneaking out at night reminded me of my own time at boarding school.] (Magdalena, reading diary for Moses in Trouble) AIDS risk in Western Europe vs. AIDS risk in Africa Dies ähnelt meinem Leben kaum, davon abgesehen, dass ich in Westeuropa lebe und das Risiko hier Aids zu bekommen geringer ist als in Afrika. [This does not resemble my life very much, aside from the fact that I live in Western Europe and the risk to get AIDS is much smaller here than in Africa.] (Isa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Problems of students in Uganda vs. prob‐ lems of students in Germany “The Hair Cut” hat mir am besten gefallen, weil es gezeigt hat, dass SchülerInnen in Uganda die gleichen kleinen Probleme haben wie hier in Deutschland. [I liked “The Hair Cut” the most because it showed that students in Uganda have the same small problems as here in Germany.] (Gabriell, final questionnaire) Schools in Uganda vs. schools in Germany Ich bin sehr überrascht, wie viele Sachen die Schüler in der Schule lernen und nicht zu Hause. Ich glaube sie lernen in der Schule sehr viel Nützliches für ihr Leben. In DE [sic] lernt man das meiste davon zu Hause. [I am very surprised about the things students learn at school and not at home. I believe they learn a lot of useful things at school for their lives. In Germany one learns most things at home.] (Char‐ lotte, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) Ugandan fiction vs. German fairy tale Die Geschichte erinnert mich sehr stark an das Märchen Frau Holle. In diesem Mär‐ chen ist es genauso, dass es ein eher fleißiges und ruhiges Mädchen gibt, namens ‘Gold-Marie’, in diesen Buch würde es Nyabucureera entsprechen und ein vorlautes und freches Mädchen gibt, namens ‘Pech-Marie’, hier Nyabwangu. [The story reminds me very much of the fairy tale Mother Holle. In this fairy tale it is also like that, with a rather hard-working and quiet girl called ‘Golden Mary’, which would be Nyabu‐ 7.2 Mental Processes 323 <?page no="324"?> cureera in this book and a loudmouthed and cheeky girl called ‘Pitch Mary’, here Nyabwangu.] (Lea, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) Table 16: Different Contexts in Which Students Draw Comparisons Own = Norm In these comparisons, the students’ own perspectives serve as the norm and determine the categorisation into “normal”/ “ähnlich [similar]” and “fremd [for‐ eign]”/ “verschieden [different]”. Lukas (case 5), for example, states in the inter‐ view that before the start of the reading project he expected to read “normal” narratives: Also, ich dachte eigentlich zuerst, dass das irgendwie schon so auch eher so normal ist, halt so ist wie in der Deutschen (unv.), nicht so ein großer Unterschied (…). [Well, I thought at first that this is also somehow rather normal, like the German (inc.), not such a big difference (…).] As the quote shows, for Lukas “normal” equals “German”. Similarly, Leyla (case 6) points out in the interview that Gwendolyn in the The Unfulfilled Dream has a similar life to her own life, a life that she perceives as “normal”: Hm, weiß nicht. Ich glaube (…), das war bei diesem The Unfulfilled Dream, zum Bei‐ spiel. Also, das war halt irgend/ bei der konnte ich mich eigentlich wirklich am meisten in sie hineinversetzen, weil sie hatte im Grunde so eine Situation, die eigentlich ziem‐ lich, eigentlich am meisten meiner geähnelt hat. Zum Beispiel, also, da gibt es zum Beispiel, dass sie eigentlich relativ gutes Leben hat, eigentlich. Das [sic] sie halt ziem‐ lich viel/ auch viel Geld hat und ein ganz normales Leben führen kann. [I do not know. I believe (…) It was in this The Unfulfilled Dream, for example. Well, that was somehow/ with her I could actually really empathise most because she basically had such a situation which resembled mine, actually the most. For example, there is, for example, that she actually has a relatively good life, actually. That she has rather a lot of money and may live a completely normal life.] (Leyla, interview, my emphasis) That norm-orientation is omnipresent in my study also becomes apparent when the students repeatedly make use of the word “normal”. A lexical search in MAXQDA 11 reveals that they use it 110 times in total in the questionnaires, reading diaries and interviews. The analysis of the instances in which the stu‐ dents employ this word shows that the students’ references to “normal” often carry positive connotations. When they refer to something as “normal”, this is 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 324 <?page no="325"?> frequently done in connection with the use of adjectives that have a rather pos‐ itive meaning. This becomes apparent in the following examples: Connotations Example normal ≈ nice Ich wusste ja, dass wir ugandische Bücher lesen und ich habe mir da eigentlich davor auch keine Gedanken gemacht. Ich dachte mir, das wären halt so, so normale Ge‐ schichten und das hat sich auch so her‐ ausgestellt. Es waren schöne Ge‐ schichten. Ja. [I knew that we would read Ugandan books and I did not have expect‐ ations actually. I thought these would be normal stories and that was also the case then. They were nice stories. Yes.] (Ben‐ jamin, interview, my emphasis) normal ≈ being popular, clever, beautiful Ähm, weil das eben so von ihrem ganz normalen Leben am Anfang war, dass alle sie gemocht haben, dass sie die Schlauste und Schönste war. Und dass sie dann so abgerutscht ist und quasi einen Fehler gemacht hat, der ihr ganzes Leben dann im Endeffekt versaut hat. [Because it was about her completely normal life at the beginning that she was liked by ev‐ eryone that she was the cleverest and the most beautiful. And that she then slipped up and made a mistake so to speak that screwed up her complete life eventually.] (Mia, interview, my emphasis) normal ≉ primitive Die einzelnen Charaktere verändern sich. King Kong wird z. B. zunächst und zwi‐ schendurch als ‘primitiv’ dargestellt und im nachhinein [sic] wird klar, dass er ein ganz normaler Junge mit Träumen ist. [The individual characters change. King Kong, for example, is at first and in be‐ tween portrayed as ‘primitive’ and after‐ wards it becomes apparent that he is an entirely normal boy with dreams.] (Leyla, reading diary for Moses) Table 17: Students’ Positive References to the Word ‘Normal’ This suggests that many of the students consider ‘normality’ as desirable and aspire to the integration in normality. Sometimes, “normal” is, however, also connoted negatively in students’ statements, particularly when it refers to ‘the 7.2 Mental Processes 325 <?page no="326"?> other’. In Table 18, examples of the students’ references to “normal for us” and “normal for them” are given. Normal for us Normal for them Also, hier [zeigt auf The Jewels of Amuria] ist es ja schon einmal so, da leben die noch wie vor 100 Jahren oder wie vor mehreren 100 Jahren, in so einem, ich weiß nicht wie man es nennt, Dorf mit so Hütten. Also ganz primitiv eigentlich. Und das ist ja bei uns schon anders. Wir haben Häuser, ganz normal und Autos. Und hier ist halt noch keine so technische Entwicklung, oder so. [Well, here in The Jewels of Amuria they live like 100 years ago or sev‐ eral 100 years ago in, I do not know how it is called, a village with huts. Very prim‐ itively actually. And that is different here. We have houses, very normal and cars. And here there has not yet been any tech‐ nical development and so on.] (Emil, in‐ terview, my emphasis) Dass das kleine Kind der Mutter erzählt, ähm, was, dass man sich die Hände wa‐ schen soll, und so, das irritiert einen viel‐ leicht ein bisschen, aber wenn man länger darüber nachdenkt, dann kommt man schon drauf, dass ohne Bildung bei denen das praktisch einfach normal ist. [That the little child tells her mother that you have to wash your hands is maybe a bit irritating but if you think about it for longer then you realise that without edu‐ cation this is practically normal for them.] (Emma, interview, my emphasis) Weil bei uns im Normalfall sich jeder einfach Nachschlag holen kann, wenn man noch Hunger hat, zumindest meis‐ tens. [Because for us normally you can get a second helping in case you are still hungry, most of the time at least.] (Elias, interview, my emphasis) Und dort ist es halt so fast normal, dass es [AIDS] so verbreitet ist und dass es viele haben. (…). [And there it is almost normal that it [AIDS] is so widespread and that many have it (…).] (Anna, inter‐ view, my emphasis) Bei uns gibt es jetzt keine Attentate auf Schulen im Normalfall. [Here there are normally no attacks on schools.] (Monika, interview, my emphasis) Die Handlung finde ich ein wenig traurig, da man gespürt hatte, wie normal es in Uganda ist / sein kann, dass die jungen Mädchen mit Männern schlafen. [In my opinion the plot is a bit sad because you could feel how normal it is in Uganda that young girls sleep with men.] (Char‐ lotte, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream, my emphasis) Table 18: Students’ Statements with References to ‘Normal for Us’ and ‘Normal for Them’ Whereas the aspects that are “normal for us” are all connoted positively (e.g. living in houses, having enough to eat, no attacks on schools), the ones that are “normal for them” are negative (e.g. ignorance of hygiene because of a lack of education, spread of AIDS , young girls having sex with older men). In this con‐ text, it becomes apparent that the students’ concept of normality is subject to a hierarchical structure. Many students’ comments show that they judge ‘the 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 326 <?page no="327"?> other’ from their own ethnocentric perspective and consider their own ‘norm’ as superior. Similarities The students frequently construct similarities in their mental processes. Their statements were categorised as SIMILARITIES when the students described something as “ähnlich [similar]” or “gleich [same]”. The students, for example, come up with similarities between their own life and the lives of the characters in the narratives or Ugandan and German fiction. Many students in my study seem to look at similarities as something positive. Lukas (case 5), for example, states that the similarities which he was able to identify between his own life and Alex’ life in I Will Miss Mr Kizito are mean‐ ingful to him: Persönlich war für mich Alex von Bedeutung, da er der Protagonist in der Geschichte war und ich in seinem Leben auch Bruchstücke von meinem Leben gefunden habe, wie z. B. dass mit seinem Vater, dass dieser auch so lang weg ist oder seiner Mutter die zwar den gesamten Haushalt macht, aber dennoch nicht der Kopf der Familie ist, sondern der Vater, der das Geld verdienen muss. [For me personally Alex was impor‐ tant because he was the protagonist of the story and I could find parts of my life in his life, for example that his father is also away for a long time always or his mother who cares for the whole household but still is not the head of the family but the father who has to earn the money.] (Lukas, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Likewise, other students in this study evaluate similarities as positive, as the following quotes may illustrate: • Ich finde den Schreibstil gut, da er dem Deutschen [sic] sehr ähnelt. [I like the writing style because it resembles the German one.] (Michelle, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) • “The Hair Cut” hat mir am besten gefallen, weil es gezeigt hat, dass Schüler‐ Innen in Uganda die gleichen kleinen Probleme haben wie hier in Deutschland. [I liked “The Hair Cut” most because it showed that students in Uganda have the same small problems as here in Germany.] (Gabriell, final questionnaire) Many students point out that they consider the texts which talk about familiar issues to be easier to understand than those with foreign contents and state that they can empathise better with characters when their lives are similar to their own lives (see also Niko, case 1; Magdalena, case 2 and Leyla, case 6). This may be grounded in the fact that similarities create a basis of common understanding on which connections and relationships can be established. 7.2 Mental Processes 327 <?page no="328"?> However, similarities are not always evaluated as positive by the students in this study. Vanessa, for example, points out in the interview that she considers Our Cousins from Abroad to be boring because it talks about everyday issues which are also omnipresent in Germany. Because of being similar and not dif‐ ferent, the narrative seems to lack excitement and tension for her. Many students in my study express themselves as rather surprised about the similarities which they construct between the lives of the characters and their own lives. It seems that they had expected to discover more differences than similarities in their reading process. The following quotes give an insight into students’ feelings of surprise: • Also, es war ja auch oft viele Liebesgeschichten dabei. Und das hat mich dann überrascht, dass da/ dass die Jugendlichen in Uganda trotzdem auch Junge jetzt ein Mädchen cool findet, oder so. Und jetzt nicht nur, dass sie viel arbeiten müssen, oder so. [Well, there were many love stories. And it has surprised me that teenagers in Uganda a boy still finds a girl cool and so on. And not only that they have to work a lot.] (Charlotte, interview, my emphasis) • Also, am Anfang dachte ich, dass ist vielleicht ein/ das ist einfach eine voll‐ kommen andere Welt so. Aber, was hier [zeigt auf Moses] zum Beispiel auch raus kam, dass, ähm, so die Jugendlichen dort eigentlich so schon irgendwie/ dass schon ähnliche/ ähnliches Leben schon haben. Schon sehr verschieden, aber doch die selben Meinungen zu verschiedenen Dingen. Und so auch viel‐ leicht dieselbe Denkweise, dass sich das gar nicht so sehr unterscheidet, wie ich jetzt gedacht hätte. Dass die halt mit anderen Problemen zu kämpfen haben, aber das schon sehr ähnlich ist, hatte ich jetzt so das Gefühl. [Well, at the beginning I thought that is a completely different world. But what became apparant in Moses, for example, that the young adults there actually have a similar life somehow. Still very different but the same opinions of different things. And thus also maybe the same way of thinking, that it does not differ as much as I had thought. That they have to struggle with different problems but that it is rather similar, I had the feeling.] (Mia, interview, my emphasis) • ‘I hate school. Well, I’m twelve and three-quarter years old. You have to be like thirty to start saying nice things about school.’ (S. 17) Mir gefallen diese drei Sätze, da sie der Wirklichkeit entsprechen. Bevor ich diesen Satz gelesen hatte, dachte ich, Kinder in Uganda wären sehr froh und dankbar über Bildung & Schule, doch jetzt weiß ich, dass auch Schüler in Uganda die gleichen Ein‐ stellungen zu Schule haben können. [‘I hate school. Well, I’m twelve and three-quarters years old. You have to be like thirty to start saying nice things about school.’ (p. 17) I like these three sentences because they portray reality. Before I read this sentence, I thought children in Uganda would be happy 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 328 <?page no="329"?> and grateful about education & school but now I know that also students in Uganda may have the same attitudes to school.] (Vanessa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito, my emphasis) Differences The students participating in my study also come up with many differences in their comparisons and frequently encounter foreignness. This becomes appa‐ rent when, for example, they describe something or someone as “komisch, eige‐ nartig, unverständlich, anders, fremd etc. [strange, odd, incomprehensible, dif‐ ferent, foreign etc.]” or express their surprise, irritation, shock, fright, curiosity or fascination about the plots, the characters, the writing styles and other aspects of the texts and their narrated worlds. Students encounter foreignness in various contexts. Some of them perceive a certain writing style as strange, others consider the plot of a particular nar‐ rative as confusing and there are also those who describe certain behaviours of the characters as incomprehensible. Concerning the narrated world, for ex‐ ample, they consider family structures as different or (religious) beliefs as strange. Table 19 provides an overview of different contexts in which the stu‐ dents encounter foreignness: Context Example Writing Style Der Schreibstil ist auch nicht normal, manchmal ist die Satz‐ stellung komisch. [The writing stlye is also not normal, sometimes the sentence structure is strange.] (Leonie, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) Plot Manchmal fand ich halt von diesen Büchern, den Hand‐ lungsverlauf relativ komisch. Selbst wenn es halt solche How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails Bücher sind. Es ist halt trotzdem manchmal so etwas relativ Sinnloses dabei. [Some‐ times the plot of these books was relatively strange, I reckon. Even if they are these How Goats Lost Their Beatiful Tails books. There is still sometimes something relatively mean‐ ingless in them.] (Philipp, interview) Character Ich fand es komisch, dass das Mädchen zu hause [sic] blieb und sich einsperrte, nur weil es sich hässlich empfand. [I found it strange that the girl stayed at home and locked herself in only because she thought of herself as ugly.] ( Jes‐ sica, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Narrated World/ Life in Uganda Dass das kleine Kind der Mutter erzählt, ähm, was/ dass man sich die Hände waschen soll, und so, das irritiert einen viel‐ leicht ein bisschen, aber wenn man länger darüber nach‐ denkt, dann kommt man schon drauf, dass ohne Bildung bei 7.2 Mental Processes 329 <?page no="330"?> denen das praktisch einfach normal ist. [That the little child tells her mother that you have to wash your hands is maybe a bit irritating but if you think about it for longer, then you realise that without education this is practically normal for them.] (Emma, interview) Table 19: Students’ Encounters with Foreignness in Different Contexts There are various diversity markers which seem to be decisive for the students when they see something or someone as ‘the other’. Nationality and culture play an important role but other characteristics such as gender, family structures or character traits also influence the students in their process of identifying some‐ thing or someone as “normal”/ “ähnlich [similar]” or “verschieden [different]”/ “fremd [foreign]”. Consequently, ‘the other’ is not a uniform figure for them but individual students perceive ‘otherness’ very differently. In the following, I will present the diversity markers the students make references to most frequently in my study. It has to be noted, however, that the students also often refer to HIV / AIDS , gender inequalities or the phenomenon of child soldiers as foreign. These aspects will be treated in Chapter 7.3. Culture / Nationality The students in my study, repeatedly come up with differences between Uganda and Germany or base differences they construct between their own life and the lives of the characters in the narratives on culture. Culture and nationality, therefore, seem to be decisive diversity markers for the students. The following quotes provide some examples of student statements in which this can be ob‐ served: • Ein Mädchen sagt, dass sie Bauer werden will, weil man da reich werden kann. Das zeigt mal wieder den Unterschied zwischen Deutschland und Uganda. Hier in Deutschland würde nie irgendjemand darauf hinarbeiten, Bauer zu werden. Bei uns ist ein guter Beruf, wo man viel verdient Anwalt oder Arzt. Aber in Uganda können sich wahrscheinlich viele Menschen keinen Anwalt oder Arzt leisten, deshalb macht es dort wohl wirklich Sinn, Bauer zu werden und die Ware zu verkaufen. [A girl says she wants to become a farmer because one can become rich like that. This shows again the difference between Ger‐ many and Uganda. Here in Germany nobody would strive to become a farmer. For us being a lawyer or doctor is a good occupation. But in Uganda many people probably cannot afford a lawyer or doctor and therefore it is meaningful to become a farmer and sell your goods.] (Emma, reading diary for I Will Not Fail, my emphasis) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 330 <?page no="331"?> • Das ist halt etwas, was wir uns jetzt nicht vorstellen können, dass man eine Woche lang wenig zu essen hat, weil andere die Kochrationen zu klein machen. Das ist etwas, was bei uns einfach kulturell bedingt, nicht so ein Problem ist. […] Weil bei uns im Normalfall sich einfach Nachschlag holen kann, wenn man noch Hunger hat, zumindest meistens. [That is something what we cannot imagine, having little to eat for one week because others make the cooking portions small. That is something which for us culturally is not such a problem. […] Because for us normally you can get a second helping in case you are still hungry, most of the time at least.] (Elias, interview, my emphasis) • Kulturell ist er [der Text] eventuell komplizierter da ich die ugandische Kultur nicht kenne und ich nicht nachvollziehen kann wieso eine schwangere Tochter rausgeschmissen wird, anstatt mit ihr zusammen es durchzuziehen. [Culturally the text is maybe more complicated because I do not know the Ugandan culture and I cannot understand how the pregnant daughter can be thrown out instead of going through it with her together.] (Isa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito, my emphasis) As it is also the case in these quotes, most of the differences that students con‐ struct along the axis of nationality and culture focus on Uganda and Germany or culture in Uganda and culture in Germany. Some students, particularly those who describe themselves as bicultural, also come up with differences between Germany and other countries / cultures. Leyla (case 6) constructs many similar‐ ities between Turkey and Germany. The following quotes give some examples of the students constructing comparisons between Uganda and countries dif‐ ferent from Germany: • Diese Geschichte erinnert mich an einige Bräuche in der Türkei, da auch hier Männer, ab einem gewissen Zeitpunkt, anfangen, öfters nach der Hand der Tochter zu fragen. Mir ist sowas noch nie passiert. In Deutschland wäre so etwas undenkbar, vorallem [sic] da hier nie nach der Meinung der Töchter gefragt wird. [This story reminds me of a few customs in Turkey because there men also start from a certain point onwards to ask from time to time for the hand of the daughter. I have never experienced anything like that. In Germany this would be unthinkable, particularly because the opinion of the daughters is never asked for.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Ich selber habe sowas noch nicht bzw. nicht miterlebt. In meinem Heimatland Kosovo / Albanien jedoch war es vor vielen Jahren ähnlich, dass Frauen nicht zur Schule durften. In der Zeit lebte meine Oma. Sie mussten alle zuhause bleiben und durfen sich nicht weiterbilden. Ich selber könnte mir so etwas Ähnliches niemals vorstellen. [I myself have never experienced anything like 7.2 Mental Processes 331 <?page no="332"?> that. In my home country Kosovo / Albania, however, it was similar many years back, that women were not allowed to go to school. My grandmother lived during that time. She had to stay at home and was not allowed to get further education. I could never imagine anything like that myself.] (Isa, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) • Äh, also, bei "JJ" ist es ja, ja/ das ist es halt so eine Liebesgeschichte auch. (…) Auch eine ganz normale Geschichte eigentlich. Erinnert mich auch ein bisschen an die aus Pakistan noch einmal, also an die, die ich jetzt also gelesen habe, diese eine Geschichte. [Well, in “JJ” it is/ that is a love story also. (…) Also a completely normal story actually. It reminds me a bit of Pakistan, well, of that one story that I have read.] (Bilal, interview) Gender For some students, gender also seems to play an important role when they iden‐ tify something or someone as ‘other’ or ‘self ’. Benjamin (case 7), for example, points out that he has not had any similar experiences to those of Flora in “The Hair Cut” because he is a boy: Ich falle nicht in solche naiven, eher zu Mädchen tendierenden, pubertären Phasen. Jungs machen sich generell nicht so viel Gedanken um ihr Aussehen wie Mädchen. [I do not get into naïve, rather girlish pubescent phases. Boys are usually less concerned with their appearance than girls.]” (Reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) He appears to ground the differences between Flora’s and his own life, therefore, on the identity marker gender. Magdalena (case 2) also takes a rather gender-ori‐ ented perspective when she states that she is familiar with Flora’s feelings “weil ich selbst auch ein Mädchen bin [because I am also a girl]” (reading diary for “The Hair Cut”). For her, the similarities between Flora’s and her own life prevail because of the fact that she is a girl. Family Structure Some students also orient themselves towards family structures when referring to someone as the same or different. For Charlotte (case 8), her status as an only child is a central point that comes up in various reading diaries. She explains that she feels close to Gwendolyn in The Unfulfilled Dream because she is also an only child, while she expresses difficulties in understanding Nanfuka’s care for her siblings in Voice of a Dream: Ich habe halt keine Geschwister. Deswegen war das jetzt schon (…) ein bisschen neu, ähm, so, dass man sich so um die ganzen Geschwister kümmert, also wenn die Eltern nicht da sind, oder so. Das kenn ich jetzt halt nicht so. [I do not have any siblings. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 332 <?page no="333"?> Therefore it was rather (…) a bit new that you have to care for your siblings when your parents are not around or something like that. I am not familiar with this.] (In‐ terview) Similarly, Emma (case 4) sees some of the differences between her life and the lives of the characters on an individual family level. She points out, for example, that in contrast to the family of Akello in The Unfulfilled Dream, her family would always support her in difficult situations and she states in the reading diary for Voice of a Dream that she has not had any similar experiences to Nan‐ fuka because in contrast to her she has grown up in an intact family. Religion Religion is also applied as a diversity marker by some students. Leyla (case 6), for example, makes the following statement in the reading diary for Cherished Dreams: Ich habe viel über die Kultur von Sande gelernt. Sie haben eine andere Art die Welt zu sehen, weil sie teils auch sehr viel Aberglauben haben [I have learnt a lot about the culture of Sande. They have a different way of seeing the world because they partly also have a great deal of superstition.] Leyla here devaluates the belief of the people by labelling it as “Aberglaube” [superstition] and uses this as a diversity marker between ‘them’ and ‘us’. Anna (see case 10) says in the interview that she was not aware before reading dass die [die Leute in Uganda] so wirklich Religion haben, ähm, dass die in die Kirche gehen. Das wusste ich alles nicht. Und deswegen dachte ich mir so, die sind einfach so einseitige Menschen, die halt irgendwie nur so ‘Hauptsache einfach überleben’. [that the people in Uganda really have a religion, that they go to church. That I did not know. And therefore I thought, they are rather one-sided people, who are somehow ‘just surviving’.] For her, the fact that the characters go to church appears to be decisive in not marking them as “einseitig [one-sided]” and different. Some students’ statements also suggest that they see strong religious beliefs or religious fundamentalism as the reason for some of the differences they con‐ struct between Uganda and Germany, or their own life and the lives of the char‐ acters. This may be illustrated with the following quotes: • Also ich denke, mich betrifft das [HIV / AIDS] vielleicht nicht so sehr, weil, ähm, ich denke in, in Uganda jetzt oder in anderen afrikanischen Ländern oder so, ist das halt eher ein Ding, weil das halt mit der Verhütung halt nicht so ganz 7.2 Mental Processes 333 <?page no="334"?> unter die Leute gebracht wird, wegen auch Religion oder so. [I think HIV / AIDS maybe does not affect me that much because I think in Uganda now or in other African countries it is rather an issue because contraception is maybe not publicised so much, because of religion and so.] (Mia, interview) • Hm, ich glaub, vielleicht, das [dass die Eltern ihre schwangere Tochter weg‐ schicken] hat etwas mit der Religion zu tun, das könnte sein. Weil zum Beispiel die Moslems, die dürfen doch auch nicht irgendwie einfach so schwanger werden, oder? [I think the fact that the parents send their pregnant daughter away has maybe something to do with religion, that could be. Because Muslims, for example, are also not allowed to become pregnant somehow, are they? ] (Vanessa, interview) As becomes apparent in these quotes, the students consider religion, for ex‐ ample, to be responsible for an inadequate sex education in Uganda (Mia, in‐ terview) and for the repudiation of the pregnant daughter in I Will Miss Mr Kizito (Vanessa, interview). Character Traits Several students in my study also use character traits as diversity markers. The students repeatedly compare their own personality with that of the characters in the narratives and construct differences which are grounded on character traits. Emma (case 4), for example, states that, in comparison to Flora in “The Hair Cut”, she has the habit of not allowing anyone to help her. She considers herself as different to Flora in that way and is of the opinion that she can learn from her: Ich habe die Angewohnheit alles selber stemmen zu wollen - aber vielleicht erinnere ich mich ja an diese Geschichte und sehe ein, dass vieles einfacher wird, wenn man eine Person an sich ranlässt. [I have the habit of wanting to manage everything on my own but maybe I’ll remember this story and see that it is easier if you allow a person to help you.] (Emma, reading diary for “The Hair Cut”) Magdalena (case 2) looks at herself as different from the two sisters in The Ad‐ venturous Sisters on the basis that she is neither completely good, nor completely bad but adaptable: Weil ich anpassungsfähig bin. Ähm, da gab es jetzt eine gute Schwester und eine schlechte Schwester sozusagen. Und ich bin eher so: Ja, in der Situation bin ich halt so und in der anderen bin ich so. Das heißt ich bin anders. [Because I am adaptable. There was a good sister and a bad sister so to say. And I am rather like that: Yes, in 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 334 <?page no="335"?> this situation I am like that and in the other like that. That means I am different.] (Interview) Fantastic Elements Another decisive factor for the students in their process of identifying someone or something as different or foreign seems to be the way the characters or other aspects are described in the narratives, either realistically or unrealistically. The students construct many differences between their own lives and the lives of the characters in the narratives based on fantastic elements. Magdalena (case 2), Lukas (case 5) and Hannes (case 12) for example, repeatedly state that they cannot construct any similarities with the characters in the narratives they de‐ scribe as unrealistic because they live in a completely different world. Other students in my study also point to this issue in their reading diaries, as the following quotes illustrate: • Ich habe nichts Ähnliches erlebt, da es auch eher unrealistisch ist, mit einer Spinne zu reden und in eine Welt zu gehen, in der Pflanzen reden können. [I haven’t experienced anything like that because it is also rather unrealistic to speak with a spider and to go into a world in which plants can speak.] (Monika, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters) • Nein [ich habe nichts Ähnliches erlebt]. Mein Leben unterscheidet sich ziem‐ lich, ich bin kein sprechendes Tier und lebe auch nicht im Wald. [No, I haven’t experienced anything like that. My life differs quite, I am no speaking animal and I do not live in the forest.] (Leonie, reading diary for A Testing of Strength) Evaluation of ‘Different’ Frequently in my study, the students evaluate differences and look at them as either negative (e.g. primitive, backward and inferior) or positive (e.g. inter‐ esting and exotic). In both cases, processes of othering become apparent, par‐ ticularly in statements in which students refer to themselves as part of a group of people united in a ‘we’ and to other people as fundamentally different, united in a ‘they’. Some examples of the students making references of that type are given in the following quotes: • Wenn man sich mit Leuten trifft, dann trifft man sich meinetwegen in einem Park oder eben bei mir halt dann in meiner Jugendgruppe. Und bei denen war das/ hat das sich halt mehr so angehört, als wäre das so ein Platz, wo die auch irgendwie arbeiten, oder etwas zu tun hätten. Und das kam mir dann ein bis‐ schen komisch vor. [When people meet, then one meets in a park or in my case then in my youth group. And for them it was/ it rather sounded as if it was a 7.2 Mental Processes 335 <?page no="336"?> place where they also work somehow or have something to do. And that ap‐ peared then a bit strange to me.] (Monika, interview, my emphasis) • Weil, das ist halt bei uns eigentlich so einen ganz normaler Standard, dass man halt Essen hat und anscheinend halt, wenn es dann bei denen halt mal knapp wird, dann muss man es halt aushalten, bis es dann wirklich zum bitteren Ende kommt. Und dass wie halt die Hauptperson einfach/ dass die / dass der dann umkippt. [Because that is for us a completely normal standard that you have food and seemingly when they run out of food, then they must endure to the bitter end. And that, like the protagonist, that he just faints.] (Leon, interview, my emphasis) • Irgendwie denken wir da anders darüber nach, aber bei denen ist es anschei‐ nend normal die Tochter rauszuschmeißen. [Somehow we think differently about it but for them it is apparently normal to send the daughter away.] (Simon, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito, my emphasis) Differences as Inferior Some students seem to look at their own (white/ Western / Middle Class / Male) point of view or position as superior and demonise ‘the other’ as inferior. These devaluations are applied along the axis of culture, as for example in the case of Oliver (case 3) or Hannes (case 12), who consider the Ugandan culture to be primitive, but also along other axes, for example, gender when Benjamin (case 7) states that he as a boy does not tend to go through naïve and pubescent phases like girls. Emil compares his own life with the lives of the characters in The Jewels of Amuria. He describes his own way of living as “normal” and looks at the way of life described in the book as different and “primitive”, thus inferior to his own: Also, hier [zeigt auf The Jewels of Amuria] ist es ja schon einmal so, da leben die noch wie vor 100 Jahren oder wie vor mehreren 100 Jahren, in so einem, ich weiß nicht wie man es nennt, Dorf mit so Hütten. Also ganz primitiv eigentlich. Und das ist ja bei uns schon anders. Wir haben Häuser, ganz normal und Autos. Und hier ist halt noch keine so technische Entwicklung, oder so. [Well, here in The Jewels of Amuria they live like 100 years ago or several 100 years ago in, I do not know how it is called, a village with huts. Very primitively actually. And that is different here. We have houses, very normal and cars. And here there has not yet been any technical development and so on.] (Interview, my emphasis) Other students evaluate differences in a similar manner: • Nein [ich habe nichts Ähnliches erlebt] und mein Leben ist viel besser, weil ich in Deutschland lebe und da sind solche Schulen nicht erlaubt. [No, I haven’t 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 336 <?page no="337"?> experienced anything similar and my life is much better because I live in Ger‐ many and here such schools are not allowed.] (Leonie, reading diary for Moses) • Ja, keine Ahnung, ich fand das halt ein bisschen schockierend, dass der Lehrer, nur weil er AIDS hat jetzt richtig ausgeschlossen wird und die Schwester, nur weil sie schwanger war, genauso ausgeschlossen wird von der Familie. Das ist irgendwie schon ein bisschen komisch. In Deutschland würde es nie so sein. [Yes, no idea, I considered it a bit shocking that the teacher is excluded only because he has AIDS and the sister is excluded as well by her family only because she was pregnant. That is somehow a bit strange. In Germany it would never be like that.] (Vanessa, interview) • Und ich glaube, bei uns wäre das niemals so, dass wir unsere Kinder in solche Gefahren bringen würden. Deswegen hat sich dieses Buch [The Precious Cala‐ bash] in mein Gedächtnis gebrannt. Weil das so ein krasser Unterschied zwi‐ schen Uganda und Deutschland ist. [I think here for us it would never be like that we bring our children in such danger. Therefore, The Precious Calabash has been engrained in my memory. Because it is such a drastic difference between Uganda and Germany.] (Silvia, interview) When some students in my study repeatedly refer to the characters in the novels, the Ugandan texts and the Ugandan people, their living style and culture as “primitiv [primitive]”, “banal [trivial]”, “einfach [simple]”, “alt [old]” and “rück‐ ständig [backward]”, they show a rather ethnocentric and evolutionist perspec‐ tive. As Hornscheidt (2004, pp. 190-193) states, words like “primitiv” have a derogatory meaning and are implicitly oriented towards a (Western) norm which is regarded as positive. They also have a colonial history as they were used in the colonial age to subtend Europe as normal and civilised by Africa as abnormal and primitive. ‘Development’ serves as a vague criterion for con‐ structions of that type, Hornscheidt (ibid., p. 191) explains: Eine dieser vagen Kriterien für die Weiße [sic] westliche Konstruktion einer Kultur als ‘primitiv’ ist, dass diese auf einer niedrigeren Kultur- und Entwicklungsstufe steht. Dabei wird impliziert, dass es eine Entwicklungsstufe gäbe, die als ‘normal’ zu setzen sei und die es erlaube, andere als ‘niedriger stehend’ zu charakterisieren. [One of these vague criteria for the White Western construction of culture as ‘primitive’ is that it is at a lower stage of culture and development. The existence of a development stage which is ‘normal’ and which allows others to be characterised as ‘lower’ is implicit here.] (My translation) At this point, it is important to reflect briefly upon the discourse of ‘develop‐ ment’ and present different views on this topic. While advocates of an evolu‐ 7.2 Mental Processes 337 <?page no="338"?> tionist perspective (deriving from Spencer, Durkheim, Tylor and other nine‐ teenth-century theorists) argue that different societies have reached different stages of social and cultural development (modernisation approaches; see Ink‐ eles & Smith, 1974; McClelland, 1961; Nolan & Lenski, 1999; Rostow, 1960), post-development scholars (Escobar, 1988, 1995; Rahnema, 1997; Sachs, 1992) are of the opinion that the concept of ‘development’ is based on a hierarchical structure. Within modernisation approaches, ‘developing countries’ are at a lower stage according to economic parameters and they need the help of ‘de‐ veloped countries’ to modernise and grow. According to post-development scholars, this structure is hierarchical and based on Western norms; conse‐ quently, all countries and cultures are measured by white Western standards, they argue. They criticise that the status of development is aligned to certain factors which are determined by the OECD and the UN . Historical, economic, social, political and cultural contexts in their full complexities are largely ig‐ nored in their opinion. According to them, models of development are, therefore, often ethnocentric and universalist (Boussoulas, 2004, pp. 120-123). When stu‐ dents make references to ‘primitiveness’, ‘backwardness’ or ‘underdevelop‐ ment’, they may be ascribed to a rather evolutionist perspective. Differences as Difficult to Understand The students in my study repeatedly point out that they consider differences or aspects that are foreign to them as difficult to understand. Leyla (case 6), for example, constructs many differences between the characters’ lives and her own life and frequently refers to difficulties in empathising with the characters. She particularly cannot understand why the girl in The Jewels of Amuria is actually happy about her arranged marriage because she herself would not appreciate something like that: The Jewels of Amuria, dort hat das Mädchen ja am Ende, obwohl die Hochzeit im Grunde arrangiert war, einfach/ sie war/ hat sich gefreut, dass es der Junge am Ende es irgendwie geschafft hat, durch den Regen zu laufen mit dem Regenschirm da. Hm, mich hätte das jetzt zum Beispiel nicht gefreut. Also, ich habe ihre Situation irgendwie überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen können, weil mich hätte das jetzt nicht gefreut, dass mir jetzt eine Ehe arrangiert wurde und dass ich als Objekt behandelt werde, irgendwie als Preis und nicht als Mensch. [In The Jewels of Amuria the girl at the end of the story was happy that the boy succeeded in running through the rain with the umbrella despite the fact that the marriage was basically arranged. I would not have been happy, for example. I could not understand the situation at all because I would not have been happy that a marriage was arranged for me and I am treated like an object, somehow like a prize and not as a human being.] (Interview) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 338 <?page no="339"?> Also Anna (case 10) constructs many differences between her own situation and that of the characters and points out that she finds them very difficult to un‐ derstand: “Zum Beispiel, dass die einfach ewig lang laufen, um Wasser zu holen. Das konnte ich mir nicht vorstellen. [For example, that they walk for an endless time to get water. That I could not imagine]” (interview). Differences as Interesting / Impressive Something or someone that is different or foreign is not, however, always eval‐ uated as negative by the students; it / she / he may also arouse students’ curiosity and interest. The analysis of the students’ prior associations and expectations (see Chapter 7.1.1) has already shown that they are especially interested in for‐ eign customs and traditions. In the reading diaries and interviews, students also frequently express interest in cultural differences. Niko (see case 1), for example, states that he is particularly interested in the Greek way of life because he con‐ siders it to be different from the rest of Europe. He also expresses interest in the differences between the life-style in Germany and Uganda: Da interessiert es mich dann auch wie die so leben. Also diese Sachen so vergleichen, wo dann die Unterschiede sind, das finde ich schon interessant. Weil doch die Welt sich sehr unterscheidet, also (…). [I am interested how they live. Well, to compare things, where the differences are, I find that interesting. Because the world is very different (…).] (Interview) Likewise, other students also show particular interest in differences. In these quotes, tendencies of exoticizing (see Chapter 7.1.1) may be observed: • Ja, also ich finde fremde Kulturen generell interessant, weil man halt einfach, äh, auch den Vergleich ziehen kann, wie es jetzt irgendwo ganz wo anders auf der Welt im Vergleich zu jetzt da hier ist. So die Unterschiede. [Yes, well I find foreign cultures in general very interesting because one can simply draw com‐ parisons, what it is like somewhere completely different in the world in com‐ parison to here now. The differences.] (Monika, interview) • Also, die Bücher zu lesen, das war eigentlich ziemlich interessant, weil man ein bisschen mehr von der anderen Kultur mitbekommen hat und auch, wie die in Afrika halt anders leben. [Well, to read the books was actually quite interesting because you got to know a bit about the other culture and also how they live differently in Africa.] (Niklas, interview) • Also, wenn es jetzt so eine ähnliche Kultur, sage ich mal, ist, wie jetzt die deut‐ sche, also zum Beispiel jetzt die französische Kultur oder so etwas, das inter‐ essiert mich jetzt halt nur in geringen Maßen, aber jetzt irgendetwas halt kom‐ plett Fremdes, das ist schon ziemlich interessant. [Well, when it is such a similar 7.2 Mental Processes 339 <?page no="340"?> culture, so to say, like the German, well, for example the French culture or something like that, it is only of little interest to me but something completely foreign, that is rather interesting.] (Elias, interview) During the reading process, aspects that are different or foreign to the students seem to make a big impression and have a lasting effect on them. Emma (case 4), for example, states that the novella Children of the Red Fields affected her deeply “weil das eben so ungewohnt ist [because it is so uncommon]” (interview). Silvia makes a similar statement in the interview: “Also so/ solche Sachen, die komplett anders zu unserem Leben sind, behalten wir halt irgendwie mehr im Kopf [Well, things that are completely different to our lives, we bear in mind more]”. Different Evaluations of Differences In general, the students’ evaluations of foreign aspects in my study are varied. Table 20 shows that individual students may respond to the same question in the reading diary in various ways and come up with rather divergent opinions on certain aspects. Students’ Evaluation Q1: Why does Violet Bar‐ ungi make the monster in The Baby in the Forest talk in a language different from English? Q2: What do you think about it? Rather positive: “abwechslungsreich [varied]” “grusliger [creepier]” Ich denke sie tut das um das Fremde des Monsters zu verstärken. Außerdem hebt sie die Sätze damit hervor. Für mich lässt es das Monster fremder und gruseliger wirken. Außerdem klingt es für mich noch auffordernder. [I think she does that to re‐ inforce the foreignness of the monster. Moreover, she emphasises the sentences through that. For me it makes the monster sound more foreign and creepier. Besides, it sounds more commanding to me.] ( Jes‐ sica, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Mir gefällt es sehr gut. Es ist abwechslungsreich. →Es lässt das Monster für mich fremder klingen und gruseliger, weil ich diese Sprache noch nie gehört habe. [I like it a lot. It pro‐ vides variety. → It makes the monster sound more foreign and creepier be‐ cause I have never heard that language.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Rather negative: “merkwürdig [strange]” “verwirrend [confusing]” Damit man merkt, dass das Buch kein ‘normaler’ Mensch geschrieben hat, Ich finde das etwas merk‐ würdig. Es wirkt verwir‐ rend und man macht sich 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 340 <?page no="341"?> “kein ‘normaler’ Mensch [no ‘normal’ human being]” sondern jmd., der warsch. seine Gedanken und Ge‐ fühle aufs Blatt bringen wollte, um sie zu verar‐ beiten. Sie will zeigen, dass sie anderst [sic] ist als an‐ dere. [So that one realises that the book has not been written by a ‘normal’ human being but someone who probably wanted to bring his own thoughts and feelings to paper to process them. She wants to show that she is different to others.] (Michelle, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) darüber Gedanken, was sich die Autorin dabei ge‐ dacht hat. [I find it a bit strange. It appears con‐ fusing and you think about the writer’s intention.] (Michelle, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Table 20: Students’ Different Evaluations of Foreignness Summary and Interpretation The data analysis shows that comparing is a very important element of the students’ mental processes. This may be rooted in the fact that ‘otherness’ is a fundamental concept of human thought. Frequently, identities are set up as di‐ chotomies: Woman is the other of man, animal is the other of human, stranger is the other of native, abnormality the other of norm, deviation the other of law-abiding, illness the other of health, insanity the other of reason, lay public the other of the expert, for‐ eigner the other of state subject, enemy the other of friend. (Bauman, 1991, p. 8) Processes of comparing are an essential part of the identity formation process which young adults go through. According to Erikson (1968, p. 22) identity formation employs a process of simultaneous reflection and observation, a process taking place on all levels of mental functioning, by which the individual judges himself in the light of what he perceives to be the way in which others judge him in comparison to themselves and to a typology significant to them; while he judges their way of judging him in the light of how he perceives himself in comparison to them and to types that have become relevant to him. Brought about by biological changes and cognitive developments, such pro‐ cesses of simultaneously observing and reflecting are commonly experienced 7.2 Mental Processes 341 <?page no="342"?> by students in the adolescent stage. Young adults identify themselves by de‐ marcations from or communitisation with other people or groups of people. In my study, repeatedly, however, differences that the students construct, are subject to a hierarchy. Uganda is frequently not merely perceived as ‘different’ but as ‘behind’ or ‘exotic’, with both of these perceptions entailing devaluations. The students look, for example, at their own living situation as better than those of the characters in the narratives or point to the Ugandan culture as something foreign and, therefore, interesting. Here processes of ‘othering’ become appa‐ rent. According to Foucault (1977; see also Chapters 2.3 and 2.4), ‘othering’ is strongly connected with power and knowledge. When a person or group is ‘othered’, its perceived weaknesses are pointed out to make the self look stronger or better. Processes of this kind rather maintain power asymmetries than de‐ construct them. 7.2.3 Strategies and Reflections A further essential part of the students’ mental processes are the strategies which they use to cope with differences and also their reflections upon their own understanding. Some of these strategies and processes of reflection will be presented in this chapter. Strategies for Dealing with Differences The students participating in my study make use of various strategies for coping with differences or when encountering foreignness, many of which seem to arise from cognitive dissonances leading to negative feelings. The strategies that are repeatedly applied by the students in my study include the passive acceptance of difference (accepting strategy), the reflection upon own privileges (privi‐ lege-reflecting strategy), desire to help others (helping-the-other strategy) and the legitimation of difference (legitimating strategy). Accepting Strategy As the following quotes suggest, many of the students seem to apply an ac‐ cepting strategy when dealing with differences. They simply overlook their own irritations and accept the aspects of otherness unquestioningly: • Man hat es halt entweder hingenommen, dass es so ist, oder ja, man wusste schon vorher. [You either accepted that it is like that or yes, you already knew it before.] (Gabriell, interview) • Ich habe das so aufgenommen und verarbeitet. Sagen wir es so. Weil es ist, wie es ist. Das Buch beschreibt es und ich lerne daraus. [I have received it like that 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 342 <?page no="343"?> and processed it. Let’s put it like that. Because it is what it is. The book describes it and I learn from that.] (Benjamin, interview) • Hm, ja, ich habe es halt irgendwie/ vielleicht kurz überlegt und ich habe es mir halt, glaube ich, auch noch einmal durchgelesen, ob ich da irgendwie etwas überlesen habe. Aber (…) ja, ich habe das dann halt einfach so aufgenommen, wie es ist (…). [Yes, I have somehow/ maybe briefly thought about it and I have, I think, read through it again, if I have missed something somehow there. But (…) yes, I have just received it as it is (…).] (Oliver, interview) Passive acceptance of the differences may be considered the easiest way to deal with encounters of otherness for the students. Making use of this strategy, they avoid the task of making sense of differences. In my opinion, when students use such a strategy, this may also be interpreted as a kind of indifference. Privilege-Reflecting Strategy When differences cause feelings of compassion and maybe guilt, they appear to trigger the students’ reflections upon their own privileges. In this situation, they use the privilege-reflecting strategy. They repeatedly state that they pity certain characters in the narratives or the people in Uganda and that they realise through a text how lucky they are to live in Germany. The following quotes provide examples of the students’ reflections of that kind: • Ich denke, mir ist nun klar, was für ein Glück ich habe, in Deutschland zu leben. Hier hätte Nanfuka bestimmt Unterstützung vom Staat bekommen, denn sie ist ja erst 16 und muss sich um 4 kleine Kinder kümmern. Außerdem habe ich persönlich eigentlich nur Luxusprobleme und muss nicht so hart arbeiten wie Nanfuka oder ihre Geschwister. [I think I am now aware how lucky I am to live in Germany. Here Nanfuka would definitively have got support from the state because she is only 16 and has to look after four young children.] (Emma, reading diary for Voice of a Dream, my emphasis) • Und ich finde man hat schon oft auch gemerkt, wie gut es einem hier in Deutschland so geht. Ähm, wir haben keinen weiten Weg zur Schule, es gibt einen Bus, oder so. Und, ähm, man hat eigentlich öfters jemand, der einem hilft oder wenn man jetzt HIV / AIDS hat, dann ist man nicht komplett ausges‐ chlossen oder so. Oder kann sich mit anderen austauschen, denen es gleich geht wie einem selber. [And I think one has often noticed how well off we are in Germany. We do not have to walk far to school, there is a bus and so on. And there is often someone who helps you or when you have HIV / AIDS, then you are not completely excluded or something like that. Or you can talk with other people who experience something similar.] (Charlotte, interview, my emphasis) 7.2 Mental Processes 343 <?page no="344"?> • Eigentlich habe ich nichts gelernt aber an den Geschichten merkt man wie gut man es hat. [I have not actually learnt anything, but from the stories you realise how well off you are.] (Alexander, reading diary for The Precious Calabash, my emphasis) In this context, students also frequently state that they are now, after the reading project, more grateful for their own living situation: • Ja, ich bin viel dankbarer, dass ich so ein Leben führen darf. Meine Familie ist ganz anders und das Schulleben eben auch. Erst nach dem lesen [sic] dieser Bücher ist es mir richtig klar geworden. [Yes, I have become much more grateful that I may live such a life. My family is completely different and my school life, too. Only after reading these books did this become clear to me.] (Silvia, final questionnaire, my emphasis) • Ich bin auch dankbarer gegenüber meinen Eltern und der Schule geworden. [I also became more grateful concerning my parents and the school.] (Leyla, reading diary for Cherished Dreams, my emphasis) • Ich habe viel über AIDS nachgedacht und bin dankbarer für meine Leb‐ enssituation geworden. [I thought a lot about AIDS and became more grateful for my living situation.] (Anna, reading diary for Voice of a Dream, my emphasis) The privilege-reflecting strategy goes alongside a devaluation of difference. ‘The other’ is looked at as inferior and pitiable and ‘the self ’ in contrast is perceived as superior and desirable. The students seem to be aware of their own privileges and also happy to enjoy them. The address of privileges does not, however, appear to go further. They only show awareness of the existence of inequalities but hardly reflect upon the origins of these inequalities and question their own privileges. They do not show any willingness to give up on some of their own privileges in order to improve the situation of ‘the other’. Helping-the-Other Strategy When faced with differences, other students apply the helping-the-other strategy and suggest that the people in Uganda should be supported to reach a living standard similar to their own. Sometimes, they also make suggestions for courses of action that may be taken: • Also ich, ja, also die Sichtweise, also davor habe ich halt eher gedacht, ja (…) sie haben halt nur Probleme mit HIV. Aber jetzt wurde halt doch durch I Will Not Fail halt auch gezeigt, dass es auch noch andere Probleme gibt, die man da versuchen sollte zu lösen. Deshalb hat sich meine Sichweise eigentich schon 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 344 <?page no="345"?> soweit verändert, dass man schon helfen sollte. Egal wie. [Well, the per‐ spective, well, before I rather thought, yes (…) they only have problems with HIV. But now I Will Not Fail also shows that there are also completely different problems which we should attempt to solve. Therefore, my perspective has actually changed in that way that one should help. No matter how.] (Ga‐ briell, interview) • Man könnte irgendwie, ähm, ja den Armen vielleicht ein bisschen Geld geben oder die halt unterstützen, dass die richtigen [unv.] haben oder, dass die Mädchen halt auch, äh, in die Schule gehen können, dass man vielleicht [unv.] wenn man sagt, dass vielleicht irgendein Gleichberechtigungsgesetz machen sollen, oder so (lacht). [One could somehow give the poor a bit of money or support them that they have real [inc.] or that the girls may also go to school that one maybe [inc.] when one says that they should maybe make a law for gender equality, or something like that (laughs).] (Rebecca, interview) This strategy also involves an inferior-superior bias. The students look at their own living standard as higher and make suggestions for also raising ‘the other’ to this standard. Rebecca’s statement of “giving the poor some money” seems to be full of good intentions but is also a sign of paternalistic racism. Legitimating Strategy Another way of dealing with differences appears to be the application of a le‐ gitimation strategy. The students in my study frequently make use of statements such as ‘poor but happy’ or ‘happy with few possessions’ which may be inter‐ preted as ways for legitimating poverty: • Ich habe erkannt, das [sic] man in Uganda arm lebt, aber trotzdem glücklich sein kann. [I have realised that in Uganda one may live in poverty but still be happy.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters, my emphasis) • Ich persönlich habe nie etwas in der Art erlebt. Das Leben von Nyabwangu and Nyabucureera unterscheidet sich vom Lebensstandart, [sic] denn Nyabucur‐ eera erwähnt einmal, dass man glücklich damit sein soll, was Gott einem ge‐ geben hat. Das zeigt auch, dass die Leute dort eben mit viel weniger Dingen auskommen und ohne viele Dinge glücklich sein können, was bei uns in Deutschland nicht der Fall ist. [Personally, I have never experienced anything of that type. The life of Nyabwangu and Nyabucureera differs from the living standard because Nyabucureera once mentions that one should be happy with that what God has given. This also shows that people there get by with fewer things and may be happy without many things which is not the case here in Germany.] (Anita, reading diary for The Adventurous Sisters, my emphasis) 7.2 Mental Processes 345 <?page no="346"?> • Ja, und dass auch, es dort eigentlich nicht so ist, wer Besitz hat, hat auch au‐ tomatisch [unv.] andere. Sondern, dass es da halt auch Leute gibt, die entweder viel Besitz haben oder einfach halt nur glücklich sind mit auch nicht so viel Besitz. [Yes, and also that, there it is actually not like those who own something, automatically also have other [inc.]. But that there are also people who either own a lot or who are also simply happy without much.] (Oliver, interview, my emphasis) Statements as such suggest that the students believe or want to make themselves believe that there is no real need for fundamental changes because people are happy without privileges. The privileges that the students are aware of enjoying themselves may become more bearable through that. Whatever strategy the students adopt when coping with differences and for‐ eignness, they always seem to be quite sure about their way of dealing with them. Very few students openly express difficulties during the comprehension process. Only some students state that they find it difficult to understand the aspects of the narratives that appear foreign to them, as the following examples illustrate: • Ähm, ach, bei, ähm, "JJ". Dass sie, ähm, AIDS hat, da war im ersten Moment so: ‘Okay? ’ Da hat man wohl schon davon gehört, aber irgendwie, ich persön‐ lich habe da jetzt noch keine Erfahrungen mit. Wo ich auch froh darum bin. Ich kenne auch niemanden, der irgendwie infiziert wäre. Und von daher war es dann schon so: ‘Okay? ’ Klar weiß man was, aber irgendwie ist das dann schon komisch. Wenn man sich das so vorstellt. [The fact that she has AIDS was in the first moment like that: ‘Okay? ’ One has heard of it but per‐ sonally I have not yet had any experiences with it. About which I am glad. I don’t know anyone who is infected. And therefore it was rather like that: ‘Okay? ’ Of course one knows something about it but it is rather strange. When you imagine it.] (Magdalena, interview, my emphasis) • Und so fand ich eigentlich cool, dass ich so ein bisschen mal auch das Leben von jemandem, der jetzt kein AIDS hatte, aber Vater, Schwester und was auch immer hatte. Und, so konnte ich mich auf eine andere Art und Weise damit ein bisschen vertraut machen. Weil ich wusste davor darüber jetzt eigentlich nicht so viel. Und, aber mir fällt es eigentlich immer noch ein bisschen schwer, ähm, das richtig zu verstehen, dass es da einfach komplett anders für die Menschen ist. Aber es hat mir auf jeden Fall ein Stück weit geholfen. [And I found it cool that I [heard] a bit about the life of someone who has no AIDS, but father and sister and whatever had it. And so I could familiarise myself in a way a bit with it. Because I actually knew very little about it. And it is still 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 346 <?page no="347"?> actually quite difficult for me to understand that it is there completely different for the people there. But it definitely helped me a bit.] (Charlotte, interview, my emphasis) • Ich weiß jetzt ein bisschen, wie man sich fühlen muss, wenn man verschleppt wird. Also, eigentlich weiß ich es nicht wirklich, denn dazu muss man so etwas durchleben. Aber ich kann mir jetzt vielleicht ansatzsweise [sic] vorstellen, wie traumatisierend das sein muss. [I know a bit now how you must feel when you are abducted. But actually I do not know it really because for that you have to live through it yourself. But now I can imagine to some extent how traumatising it must be.] (Emma, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields, my emphasis) Reflection In the following, examples of students’ processes of reflection are given. The students in my study reflect upon the contexts on which they build their mental processes, particularly their own prior knowledge. Furthermore, mental pro‐ cesses, i.e. the phrasing of generalisations and stereotypes are subject to their reflections. Occasionally, the students also contemplate about the vocabulary and expressions they make use of in the reading diaries and interviews or the fictionality of the literary texts. Reflection upon Prior Knowledge In the reading diaries and interviews, the students repeatedly reflect upon their prior knowledge concerning certain topics. Many of them, for example, perceive their knowledge about Uganda as limited or preconceived: • Ja, ich hatte da relativ wenig Vorstellungen. Klar ich wusste, das ist ein afrika‐ nisches Land. Andere Kultur, andere Sprache. Und, ja und eine ganz andere Lebensweise. Aber da war es eigentlich mehr Dazulernen, als sich irgendwie, äh, sich dann Gedanken darüber machen, wie es hätte sein können. Weil ich eben sehr wenig wusste vorher darüber und dann war es eben eher Dazu‐ lernen und nicht so, dass sich die Gedanken dann ändern. [Yes, I had relatively few expectations. Of course I knew that it is an African country. Another cul‐ ture, another language. And, yes a completely different way of living. But it was more learning something than thinking about how it could have been. Because I knew very little about it before and then it was learning some‐ thing new, rather than changing one’s way of thinking.] (Monika, interview, my emphasis) 7.2 Mental Processes 347 <?page no="348"?> • Theoretisch weiß ich ein wenig über die Kultur und die Schwierigkeiten, die in Teilen Afrikas herrschen, jedoch denke ich nicht, dass ich annähernd weiß, welche schlimmen Bedingungen für Jugendliche, wie in dem Buch, herr‐ schen und wie unwahrscheinlich und hoffnungslos Träume sein müssen. [In theory, I know a little about the culture and the problems which prevail in parts of Africa but I do not think that I am close to knowing how difficult the prevailing conditions are for young adults like in this book and how improbable and hopeless their dreams must be.] (Leyla, reading diary for Cherished Dreams, my emphasis) • Ja, ich denke, also ich hatte so das Bild von Uganda, dass da halt, ja, ich weiß eigentlich fast nichts über Uganda, aber ich habe halt eher gedacht, dass die so, weiß nicht, unter ärmeren Bedingungen leben. Und vielleicht eher mehr auf dem Land, weil es nicht so viele Leute sind. Aber das war ja eher nicht so. [Yes, I think, well I had that picture of Uganda that there is, yes, actually I hardly know anything about Uganda, but I rather thought that they, I do not know, live under poorer conditions. And maybe rather in the countryside because they are not so many people. But that was actually not the case.] (Philipp, interview, my emphasis) Despite this apparent awareness of the limitedness of their own prior knowl‐ edge, the students’ (de)construction processes (see Chapter 7.2.1) show that they often draw quick and unfounded conclusions. Reflection upon Norms In addition, some students seem to be aware of the constructedness of normality and reflect upon their own standards and norms. A few students, for example Emma, write “normal” occasionally in quotation marks in the reading diaries: “Der Schreibstil war ‘normal’, also mir ist jetzt nichts Spezielles aufgefallen [The writing style was ‘normal’, I did not notice anything special]” (reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria). This may indicate that they are aware of the construct‐ edness and relativity of the term and know that what is “normal” to them may be “abnormal” to others. Two students in my study make explicit references to the concept of normality: • Aber das sind halt so/ das ist halt so/ Ich finde das integriert sich halt sehr so in die NORMALE Denkweise, also normal, wenn ich jetzt von meiner ausgehe. [I think that is integrated in a NORMAL way of thinking, well normal, when I base it on mine.] (Niko, interview, my emphasis) • Weil, generell ist es ja eigentlich immer in den Köpfen, unser Land ist das zentrale und alle sind irgendwie ähnlich. Es ist immer so, weil mit der 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 348 <?page no="349"?> Zeit kriegt man mit, dass halt doch ein paar anders sind. [Because in general it is actually always in people’s minds that our country is the central one and all the others are somehow similar. It is always like that and with time one realises that some are rather different.] (Magdalena, interview, my emphasis) When Niko explains his understanding of “normal” in the above mentioned statement, he shows a high potential for self-reflection, i.e. his awareness of his own norms and standards. In the second statement, Magdalena proves to be aware of the phenomenon of ethnocentricity, she does not, however, further reflect upon it. Reflection upon Generalisations, Stereotypes and Prejudices Some students in the reading project also show awareness of generalisations, as the following quotes illustrate: • Eigentlich ich habe nicht so viele Vorstellungen gehabt/ Ich habe dann nur/ Also ich habe/ ich muss sagen, ich habe Afrika für eins genommen. Also ist jetzt auch noch so, weil es gibt halt/ es gibt viele Länder, aber (…) Man hört halt, dass es/ ja gut es ist heiß überall und es sind auch einfache Verhältnisse so. Ja, so denke ich. Also, es ist ja jetzt nichts gegen die Bewohner da. [Actually I did not have much idea/ I have to say that I saw Africa as one. Well, it is still like that, because there are many countries but (…).One hears that it is hot everywhere and simple conditions. Yes, that’s what I think. Well, it is nothing against the people who live there.] (Niko, interview, my emphasis) • Also, ich habe in den Büchern jetzt nicht so viel über Uganda, sondern eher über die speziellen Personen eben erfahren und ich finde, das kann man nicht so gut auf ganz Uganda ausbreiten, das, was man da gelesen hat. Also da hat sich nicht wirklich viel geändert. [Well, I have not learnt that much about Uganda in the books but rather about the individual people and I am of the opinion that this may not be generalised very well for the whole of Uganda, what was read. And not much has changed there.] (Niklas, interview, my emphasis) • Ich kenne mich jetzt von deutscher Jugendliteratur, glaube ich, nicht so gut aus. Aber von ugandischer auch nicht, also ich würde es jetzt mal auf die fünf beschränken, die ich von Uganda kenne, da kann ich jetzt keine wir‐ klich große Meinung haben. [I don’t know much about German young adult literature, I think. But neither about the Ugandan, well I would restrict it to the five which I know from Uganda, I cannot have very big opinion here.] (Lukas, interview, my emphasis) 7.2 Mental Processes 349 <?page no="350"?> Niko, for example, states that he has looked and is still looking at Africa as one single unit. Niklas and Lukas point to the risks of generalisations in the context of literature. Niklas explains that he considers it inappropriate to apply whatever he read in the narratives to the whole of Uganda and Lukas points out that just by having read five narratives from Uganda he may not really have a general opinion about it. Furthermore, some of the students seem to be aware of their own precon‐ ceptions and stereotypes: • Ich weiß halt nichts/ also ich weiß schon ein bisschen etwas über Uganda, bloß eben so Klischees. Also, dass es halt schlimme Nachrichten gibt, von positiven Nachrichten hört man ja eigentlich nicht so wirklich. [I do not know anything/ well, I know a little bit about Uganda, but rather just clichés. That there is bad news, you don’t really actually hear much good news.] (Lukas, interview, my emphasis) • Ähm, weil das eigentlich, ähm, schon ziemlich zivilisiert alles sich angehört hat und geklungen hat und da habe ich höchstens noch an Südafrika gedacht, an irgendeine Hauptstadt oder so. Aber, ähm, also es ist halt, glaube ich, immer noch so die Vorstellungen damit in Afrika überall nur so kleinere Dörfer sind und damit das Level da noch nicht so fortgeschritten ist, wie in Europa. [Because this actually all sounded very civilised and, if any‐ thing I thought of South Africa there, of some capital city and so on. But, there are, I think, still these perceptions that there are only small villages everywhere in Africa and that the level there has not progressed as far as in Europe.] (Simon, interview, my emphasis) • Jetzt auch so zur Zeit mit den ganzen Asylanten. Da sieht man so/ Also das ist so unbewusst total im Kopf und man sieht einen Schwarzen auf der Straße laufen und denkt sich so ‘Hm ist der Asylant oder nicht? ’ ‘Ist der geflüchtet, oder nicht? ’ Und das hatte ich halt davor total so. Also, ich finde es gut, dass Deutschland hilft. Ähm, mein Vater vermietet auch ein ganzes Haus an Asylanten. Ich war da auch schon einmal und habe mich dann auch so mit denen unterhalten, also soweit das eben geht. Ähm, aber das ist halt einfach so im Kopf einfach so drin. Dieses ‘Ja, die brauchen Hilfe’ und dieses so ein bisschen von oben herabschauen, so ganz leicht. Und das hat sich schon gebessert. [Now at the moment with all these asylum-seekers. You think about it like/ Well, that is subconscious in your head and when you see a black person walking on the street, you think ‘Hm, is this an asylum-seeker or not? ’ ‘Has he fled, or not? ’ And I did that before all the time. Well, I consider it good that Germany helps. My father also rents out a whole house to asylum-seekers. I was also there one time 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 350 <?page no="351"?> and I talked to them as far as it was possible. But it is just in your head. This ‘Yes, they need help’ and this looking down on them slightly. And that has improved somewhat.] (Anna, interview, my emphasis) Lukas and Simon comment on clichés that prevail about Africa and African countries. Lukas openly states that he himself also sticks to clichés of that type. Anna (case 10), in the interview elaborates at length on the preconceptions that she has and states that she believes the texts have changed her attitudes partly. Reflection upon the Language They Used Very rarely in my study, the students reflect upon the language they make use of in the reading diaries or interviews. Two of these instances are illustrated here: • Ich dachte vorher, dass die/ dass man bei den Autoren vielleicht ein bisschen erkennt, dass die die englische Sprache vielleicht nicht so beherrschen, weil ich dachte immer, da unten wird das nicht so gelernt. Da unten ja (lacht). Da wird das nicht so wichtig genommen oder da ist die Schulbildung halt nicht so einfach wie hier, dass man irgendwie in die Schule geht und so. Aber ich finde das kann man halt nicht herauslesen, keine Chance (…). [I thought before that one may notice that the authors do not have a good command over the English language because I always thought that they do not learn that down there. Down there (laughs). There it is not taken seriously or the school education there is not that easy, that one may go to school and so. But I think you cannot discern it, no chance (…).] (Niko, interview) • Meiner Meinung nach ist es eine sehr interessante Handlung, da man sich erst durch solche Dinge bewust [sic] wird, wie gut wir es haben und, dass man Entwicklungsländern helfen muss auf unseren Stand zu kommen, statt selbst immer weiter nach oben zu streben. Solche Geschichten zwingen ‘zivilisierte’ Kulturen fast dazu die Probleme dort zu erkennen und diesen Leuten zu helfen. [In my opinion, the plot is very interesting because one becomes aware through things like that what a good life we have and that one really has to help de‐ veloping countries to come to our level, instead of striving steadily upwards on our own. Such stories force ‘civilised’ cultures almost to recognise the prob‐ lems there and help those people.] (Rebecca, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) In the first quote, Niko (case 1) seems to reflect upon a statement he made in the interview. The phrase “da unten” causes him to hesitate and laugh. This suggests that he goes through mental processes of contemplation here, although he does not explicitly state it. The second quote is taken from one of the reading diaries of Rebecca, in which she shows some awareness concerning the language 7.2 Mental Processes 351 <?page no="352"?> she used by putting the word “zivilisiert [civilised]” into quotation marks. Maybe Rebecca is aware of the rather derogative meaning of the word, which implies that Uganda is ‘uncivilised’, and thus intends to soften the meaning through that. Reflections upon Fictionality The students in this study repeatedly read the literary texts as if they mirrored reality (see Chapter 7.2.1). When Hannes is asked in the interview on what grounds he constructs the differences between his own life and the lives of the characters in the narratives, he states, for example: Also auf mich hat es so gewirkt, dass es irgendwie eine andere Kultur ist, weil ich kenne jetzt ja Uganda nicht so, um zu sagen, ‘Ah, das ist jetzt erfunden oder nicht’. Deswegen wirkt es eher so, als wäre das jetzt Kultur. [Well, it gave me the impression that it is somehow another culture because I do not know Uganda well enough to say ‘Ah, this is invented or not’. Therefore it appears rather as if it was another culture.] Only occasionally do the students reflect upon the fictionality of literary texts. These reflections usually focus on the students’ perception that one cannot learn anything through a fictive narrative, as becomes apparent in the following quotes: • Ich habe (glaube ich) nichts gelernt, weil es vermutlich eine frei erfundene Geschichte ist. Aus frei erfundenen Geschichten kann man, außer bei Fabeln, nichts lernen. [I haven’t learnt anything (I believe) because it is probably a freely invented story. From freely invented stories one cannot learn anything, with exception of fables.] (Rebecca, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Es hat nichts verändert da die Märchengeschichten nicht auf ’s echte Leben zu übertragen waren. [Nothing has changed because the fairy tale stories could not be applied to real life.] (Alexander, final questionnaire) • Für mich hat sich eigentlich nichts verändert, da es nur eine Geschichte war, die erfunden wurde. [For me nothing has changed because it was only a story that was invented.] (Franziska, reading diary for The Baby in the Forest) Summary and Interpretation In general, the data analysis reveals that the students do not frequently reflect upon ‘self ’. When they deal with differences and foreignness, they often ignore their own irritations and do not question their own comprehensibility. Only a few students see encounters with foreignness as stimuli for further contempla‐ 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 352 <?page no="353"?> tions and take steps into uncertainty. This may be interpreted as their strategy to avoid insecurities or it may be ascribed to the social desirability bias. Probably due to feelings of compassion or even guilt, the students frequently reflect upon their own privileges. The actions which the students suggest taking usually target ‘the other’ and are often paternalistic since they only focus on ‘helping’. A context the students repeatedly reflect upon is their own prior knowledge. They often state that they perceive it as limited or preconceived. Despite this awareness, it can be observed that the students draw conclusions and general‐ isations in their mental processes, which often prove to be unfounded (see Chapter 7.2.1). This may also be linked to their reluctance to express uncertain‐ ties and difficulties in understanding. 7.3 Global Topics Topics such as HIV / AIDS , gender issues and war involving child soldiers are identified as central topics of the Ugandan narratives by many students in my study. These topics are also explicitly or implicitly mentioned on the list of the thematic topics that Grimm et al. (2015, pp. 163-164, see also Chapter 2.8) sug‐ gest for the development of students’ global competence. In the following, it will be analysed how the students deal with topics of this type when they encounter them in the literary texts. 7.3.1 HIV / AIDS There are five narratives in the project that deal with HIV / AIDS . Two of them may be referred to as HIV / AIDS narratives (I Will Miss Mr Kizito and The Un‐ fulfilled Dream) because they mainly focus on this topic. The other narratives, “ JJ ”, Voice of a Dream and Cherished Dreams, use HIV / AIDS rather as a sub‐ theme. In total, 55 narratives that deal (also) with HIV / AIDS were read by the students participating in the project. Prior Knowledge The students participating in my study seem to have only limited knowledge about HIV / AIDS . Some of them acknowledge this quite openly: “Bei dem [Thema] HIV bin ich nicht komplett aufgeklärt [I am not completely informed about HIV ]” (Simon, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito). In the reading diaries and interviews, it, however, also becomes implicitly apparent that they 7.3 Global Topics 353 <?page no="354"?> do not know very much about the disease. Many students disclose only super‐ ficial knowledge on the topic such as that it is an incurable disease, widespread particularly in Africa and transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse. The following quotes provide an example for students’ prior knowledge that they present in the reading diaries: • AIDS ist eine tödliche Krankheit und ist in den armen Entwicklungsländern weit verbreitet und viele müssen deshalb mit dem Tod ringen. Bis auf ein paar Zeitungsartikeln habe ich nichts derartiges [sic] gelesen. [AIDS is a deadly disease and it is widespread in poor developing countries and many people, therefore, have to fight with death. Apart from a few newspaper articles, I have not read anything like that.] (Benjamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) • Da auf der Rückseite steht, das AIDS auch eine Rolle spielt, weiß ich über das Thema, das [sic] es eine gefährliche Krankheit ist, die vorallem [sic] in Ländern wie Uganda vorkommt. [Because on the back cover it says that AIDS also plays a role, I know about this topic that it is a dangerous disease which mainly exists in countries such as Uganda.] (Emil, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich weiß von diesem Thema durch die Medien ein wenig. Viele Kinder aus Afrika leiden darunter. Durch ungeschützten Geschlechtsverkehr wird die Krankheit ausgebreitet. [I know about this topic a little through the media. Many children suffer from it. The disease is spread through unprotected sexual intercourse.] (Vanessa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Only a few students present knowledge that goes beyond these basic facts. Par‐ ticularly in the interviews, the students show that their knowledge concerning HIV / AIDS is quite restricted. Benjamin, for example, expresses uncertainties concerning the way HIV is transmitted: Und ich bin mir nicht sicher, wird das nur über, äh, äh, Flüssigkeiten übertragen oder ist das nur Geschlechtsverkehr? […] Bei Mücken kann das, glaube ich auch übertragen werden. Oder nicht? Zum Beispiel, wenn ein Blutsaugender zum anderen hinfliegt. [And I am not sure, is this only transmitted through liquids or is that only sexual intercourse? […] I think, it can also be transmitted through mosquitoes, can’t it? For example, when a bloodsucking insect flies to someone else.] (Interview) He also wonders why of all the children of Nanfuka’s parents only the infant Anna is HIV -positive despite the fact that both parents are infected: For some of the students this lack of knowledge inhibits their understanding of the narratives: “Hm, als ich es gelesen habe, ähm, habe ich teilweise, ähm, das auch nicht verstanden, weil ich mich mit dem Thema noch gar nicht näher be‐ 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 354 <?page no="355"?> schäftigt habe. [When I read that, I partly did not understand it because I have not yet dealt closely with this issue]” (Simon, interview). Several students point out that they read or hear about HIV / AIDS only very rarely. Anna (case 10), for example, states that it is not widely discussed in her own context: Also bei uns, man sieht ja immer diese ganzen Plakate, also ‘Ich mach's mit Erfahrung’ oder so. Ähm, und dann unten steht ja immer ‘Gib AIDS keine Chance’. Das sieht man ja mittlerweile nur noch so im Unterbewusstsein. Aber sonst ist das bei uns einfach kein wirkliches Thema, oder (…). [Well, for us, you can always see these posters, well ‘Do it with experience’ and so on. And then down there is written ‘Don’t’ give AIDS a chance’. You only notice that subconsciously now. But otherwise it is not really a topic here.] (Anna, interview) Only some of the students refer in the reading diaries or interviews to the prior knowledge concerning HIV / AIDS that they gained at school. They note that they talked about it when they were still in Year 7 or on World AIDS day. Others, however, cannot recall it ever having been a topic of their lessons. Philipp be‐ lieves it was only discussed briefly at school. He explains that the focus in the lessons then was on biological issues: Äh, ja, wir haben darüber geredet, aber nur ganz kurz, glaube ich. Und eher halt, wie es das Immunsystem schwächt und nicht jetzt, wie, ja wie es sich verbreitet oder wo es jetzt schlimm ist in der Welt. Eher so das Biologische. [Yes, we talked about it, but only very briefly, I believe. And more about how it weakens the immune system rather than how it is spread or where it is bad in the world. Rather biological aspects.] (Philipp, interview) Knowledge Gained Many students indicate in the reading diaries, interviews and in the final ques‐ tionnaire that the Ugandan children’s fiction informed them about HIV / AIDS . In Table 21, examples of different information that the students have gained through the narratives are displayed. Aspect Example HIV / AIDS as a widespread phenomenon in Uganda / Africa Ich habe gesehen, wie weit verbreitet HIV in Uganda ist, und dass es extrem leicht ist sich anzustecken. [I have seen how wide‐ spread HIV is in Uganda and that it is ex‐ tremely easy to get infected.] (Anita, reading diary for The Unfulfilled Dream) 7.3 Global Topics 355 <?page no="356"?> HIV / AIDS and stigma Meine Sichtweise auf das Thema AIDS hat sich etwas verändert. Früher dachte ich, Menschen, die daran erkrankt sind, ziehen sich vom Leben mehr zurück, aber jetzt ist mir klar, dass die Gesellschaft sie eher verbannt. [My views on the topic AIDS have changed. Before I thought people who have been infected withdraw from life but now I am aware that it is rather the society that excludes them.] ( Julia, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Ki‐ zito) HIV / AIDS and ‘normal’ life Ich dachte AIDS schadet der gesundheit [sic] enorm und Betroffene haben durch das zerstörte Immunsystem sehr oft Krankheiten und machen ein normales Leben nur schwer möglich. Doch Julie kann regelmäßig zur Schule und hat Freunde. [I thought AIDS causes enor‐ mous harm to people’s health and that those who are infected are sick very often because of the destroyed immune system and that this makes normal life almost im‐ possible. But Julie manages to go to school regularly and she has friends.] (Philipp, reading diary for “JJ”) HIV / AIDS and economic and emotional consequences Und, äh, man sieht auch am Anfang, dass das, äh, auch weit verbreitet ist und sehr schlimme Folgen hat. So wie, wie jetzt zum Beispiel da [in Voice of a Dream] der Vater stirbt, dann Anna, dieser Säugling, dann, ähm, die Mutter ist ja letztendlich dann auch erkrankt, soweit ich, soweit ich das verstanden habe. Und das hat halt auch Nanfuka sehr mitgenommen und so‐ zusagen auch fast ihren Traum zerstört Ärztin zu werden. [And one sees at the beginning that it is widespread and has terrible consequences. Like, for example, in this Voice of a Dream, the father dies, then Anna, this infant, then, the mother is eventually also infected, as far I have un‐ derstood it. And this also has affected Nanfuka very much and almost destroyed her dream of becoming a nurse so to say.] (Benjamin, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) Dealing with HIV / AIDS Ich würde es weiterempfehlen, weil es klar macht, was in Uganda passiert. Be‐ sonders der Umgang vor Ort mit HIV / AIDS wird klar. [I would recom‐ 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 356 <?page no="357"?> mend it because it shows what happens in Uganda. Particularly the way people deal with HIV / AIDS there becomes appa‐ rent.] (Magdalena, “JJ”) Ways of infection Ist es da so, dass da schon Kinder, also halt Jugendliche das haben? Ohne, dass sie das, also, dass sie sich halt angesteckt haben, sondern, dass sie das halt schon sozusagen seit der Geburt haben, das ist krass. Also sie können praktisch nichts dafür. [Is it like that there that even children, young adults have it? Without having infected themselves, but that they have that prac‐ tically from birth that is drastic. It is not their fault practically.] (Anna, interview) Importance of (self-) protection Hm, nicht (…) nicht so wirklich sehr viel, weil, also, ich habe halt einfach gelernt, dass wirklich die Wahrscheinlichkeit ziemlich hoch ist. Weil ich hätte jetzt auch nicht erwartet, dass wirklich sie einfach so AIDS bekommen könnte. Weil die hatte, also bei diesem Unfulfilled Dreams da hat sie ja nur mit einem Mann geschlafen und (…) das war halt/ sie hat halt einfach sofort AIDS bekommen, das hätte ich jetzt zum Beispiel auch nicht erwartet. Das zeigt, dass man sich wirklich schützen muss. [Because I would not have expected that she can get AIDS so easily. Because in this Unfulfilled Dreams she slept with only one man and (…) she got AIDS im‐ mediately, I would not have expected that, for example. That shows that you really have to protect yourself.] (Leyla, inter‐ view) Table 21: Different Aspects That Students Have Learnt about HIV / AIDS through the Narratives Some of the students, for example, point out that through the narratives they became aware of the importance of HIV / AIDS and its omnipresence in people’s daily lives in Uganda / Africa in comparison to Germany. Furthermore, many students reflect upon AIDS and stigma in the reading diaries and interviews. They explain that they were not aware before reading that people who are HIV -positive may be marginalised or discriminated. A few of the students ex‐ press their surprise about the fact that HIV -positive characters live a ‘normal’ life in the narratives. They imagined before reading that they would fall ill reg‐ 7.3 Global Topics 357 <?page no="358"?> ularly or that they would not be friends with people who are HIV -negative. In addition, some students point out that the stories illustrated that HIV / AIDS is not only a serious epidemic which is life-threatening, but also has emotional and economic consequences for whole families and societies. Benjamin, for ex‐ ample, states that he got to know through Voice of a Dream that AIDS may have far reaching consequences. He recalls that the HIV infection of Nanfuka’s pa‐ rents also affected Nanfuka herself as it almost destroyed her dream of becoming a nurse. Some students state that they appreciate the narratives for giving them an insight into the emotions of people who are HIV -positive instead of only concentrating on the facts which they are usually exposed to in Biology lessons. Others point out that they learnt more about different ways of infection through the narratives. Anna (case 10), for example, was not aware that someone could be HIV -positive since birth. The narratives also seem to have triggered students’ reflections about their own sexual conduct; some students point out that the narratives showed them how important it is to protect themselves. Leyla (case 6), for example, says that it astonishes her that the protagonist in The Unfulfilled Dream just slept with one man and was then infected with HIV . She concludes that it is indeed very important to protect oneself. Some of the students take the HIV / AIDS narratives also as an opportunity to get better informed about the disease. Anna (case 10), for example, points out that after reading the narratives Voice of a Dream and “ JJ ”, she wanted to get to know more about AIDS and therefore did research on the topic on her own. HIV and Encounters of Foreignness Encounters with HIV / AIDS in the narratives are rather foreign to most of the students in my study. Repeatedly, they point to experiences of foreignness in the context of HIV / AIDS : • Ähm, Unfulfilled Dream, das ist mein erstes Buch. Und da kriegt sie dann AIDS, und ihr Baby hat dann auch AIDS und stirbt dann. Und das war halt dieses erstes, äh, okay, dieses bisschen erschlagen werden (lacht). Weil das war halt schon ein bisschen ungewohnt am Anfang, und dann kommt man langsam herein in die Ernsthaftigkeit, praktisch. [Unfulfilled Dream, this is my first book. And in this she gets AIDS and her baby has also AIDS and then dies. And this was, this, well, kind of like being beaten up (laughs). Because this was a bit unfamiliar at the beginning, and then one slowly gets into the seriousness, practically.] (Emma, interview) • Ähm, einmal bei I Will Miss Mr Kizito fand ich es ziemlich komisch, dass die Lehrer ihn darüber ausgelacht haben, dass er die Krankheit bekommen hat. Also, das fand ich komisch. […] Ja, weil in Deutschland, wenn jemand eine 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 358 <?page no="359"?> Krankheit bekommt, sind ja eher eigentlich alle so ‘Oh, der Arme’ ‘Tut mir leid’ oder so. Und da hat man eher mehr Mitgefühl. Und, ja, als dass man ihn auslacht. [Once in I Will Miss Mr Kizito I found it rather strange that the teachers laughed at him because he got the disease. Well, I found that strange. […] Because in Germany, when someone gets a disease, everyone is rather like ‘Oh, poor man’, ‘I am sorry’ and so. And people have rather more empathy here. Instead of laughing at him.] (Niklas, interview) When they talk about HIV / AIDS , they often use adjectives such as “ungewohnt [unusual]” and “komisch [strange]”. They repeatedly point out that they have not had any experience with HIV / AIDS themselves yet and they do not know anyone who is HIV -positive. Many of the students perceive the way Mr Kizito is treated in I Will Miss Mr Kizito as particularly strange. They state that they cannot understand why his colleagues laugh at him because he is HIV -positive and that he is no longer allowed to teach because of his infection. In many statements, it becomes apparent that they perceive someone who is HIV -positive as “anders [different]”. HIV / AIDS , therefore, seems to be another diversity marker that is decisive for the students (for the other diversity markers see Chapter 7.2.2). • Vielleicht denken manche sogar, dass sie sich anstecken könnten. Nahezu alle haben aber vermutlich Angst, weil sie anders ist und sie (wahrscheinlich) nur schlechte Sachen über HIV gehört haben. [Maybe some even think that they could get infected. Almost everyone is probably scared because she is different and they have (probably) only heard bad things about HIV.] (Niko, reading diary for “JJ”) • Ich denke jeder sollte gleich behandelt werden, denn auch wenn es manche Leute als fair empfinden Kranke zu bevorzugen fühlen diese sich manchmal unterschätzt und werden immer daran erinnert, das [sic] sie anders als alle sind. Nicht alle wollen einsehen, dass sie anders sind. [I think everyone should be treated equally because also even if some people consider it fair to privilege those who are sick, they sometimes feel undervalued and are always reminded of the fact that they are different. Not all want to recognise that they are dif‐ ferent.] (Akin, reading diary for “JJ”) • Ich denke Schüler könnten Angst haben sich anzustecken, weil sie nicht aus‐ reichend über AIDS informiert sind, trotz solcher Seminare. Vielleicht denkt Julie auch, dass die anderen Schüler ein festes Vorurteil haben, dass Leute mit AIDS schlecht sind, was bei manchen Leuten durchaus möglich ist. Eigentlich gibt es keinen Grund Julie anderst [sic] zu behandeln als davor, nur wollten manche das nicht einsehen, weil sie sich von der normalen Masse abhebt und 7.3 Global Topics 359 <?page no="360"?> anderst [sic] ist. [I think students may be scared to get infected, because they are not sufficiently informed about AIDS despite such seminars. Maybe Julie also thinks that the other students have fixed prejudices that people with AIDS are bad, which is actually possible for some people. Actually there is no reason why Julie should be treated differently than before, only some did not want to see that because she stands out from the crowd and is different.] (Philipp, reading diary for “JJ”) Only few students show a more universalistic perspective. Simon, for example, makes the following statement: Ich habe davon gehört, dass man entlassen wird, falls das rauskommt. Obwohl ich das eigentlich nicht verstehen kann. Jeder könnte in die Situation kommen und da gleich so zu reagieren? Wir sind alle nur Menschen, egal wie groß / klein, dick / dünn, ob wir eine Krankheit haben oder nicht. Man soll keine Unterschiede zwischen den Menschen machen. [I have heard that you are dismissed if it is found out. Although I cannot understand this. Anyone could be in this situation and to react like that? We are all only human beings, no matter if tall / short, big / thin, if we have a sickness or not. You should not make distinctions between people.] (Reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Ki‐ zito) Comparisons When they refer to HIV / AIDS , the students repeatedly draw comparisons be‐ tween their own life and the lives of the characters in Uganda and Germany. In their comparisons, it becomes apparent that they perceive HIV / AIDS rather as a phenomenon of other / poor / developing / African countries and they, there‐ fore, do not consider it as very relevant for themselves: • [I: Wie wichtig ist das Thema für dich? ] B: Für mich? Ähm, ich sage es mal so, das nimmt in meinem Leben nicht viel Platz (lacht). Aber wobei es halt, also in manchen afrikanischen Städten schon über 50 % AIDS gibt und ich finde halt jetzt irgendwie schon irgendwie schlimm. Aber ich weiß halt nicht, was man da ändern könnte. Weil sonst veraidsen die sich alle noch. [[I: How important is the topic fo you? ] P: For me? Let me put it like this: it does not take up much space in my life (laughs). But it is, well, in many African cities there is already more than 50 % AIDS and I consider that somehow rather bad. But I do not know what could be changed. Because otherwise, they’ll all infect each other.] (Lukas, interview) • Ähm, es/ also/ es ist natürlich schon/ es ist immer wichtig, aber auf der anderen Seite ist HIV natürlich jetzt bei uns in diesem Gebiet, in diesem lokal da/ in 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 360 <?page no="361"?> diesem lokalen Kreis, sage ich einmal, nicht so verbreitet, wie es jetzt, so har/ so schlimm es jetzt klingt, in Afrika jetzt ist. Dadurch ist es, denke ich einmal für die Leute dort unten in Afrika, also wirklich in Uganda, ist das denke ich einmal ein brisanteres Thema als für uns. [Well, it is actually/ it is always im‐ portant but on the other hand, HIV here in our area is, in this local area, let’s put it like this, not that widespread, as it is, as bad it sounds, in Africa. Because of this, I think, for the people down there in Africa, well, really in Uganda, it is a more relevant topic than for us.] (Elias, interview) • Also für mich persönlich jetzt ist es nicht so wichtig, weil ich denke, die Gefahr, dass man jetzt AIDS kriegt, ist doch relativ gering in Deutschland. Aber, ja, es ist halt schon ein großes Problem in Afrika und das, wenn man das jetzt hat, denke ich mir, dann ist es halt auch schwierig damit umzugehen. Dass man halt sicherlich niemanden ansteckt. [Well, for me personally it is not that important now because I think the danger that you get AIDS is relatively small in Ger‐ many. But, yes, it is a big problem in Africa and that, when you have it, I think, then it is difficult to cope with it. Ensuring that you do not infect anyone.] (Philipp, interview) Only few students look at HIV / AIDS as part of their own society and consider it an important topic to be discussed in their own context, as well. Vanessa, for example, makes the following statement in her reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito: [Frage: Würdest du den Text einer Freundin / einem Freund empfehlen? ] Ja, ich würde es empfehlen, da diese Geschichte einen sehr ernsten Hintergund hat. AIDS gehört in unserer heutigen Gesellschaft dazu, genauso wie ungewollte Schwangerschaften. [[Question: Would you recommend the text to a friend? ] Yes, I would recommend it because the story has a serious background. AIDS is as much part of our contemporary society as unwanted pregnancies.] The perception that HIV / AIDS does not really concern them also becomes ap‐ parent when students express their appreciation or relief about not being HIV -positive in their reading diaries or the interview. With addenda such as “zum Glück” or “glücklicherweise”, they repeatedly state that they have never experienced anything similar to the characters in the HIV -narratives: • Etwas in der Art habe ich zum Glück nicht erleben müssen. [Fortunately I have never had to experience anything of that type.] (Martin, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ja, ähm, also ich kenne keinen der das hat, zum Glück, aber es ist halt bestimmt eine unheilbare Krankheit und deswegen vielleicht/ Wie soll ich es sagen (…). 7.3 Global Topics 361 <?page no="362"?> [I do not know anyone who has it, luckily, but it is definitely an incurable disease and therefore perhaps/ How should I put it (…).] (Niko, interview) • Ich habe etwas derartiges [sic] noch nie erlebt, glücklicherweise. Dies ähnelt meinem Leben kaum, davon abgesehen, dass ich in Westeuropa lebe und das Risiko hier Aids zu bekommen geringer ist als in Afrika, und ich erst 15 bin, finde ich finde ich Geschlechtsverkehr vor der Ehe nicht gut, weil Schule und Familie und Freunde im Vordergrund stehen. [I have never experienced any‐ thing like that, fortunately. This does not resemble my life very much, aside from the fact that I live in Western Europe and the risk of getting Aids is much smaller here than in Africa, and I am only 15 and do not consider sexual inter‐ course before marriage good because school and family and friends take pri‐ ority.] (Isa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) In addition, many students in my study consider themselves to be rather well educated about the disease and believe that HIV / AIDS education in Uganda / Africa in contrast is inadequate: • Also ich denke, mich betrifft das vielleicht nicht so sehr, weil, ähm, ich denke in/ in Uganda jetzt oder in anderen afrikanischen Ländern oder so, ist das halt eher ein Ding, weil das halt mit der Verhütung halt nicht so ganz unter die Leute gebracht wird, wegen auch Religion oder so. [I think it maybe does not affect me that much because I think in Uganda now or in other African countries it is rather an issue because contraception is maybe not publicised so much, be‐ cause of religion and so.] (Mia, interview) • Ja, das ist also auch, vor allem, also ich glaube, in Uganda, ähm, ist das Thema auch ein bisschen präsenter, sage ich mal. Und da wissen es eben auch nicht so viele, denke ich. Also von der Hygiene und Sicherheit und deswegen ist es schon auch gut, dass halt auch in diesen Büchern, wo Jugendliche wahrscheinlich auch lesen, dass das da auch behandelt wird. [Yes, that is a topic that is partic‐ ularly in Uganda, I think, a bit more present, I would say. Concerning hygiene and security and therefore it is good that it is dealt with in these books which young people probably read.] (Emma, interview) • Es gibt ja schon auch HIV postive Menschen in Deutschland, aber, ähm, mh, wir sind halt, glaube ich, teilweise auch ein bisschen besser aufgeklärt einfach und ich weiß halt, dass, ähm, (…) Verhütung und alles. Da also/ mein Freund und ich, wir haben uns/ wegen unseren Eltern mussten wir auch erstmal einen AIDS-Test machen, bevor ich mir die Pille habe verschreiben lassen. Also, es ist schon wichtig für mich. Aber ich weiß/ also, ich werde soweit vorsorgen, dass es bei mir nicht vorkommen wird. [There are also HIV-positive people in Germany, but we are, I think, partly also a bit better informed and I know 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 362 <?page no="363"?> that (…) contraceptives and everything. My boyfriend and I, we had/ because of our parents we had to do an AIDS test before I got prescribed the birth control pill. Well, it is important for me. But I know, well, I will take care that this does not happen to me.] (Anna, interview) They base their belief that HIV / AIDS education is lacking in Uganda on other assumptions such as the prevailing of religious fundamentalism or unawareness of hygiene. Here a clear superior / inferior hierarchy may be noted. Such kinds of superior-/ inferior-based evaluations also become apparent in other contexts. In the reading diaries, many students express their outrage about the dismissal of the teacher Mr Kizito in I Will Miss Mr Kizito which is based on his HIV infection. Most of them state that they cannot understand this reaction by the school administration and would have reacted differently. Many of them are also of the opinion that Mr Kizito would not have been treated so badly in Germany. • Ja, keine Ahnung, ich fand das halt ein bisschen schockierend, dass der Lehrer, nur weil er AIDS hat jetzt richtig ausgeschlossen wird und die Schwester, nur weil sie schwanger war, genauso ausgeschlossen wird von der Familie. Das ist irgendwie schon ein bisschen komisch. In Deutschland würde es nie so sein. [Yes, no idea, I considered it a bit shocking that the teacher is excluded only because he has AIDS and the sister is excluded as well by her family only because she was pregnant. I would never be like that in Germany.] (Vanessa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ja, weil in Deutschland, wenn jemand eine Krankheit bekommt, sind ja eher eigentlich alle so ‘Oh, der Arme’ ‘Tut mir leid’ oder so. Und da hat man eher mehr Mitgefühl. Und, ja, als dass man ihn auslacht. [Yes, because in Germany, when someone gets a disease, everyone is rather like ‘Oh, poor man’ ‘I am sorry’ and so. And people have rather more empathy there. Instead of laughing at him.] (Niklas, interview) • Ja, also hier halt [zeigt auf I Will Miss Mr Kizito], dass das Thema AIDS da/ ich weiß auch nicht, also dass die Kollegen da über den gelacht haben, als er das hatte. Ich schätze mal im Deutschen würde das auch niemand machen, weil das ist ja eher eigentlich traurig, also, dass man das hat. Und, ja (…). [Yes, here in I Will Miss Mr Kizito that the topic AIDS/ I don’t know, well that the colleagues have laughed at him, when he had it. I guess in Germany no one would do that because that is rather sad, well, that one has that. And, yes (…).] (Emil, inter‐ view) Hence the students seem to believe that there is less stigma concerning HIV / AIDS in Germany and that they themselves are free of prejudices. Only 7.3 Global Topics 363 <?page no="364"?> some of the students reflect upon their own bias in this context, as becomes apparent in the following quote: Für mich hat sich die Sichtweise für HIV verändert. Oftmals macht man in meinem Freundeskreis AIDS-Witze, die ich vor dem Lesen dieses Buches auch lustig fand. Nun weiß ich, wie es um die erkrankten Menschen steht und dass man sich über diese Krankheit auf keinen Fall lustig machen sollte. Sie ist in jedem Fall zu 100 % ernst zu nehmen. [For me the perspective on HIV changed. Often in my clique we tell jokes about AIDS which I also found funny before I read that book. Now I know how the people who have it are and that you should in no case make fun of this disease. It has to be taken 100 % seriously.] (Vanessa, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Few students highlight that discrimination, marginalisation and stigma are also present in their own society, for example by pointing out that they themselves are outsiders or that they know someone who is excluded because of being sick or different in another way (e.g. being homosexual): • Sie [ Julie] glaubt, dass die anderen Schüler Angst vor einer Ansteckung haben. Und dass sie sie deshalb vorschnell verurteilen. Sie hat Angst ein Außenseiter zu werden. Ich bin ein Außenseiter, allerdings hat man mir meistens die Chance gegeben mich zu beweisen. [ Julie believes that the other students are scared of getting infected. And that they condemn her hastily. She is scared of becoming an outsider. I am an outsider but most of the time I have been given the chance to prove myself.] (Magdalen, reading diary for “JJ”) • Ich kenne nur Personen, die aufgrund von beispielsweise Homosexualität aus‐ geschlossen wurden, aber niemanden, der wegen einer Krankheit benachteiligt wurde. [I know only people who have been excluded, for example, because of homosexuality but no one who has been disadvantaged because of a sickness.] ( Julia, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) Reflection With reference to the topic HIV / AIDS , some students hint at difficulties in understanding, as may be illustrated with the following quotes: • Und so fand ich eigentlich cool, dass ich so ein bisschen mal auch das Leben von jemandem, der jetzt kein AIDS hatte, aber Vater, Schwester und was auch immer hatte. Und, so konnte ich mich auf eine andere Art und Weise damit ein bisschen vertraut machen. Weil ich wusste davor darüber jetzt eigentlich nicht so viel. Und, aber mir fällt es eigentlich immer noch ein bisschen schwer, ähm, das richtig zu verstehen, dass es da einfach komplett anders für die Menschen ist. Aber es hat mir auf jeden Fall ein Stück weit geholfen. [And I 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 364 <?page no="365"?> found it cool that I [heard] a bit about the life of someone who has no AIDS, but father and sister and whatever had it. And so I could familiarise myself in a way a bit with it. Because I actually knew very little about it. And it is still actually quite difficult for me to understand that it is completely different there for the people. But it definitely helped me a bit.] (Charlotte, interview, my emphasis) • Ähm, ach, bei, ähm, "JJ". Dass sie, ähm, AIDS hat, da war im ersten Moment so: Okay? Da hat man wohl schon davon gehört, aber irgendwie, ich persönlich habe da jetzt noch keine Erfahrungen mit. Wo ich auch froh darum bin. Ich kenne auch niemanden, der irgendwie infiziert wäre. Und von daher war es dann schon so: Okay? Klar weiß man was, aber irgendwie ist das dann schon komisch. Wenn man sich das so vorstellt. [The fact that she has AIDS was in the first moment like that: Okay? One has heard of it but person‐ ally I have not yet had any experiences with it. About which I am glad. I don’t know anyone who is infected. And therefore it was rather like that: Okay? Of course one knows something about it but it is rather strange. When you imagine it.] (Magdalena, interview, my emphasis) Charlotte appreciates that she got an insight into the life of a person who is affected by AIDS and so became a bit more familiar with this issue. She still believes that she cannot understand it completely because it is something very different. Magdalena reflects upon her first encounter with AIDS during the reading process. She explains that she does not know anyone who is HIV -pos‐ itive and therefore reading something like that was rather strange for her. Students’ Reactions In the reading diaries and interviews, many students express their surprise and shock about the fact that some people in the narratives are HIV -positive (see for example Magdalena, case 2; or Emma, case 4). In addition, they state that it surprised them how drastically the situation of HIV -positive characters is de‐ scribed in the narratives. On the whole, in this study, the positive reactions of the students to the HIV / AIDS narratives prevail. The majority of the students evaluate it as good that the authors of the narratives talk openly about a serious issue: • Ich bewundere die ernste Übermittlung der Themen AIDS und Schwanger‐ schaft. Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass so offen aber dennoch ernst über Ges‐ chlechtsverkehr, Aufklärung und Krankheiten geredet wird. [I admire the se‐ rious communication about the topics AIDS and pregnancy. I would not have 7.3 Global Topics 365 <?page no="366"?> thought that sexual intercourse, education and diseases would be so openly but still seriously discussed.] (Charlotte, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich finde es gut, das in Uganda so offen über HIV gesprochen wird. [I find it good that HIV in Uganda is spoken about so openly.] (Felix, reading diary for “JJ”) Other students also appreciate the fact that the book I Will Miss Mr Kizito calls attention to the phenomenon of stigmatisation: • Ich bewundere an der Geschichte, dass sie mit Vorurteilen aufräumt und die Situation veranschaulicht. [I admire about the story that it addresses prejudices and illustrates the situation.] ( Jennifer, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) • Ich finde es sehr gut, dass dem Leser gezeigt wird, dass Menschen wie Julie Angst davor haben sich zu outen o. zumindest denken, dass sie danach aus‐ gestoßen werden. Möglicherweise achten mehr Leute darauf niemanden wegen einer Krankheit zu diskriminieren. [In my opinion it is very good that the reader is shown that people like Julie are scared to come out or at least think that they will be excluded afterwards. Perhaps more people will take care not to dis‐ criminate against anyone due to illness.] (Akin, reading diary for “JJ”) In addition, many students point out that they admire certain characters in the HIV -narratives for being very strong and brave: • Julie ist sehr mutig. Ich finde es toll, dass sie offen über ihre Krankheit spricht. [ Julie is very brave. I consider it great that she speaks so openly about her disease.] (Magdalena, reading diary for “JJ”) • Ich bewundere die Willenstärke des Lehrer trotz AIDS. [I admire the willpower of the teacher despite AIDS.] (Andreas, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Ki‐ zito) • Mir gefällt der Abschnitt in dem Julie allen sagt, dass sie HIV positiv ist, da ich das sehr mutig fand. [I like the passage in which Julie tells everyone that she is HIV-positive because I considered that very brave.] (Franziska, reading diary for “JJ”) Some of the students, however, also state in the reading diaries and interviews that they did not particularly like a certain text because it deals with the topic HIV / AIDS . For example, they perceive it as intolerably sad or dislike the fact that so many texts in the project deal with this topic. • Nein, ich würd es nicht weiterempfehlen da ich niemand diese Traurigkeit zu‐ muten will. [No, I would not recommend it because I do not want to expose anyone to this sadness.] (Alexander, reading diary for I Will Miss Mr Kizito) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 366 <?page no="367"?> • Ich werde den Text nicht weiterempfehlen, da ich die Geschichte (die Hand‐ lung) nicht mag. Außerdem finde ich es blöd, wenn in vielen Büchern über eine Krankheit (HIV) geschrieben wird. [I will not recommend the text because I do not like the story (the plot). Besides I find it dumb when many books are written about a disease (HIV).] (Rebecca, reading diary for “JJ”) [Frage: Welche(s) der Geschichten / Bücher, die du gelesen hast, hat dir am besten gefallen? ] B: The Precious Calabash. Es ging um ein normales Leben und nicht über Aids. [[Question: Which of the books / stories that you read did you like the most? ] P: The Precious Calabash. It is about normal life and not about AIDS.] (Felix, final questionnaire) 7.3.2 Gender Issues Many of the narratives in the reading project deal with gender issues. There are three texts in particular that have students’ reflecting on gender problems: I Will Not Fail, Voice of a Dream and The Jewels of Amuria. In total, the students also write about gender issues in 33 reading diaries. Prior Knowledge The students repeatedly state in the reading diaries that they know at least a little about gender inequalities. They make frequent references to the phenom‐ enon of forced marriage in this context, as the following quotes illustrate: • Ich weiß auch schon, dass früher Mädchen zwangverheiratet wurden, was in diesem Buch aber keine so große Rolle spielt. [I’ve already known that girls used to be forced to marry before, which does, however, not play an important role in this book.] (Emma, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Von der Unterdrückung der Frauen durch Männer hört man ja immer wieder, trotzdem weiß ich nicht viel darüber. Jugendliche müssen heiraten, um der Familie Geld zu bringen. Oft werden Frauen von den Männern mit Vieh gekauft. [Time and again you hear about the oppression of women through men, but still I do not know much about it. Young adults have to marry to raise money for their family. Often girls are bought by men with cattle.] (Leonie, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) • Ich habe schon mal von den Problemen gehört (z. B. Zwangsheirat). Etwas Ähnliches habe ich noch nicht gelesen. [I have already heard of the problems (e.g. forced marriage). I have not read anything similar yet.] (Gabriell, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) 7.3 Global Topics 367 <?page no="368"?> Knowledge Gained Students state in the reading diaries and interviews that they have learnt more about gender inequalities through the narratives. • Mir wurde erst durch diesen Text richtig klar wie schlimm in manchen Ländern die Situation noch ist, in der Hinsicht auf Gleichberechtigung. [I’ve just really realised through this text how bad the situation still is in some countries with regard to gender equality.] (Rebecca, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) • Frauen werden in Stämmen eher als Objekte gesehen, wenn man sie heiraten will und dass sie zur Heirat gezwungen werden. [Women are seen as objects in the tribes, when someone wants to marry them and that they are forced to marry.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Die Frauen in Uganda (z. B. die Autorin des Textes) sind viel vielschichtiger und klüger (lebensweiser) als ich gedacht hätte. [The women in Uganda (e.g. the writer of this text) are much more multifaceted and clever than I had thought.] (Leonie, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) The students, for example, explain that they have become aware of how bad the situation in some countries still is concerning this topic (Rebecca, case 11) and conclude that women are rather treated as objects by “the tribes” (Leyla, case 6). Leonie states that she learnt through Voice of a Dream that women in Uganda, particularly the writer of the novella, are more complex and wise than she ex‐ pected. Gender Issues and Encounters of Foreignness and Differences Many students consider gender inequalities rather a phenomenon of other so‐ cieties than of their own. They make frequent references to Africa, Turkey or India in this context and state that in Germany gender equality prevails. This becomes apparent in the following quotes: • Ich habe von vielen Afrikanern gehört die ihre Kinder zur Heirat verkaufen an viel ältere Männer und die sie dann böse behandeln. [I have heard of many Africans who sell their children for marriage to much older men and who then treat them badly.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Diese Geschichte erinnert mich an einige Bräuche in der Türkei, da auch hier Männer, ab einem gewissen Zeitpunkt, anfangen, öfters nach der Hand der Tochter zu fragen. Mir ist sowas noch nie passiert. In Deutschland wäre so etwas undenkbar, vorallem [sic] da hier nie nach der Meinung der Töchter gefragt wird. [This story reminds me of a few customs in Turkey because there men also start from a certain point onwards to ask from time to time for the hand of the daughter. I have never experienced anything like that. In Germany 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 368 <?page no="369"?> this would be unthinkable, particularly because the opinion of the daughters is never asked for.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Mein Leben unterscheidet sich sehr von dem der Charaktere. Ich kenne es nicht, dass irgendwer (z. B. meine Eltern) etwas für mich verlangt, damit ein anderer mich heiraten darf, ohne mich zu fragen ob ich denjenigen überhaupt mag. Ich habe öfters schon gelesen, dass es in Ländern wie Indien immernoch [sic] so ist, aber ich kenne sowas nicht. [My life differs very much from that of the characters. It would never happen that anyone (e.g. my parents) would ask to be paid something for me so that someone could marry me without asking me or me liking that person. I have already read several times that it is still like that in countries like India but I have never experienced anything like that.] (Miriam, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • In Deutschland wäre das ja gar nicht mehr zu denken, dass eine Frau nicht einfach sagen kann ‘Nein, will ich nicht’. [in Germany it would be unthinkable that a woman cannot say ‘No, I do not want to’.] (Lea, interview) • In Deutschland sind Männer und Frauen und vor allem Jungen und Mädchen gleich gestellt [sic]. [In Germany men and women and especially boys and girls are equal.] (Leonie, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) Only a few students perceive gender inequality also as part of their own society, for example when women are paid different salaries than men for the same jobs: • Also das finde ich schon ziemlich wichtig, weil das jetzt nicht nur in Uganda, sondern in allen Ländern präsent ist. Ähm, also in Deutschland werden ja auch die Frauen ein bisschen weniger bezahlt wie die Männer im gleichen Job, oder so. Und, ähm, das finde ich eigentlich schon ziemlich wichtig. [Well, I consider that rather important because this exists not only in Uganda but in all countries. Well, in Germany the women are paid a bit less than men in the same job and so. And that I find actually rather important.] (Charlotte, interview) • B: Ja, jetzt hier in Deutschland merkt man es nicht so, dass da eigentlich ein Unterschied ist zwischen Männern und Frauen, teilweise merkt man es, aber nicht jetzt so krass. [I: Wo merkt man es, was würdest du sagen? ] B: Bei der Bezahlung im Job. Oder auch bei anderen Sachen. So, ähm, wenn es um soziale Themen geht, oder so, sind es eher mehr die Frauen und Technik sind halt die Männer. [P: Now in Germany you do not really notice that there is a difference between men and women, partly you notice it but it is not that drastic. [I: Where do you notice it, what would you say? ] P: When it comes to payment in the job. Or also for other things. When it is about social topics, and so, it is rather the women and technology the men.] (Magdalena, interview) 7.3 Global Topics 369 <?page no="370"?> • Ich habe Ähnliches erlebt, wenn irgendwelche ‘Machos’ meinen, sie müssen Frauen wie eine Sache behandeln, oder meinen sie gehören in die Küche o. ä.… [I have experienced similar things, when some machos think that they have to treat women like things or think that they should be in the kitchen or the like.] (Gabriell, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) Students’ Reactions Particularly for many of the girls in my study, gender equality seems to be a very important concern. Leyla (case 6), for example, makes the following state‐ ment: Das Thema ist mir eigentlich ziemlich wichtig, weil ich eigentlich das überhaupt nicht auch wirklich leiden kann, wenn Frauen irgendwie niedergestuft werden und dass die halt wirklich als Objekte behandelt werden. Und, also diese Mädchen in dem Buch, die haben ja auch nicht wirklich etwas dagegen gemacht, weil sie einfach so erzogen wurden. [The topic is very important to me actually because I do not like it at all when women are demeaned and then treated as objects. And, well, these girls in the book, they haven't really done anything about it because they were just brought up like that.] (Leyla, interview) Emma (case 4), Leyla (case 6) and Rebecca (case 11) repeatedly express their outrage about how women are treated in the narratives The Jewels of Amuria and I Will Not Fail: • Also, ich finde es irgendwie schon blöd. Hallo, also, dass die dann verheiratet werden in I Will Not Fail. Und ‘Ja, du musst jetzt aus der Schule raus’ und ‘Du wirst das nicht, du wirst das’ und ‘Du musst mir bei dem und dem helfen’. Das ist schon krass (lacht). Also, ich würde/ also mich hat das manchmal schon richtig geärgert, wie die Frauen in Uganda behandelt werden und auch die Mädchen. Weil die haben echt voll den Nachteil und so, ja ‘Du hast nichts zu sagen’, ‘Koch mir was und dann halt die Klappe’. Also, nee, geht gar nicht, praktisch, also. (…) Ne. Mag ich nicht. [I consider it pretty dumb. Hey, to be married to someone then in I Will Not Fail. And ‘Yes, you have to leave school’ and ‘You can’t become this but that’ and ‘You have to help me with this and that’. That is drastic (laughs). It sometimes really annoyed me, how the women are treated in Uganda and the girls. Because they suffer a huge disadvantage. Yes, ‘You have nothing to say’, ‘Cook me something and then shut up’. Well, that does not work, practically. No, I don’t like it.] (Emma, interview) • Ich halte die Tatsache, dass nicht aus Liebe geheiratet wird, sondern Frauen wie Objekte bzw. Preise gesehen werden für sehr traurig. Zudem bedeutet es, dass 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 370 <?page no="371"?> dadurch dass das ein Kinderbuch ist, diese Bräuche den Kindern schon von Kleinauf [sic] beigebracht wird. [I consider the fact that people don't marry out of love but that women are seen as objects or prizes as very sad. In addition, it means that because it is a children’s book these customs are taught to the chil‐ dren already from a young age.] (Leyla, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) • Meiner Meinung nach ist es total ungerecht wie die Mädchen behandelt werden und was die Jungen sich dort alles erlauben durften. [In my opinion, it is totally unjust how girls are treated and what liberties the boys can take.] (Rebecca, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) There is only one boy, Gabriell, in this study who also shows a deep concern for the issue of gender inequality. He expresses his shock about some passages of the novella I Will Not Fail: ‘You don’t gain anything by education a girl (…)’ (S. 2, Z. 4). Dieser Satz hat mich in einer gewissen Weise geschockt, da ich denke, jeder Mensch darf gebildet sein. Wahr‐ scheinlich ist es jedoch ein patriatisches [sic] Land. [‘You don’t gain anything by ed‐ ucation a girl (…)’ (p. 2, l. 4). This sentence shocked me in a certain way because I think every person is allowed to be educated. But probably it is a patriarchal country.] (Ga‐ briell, reading diary for I Will Not Fail) An aspect many students, also boys, in my study reflect upon is that of the bride price in The Jewels of Amuria. Whereas some students appreciate the father’s idea of asking for a lot of money for his daughters so that no one may be found to marry them and they can stay with him, others criticise the way the daughters are treated in the story. The following table shows some of these reactions clearly: Appreciation Ambivalence Criticism Ich finde die Idee der Brautgabe sehr gut da nicht so viele so reich sind und somit schon eine erste Auswahl getroffen wird. Desweiteren [sic] kann die Tochter von Chief Luba ihren gewohnten Lebens‐ standart [sic] dann weiter‐ leben und hat keine finan‐ ziellen Probleme. [I consider the idea of the bride price good because not so many are rich and so Einerseits finde ich es schlecht da so nur die Reichen Chancen haben die Tochter zu heiraten. Außerdem kann die Tochter garnicht [sic] den Mann heiraten, den sie wirklich liebt. Anderseits kann der Vater so sicher gehen das [sic] die Tochter einen reichen Haushalt hat und keine Geldsorgen hat. [On the one hand I con‐ sider it bad because only Meiner Meinung nach ist es eine schlechte Idee, da jedes Mädchen selber ent‐ scheiden soll, wann und wen sie heiraten will. Dem Vater der Töchter die Ent‐ scheidung anhand einer Bezahlung zu überlassen ist nicht sinnvoll. Denn wenn eine schlechte Ent‐ scheidung vom Vater ge‐ troffen wird, dann ist die Tochter den Rest ihres Lebens unglücklich. Das 7.3 Global Topics 371 <?page no="372"?> a first selection is made. Furthermore, the daughter of Chief Luba may then continue living with her usual living standard and has no financial problems.] (Hannes, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) rich people have so the chance to marry the daughter. Besides the daughter cannot marry the man whom she really loves. On the other hand the father can make sure through that that the daughter has a rich house‐ hold and no money wor‐ ries.] ( Jessica, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) ist keine Liebe. [In my opinion, it is a bad idea be‐ cause every girl should de‐ cide on her own when and whom she wants to marry. To leave the decision to the father of the daughters through a payment doesn’t make sense. Because if a bad decision is made by the father, then the daughter is unhappy for the rest of her life. That is not love.] (Ben‐ jamin, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) Es ist eigentlich sehr schlau, da er einen immer noch höreren Brautpreis bekannt gibt und so die Chance kleiner wird, dass jemand wirklich soviel Geld / Besitz hat, um dies zu bezahlen und so die Tochter zu bekommen. Falls doch jemand so viel besitzt und es ihm bezahlt, dann ist er um viele Tiere, Perlen und Gold reicher. [It is actually quite clever be‐ cause by announcing an increasingly higher bride price, the chance that someone actually has that much money to pay that and thus get the daughter, becomes smaller. In case someone owns that much and pays it to him, then he is richer by many animals, pearls and gold.] (Anita, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) Ich finde diese Idee nicht gut, denn dann können nur wohlhabende Männer die Töchter heiraten und nicht die, die sie wirklich lieben. Andererseits finde ich diese Idee gut, da die Töchter somit keine Armut erfahren müssen. [I do not like that idea be‐ cause then only wealthy men can marry the daugh‐ ters and not those who really love them. On the other hand I consider the idea good because in this way the daughters do not have to experience pov‐ erty.] (Theresa, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) Ich finde diese Idee nicht sehr gut, da man sich nor‐ malerweise selber aus‐ sucht, wen man heiraten will (bei uns in Deutsch‐ land). Ich kenne das nicht anders und will es auch garnicht [sic] anders kennen. [I do not think that idea is very good because normally you decide on your own whom you want to marry (for us in Ger‐ many). I only know it like that and do not want to know it differently.] (Miriam, reading diary for The Jewels of Amuria) Table 22: Students’ Reactions to the Father’s Idea of Asking for a High Bride Price for His Daughters in The Jewels of Amuria 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 372 <?page no="373"?> 7.3.3 War Involving Child Soldiers There is only one narrative in the reading project that deals with the topic of war involving child soldiers: Children of the Red Fields. Ten students participating in this study read this narrative. Prior Knowledge The students repeatedly state in the reading diaries and interview that they usually get to know about war, rebel attacks or terrorist attacks in the media: • In den Medien lassen sich auch häufig Infos / News über dieses Thema finden (aufgrund von Glaubens‘diskussionen’). [In the media you can often find in‐ formation / news about this topic (because of ‘discussions’ on faith).] (Monika, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Ich habe nur einige Nachrichten gesehen, in denen Terroristengruppen Schulen eingenommen haben und Mädchen nicht mehr in die Schule gehen durften. [I have only seen some news in which groups of terrorist have seized schools and girls were no longer allowed to go to school.] (Rebecca, reading diary for Chil‐ dren of the Red Fields) • Ich weiß nichts Genaues über das Thema Rebellen. Aber es wird wahrscheinlich die genau gleiche Situation wie im Krieg sein. Darüber weiß ich vom Ge‐ schichte-Unterricht [sic] und von den Medien. Oft hört man schreckliche Dinge über ISIS oder auch (im Sommer 2014) über den Palestina-Konflikt [sic]. [I do not know anything in detail about the topic of rebels. But probably it is the same situation as war. About that I know something through history lessons and the media. Often you hear terrible things about ISIS and also (in summer 2014) about the conflict in Palestine.] (Vanessa, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Addenda which are used in the above quotes such as “nur [only]” or “Ich weiß nichts Genaues [I do not know anything specific]” show that they perceive their prior knowledge as rather limited concerning this topic. Knowledge Gained The students repeatedly point out in their reading diaries and interviews that they gained knowledge about the topic of child soldiers through the narrative Children of the Red Fields. Several students state that in contrast to the media, which focus on facts and numbers, the narratives gave them an insight into people’s emotions: 7.3 Global Topics 373 <?page no="374"?> • Ja, ich fand es ziemlich heftig, weil es heißt zwar immer, ja Kindersoldaten gibt es in Afrika, gab es einmal da und da. Und man musste Referate darüber halten. Aber, dann hat man halt immer nur, sage ich mal, Zahlen gefunden. Wenn man so schön Referate zu diesem Thema halten muss. Oder [unv] hat man gesagt, ja, die hatten so und so viele Kindersoldaten, so und so viele sind gestorben. Und da ist es auch wieder das, dass sich mehr auf Fakten bezogen wird und nicht auf die Menschen. Und das finde ich an dem Buch ganz gut, dass es mehr so deutlich wird, dass das eben Menschen sind auch, weil Kinder eben. Mir ist verdeutlicht worden, dass die Terrorattacken, die man durch die Medien nur in sehr kurzer und sachlicher Form erfährt, in Uganda Menschen wie uns betreffen können. [Yes, I found it rather hard, because we were always told, yes, there are child soldiers in Africa, they existed there and there. And you have to give presentations about that. But then you always only found numbers, so to say. When you have to give a presentation on that topic. Or [inc.] you say, yes, they had this many child soldiers, this number has died. And there it is again that you focus more on facts and not on people. And that I consider very good about the book, that it becomes clear that they are people, they’re children. For me it became clearer that the terror attacks about which you get to know in the media only in a very short and factual way may affect people like us in Uganda.] (Monika, interview) • Vorher waren Kriege, Rebellen eher etwas aus dem Fernsehen und ich hab nicht darüber nachgedacht was für Auswirkungen es auf Kinder wie Kiden hat wenn sie von ihrer Familie getrennt werden, ihnen eine Waffe in die Hand gedrückt wird und ihnen befohlen wird Leute zu bekämpfen. Mir ist klar geworden wie einfach sich Kindersoldaten beeinflussen lassen, warum es sie gibt. Außerdem gibt es wenige die Richtig [sic] kämpfen würden, wenn sie dabei ein Kind töten müssten, selbst wenn es ihr eigenes Leben rettet. [For me, wars, rebels used to be something on TV and I have not thought about what effects it may have on children like Kiden when they are separated from their families and are given a weapon and are ordered to fight people. I realised how easily child soldiers can be influenced, why they exist. Besides, there are only a few who would really fight if they had to kill a child, even if it saved their own life.] (Mia, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) In addition, the students seem to have learnt more through the narrative about the background and complexity of conflicts which involve child soldiers. Re‐ becca (case 11), for example, writes in the reading diary that she got to know through the narrative that child soldiers who were abducted may also get used to their new situation and then find a new home with the rebels. Mia explains in the interview that she was not aware before reading that children who are 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 374 <?page no="375"?> child soldiers are often abducted and actually forced to fight. She thought before that they were the sons and daughters of the rebels. Miriam concludes from the narrative that rebels are not as evil as she imagined them to be before: Ich denke jetzt, das [sic] Rebellen an sich gar nicht so schlecht sind, sondern unter anderen Umständen ganz nett wären, da sie meistens bzw. in diesem Buch dazu gez‐ wungen werden, oder da sie wissen, dass sie nicht mehr zurück können [sic]. [I now think that rebels are not actually that bad but would be quite nice under different circumstances because they are mostly, as in this book, forced to do this or because they know that they cannot go back.] (Miriam, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Therefore, the students seem to have gained a more multifaceted perspective on the topic of child soldiers through the narrative. Child Soldiers and Encounters of Foreignness and Differences The phenomenon of child soldiers is very foreign to the students. Repeatedly in the reading diaries and interviews they refer to it as being “anders [different]”, “fremd [foreign]” or “krass [drastic]”: • Aber bei diesem Children of the Red Fields habe ich mir gedacht, falls es jetzt eine wahre Begebenheit ist, dass es halt einfach ganz anders ist, als bei uns, so im Normalfall, so ein, ähm, ein Attentat auf eine Schule jetzt nicht so normal ist, oder (…) Ja, denke ich mal außergewöhnlicher wäre. Weil in dem Buch wird das so ein bisschen beschrieben, als hätten die schon mal so etwas Ähnliches gesehen, miterlebt oder davon gehört. Und bei uns hört man das dann eben aus anderen Ländern. Und bei denen klingt das mehr so als wäre das öfter mal in ihrem Land. [But with this Children of the Red Fields I thought, in case it really happened that it is simply completely different to here, normally, an attack on a school is not that normal, or (…) Yes, I think it would be rather exceptional. Because in the book it is described a bit like they had already seen something similar, experienced or heard of it. And here you usually hear that more from other countries. And for them it sounds as if it happens now and again in their country.] (Monika, interview) • Äh, ja, diese Situation ist halt total fremd. Äh, Kindersoldaten gibt es in Deutschland jetzt überhaupt nicht, oder Kinderarbeit oder so etwas. Und das ist halt echt übel, wie da so Dreizehnjährige oder so total ernst mit Maschi‐ nengewehren da herum maschieren. Und das fand ich halt schon sehr einprä‐ gend, weil das eben so ungewohnt ist und da denkt man eigentlich, das kann doch gar nicht sein. Aber, dass es das halt doch gibt, das ist schon, mhm. [This situation is completely foreign. Child soldiers or child work or something like 7.3 Global Topics 375 <?page no="376"?> that doesn’t exist in Germany. And this is really terrible, that thirteen-year-olds march around seriously with machine guns. And this made a deep impression on me because it is so unusual and you think this cannot be true. But the fact that it really does exist is really, mhm.] (Emma, interview) • Ja, ähm, dieses mit den, also das da [zeigt auf Children of the Red Fields]/ weil ich fand, also da war die Handlung schon schlimm und, ja, ja war schon ein bisschen krass. Also so die Handlung und so. Wenn man weiß, dass es das da noch wirklich gibt und so. Mit den Kindersoldaten und so. Ja, das ist schon schlimm. [Well, this thing with Children of the Red Fields/ because I found the plot terrible and yes, it was rather a tough read. Well, the plot and so. When you know that this still really exists there and so. With the child soldiers and so on. Yes, that is rather terrible.] (Lea, interview) They perceive it as a phenomenon that is widespread in African countries but does not really affect them in Germany. This becomes apparent in the following quotes: • Außerdem ist Deutschland ein sicheres [sic] Land wie Uganda bzw. Afrika, deswegen gibt es ja in Deutschland auch keine Rebellen. [Besides Germany is a safer country than Uganda or Africa, therefore, there are no rebels in Ger‐ many.] (Lea, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • In Deutschland gibt es keine Rebellen gegen das Regime und abgesehen von evtl. Amokläufen gibt es, wenn sich Schüler in ihrer Schule aufhalten, kaum Gefahren. [In Germany, there are no rebels against the regime, apart from maybe people running amok there are hardly any dangers when students are in school.] (Mia, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Also, ich finde es jetzt nicht so wichtig, aber, weil/ also jetzt für mein Leben in Deutschland, also zum Glück wurde jetzt meine Schule noch nie überfallen oder so. Aber es ist vielleicht für die Kinder in Afrika sehr wichtig, weil/ weil das dort vielleicht öfter vorkommt, dass einmal Schulen überfallen werden und es auch dort viele Kindersoldaten gibt. [Well, I do not consider it very important, but, because for my life in Germany, well, luckily my school has never been attacked or anything like that. But it is maybe for the children in Africa very important because it maybe happens more often there that a school is attacked and there are also many child soldiers there.] (Bilal, interview) Students also repeatedly point to their own privileges that put them into the position of not having to experience something like that, as it is revealed in the following statements: 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 376 <?page no="377"?> • In den Nachrichten hört man manchmal, dass in einem Kriegsland Schulen oder Supermärkte angegriffen werden. Neulich in Paris ist auch so etwas Ähnliches passiert. Aber in meiner Umgebung passiert so etwas glücklicherweise nicht. Daher wird es vermutlich auch sehr spannend sein, etwas eher Unbekanntes zu lesen um so darüber etwas zu lernen. [In the news you sometimes hear that in a country at war schools or supermarkets are attacked. Recently, in Paris something similar happened. But something like that fortunately does not happen in my environment. Therefore, it will probably be exciting to read something rather unknown and to learn something about it in that way.] (Emma, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Ich habe gelernt, dass es uns in Deutschland echt gut geht und man es zu schätzen wissen sollte, in einer Schule sein zu können, in der keine Gewalt herrscht. [I have learnt that we are well off in Germany and that you should appreciate the fact that you can go to a school in which there is no violence.] (Vanessa, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Most of the students remain in this status of appreciation of their own privileges. Only a few students allow irritations and show potentials for self-reflection. Emma, for example, reflects upon her own indifference that she is aware of displaying to this topic: Also, mich betrifft es ja nicht wirklich. Und es schon blöd eigentlich, dass ich daran so wenig denke, wie gut es mir geht und dass es so schlimme Sachen gibt auf der Welt. So ein bisschen muss ich mir auch immer sagen, ja du hast es doch gut. Weil, es ist halt schon so. [I am not really affected. And it is actually quite dumb that I think so little of it, what a good life I have and what terrible things happen in the world. I have to tell myself a bit, yes, you are well off. Because it’s true.] (Emma, interview) Some students state that they also perceive the topic as important for themselves and consider it a meaningful topic to be discussed in Germany as well. • Ja, ich denke schon, dass das Sinn macht [es zu diskutieren]. Weil, wenn auch in Deutschland kein Krieg herrscht, herrscht halt irgendwo anders auf der Welt ein Krieg und (…) wenn man halt so weiß, wie sich die Menschen dabei fühlen und wie es ihnen dabei geht. Ich glaube schon, dass das ziemlich sinnvoll ist. [Yes, I do think that it makes sense [to discuss it]. Because even if there is no war in Germany, there is war somewhere else in the world and (…) when one knows how the people feel and how they are. I do think that this is rather meaningful.] (Silvia, interview) • Ähm, ja, das ist auch sehr wichtig, weil (…) ich habe so das Gefühl, irgendwann kommt es bald noch zum dritten Weltkrieg. Weiß nicht, da habe so das schlechte 7.3 Global Topics 377 <?page no="378"?> Gefühl, weil überall hört man von Krieg und so. Das macht schon darauf auch aufmerksam und so. [Yes, that is also very important because (…) I have the feeling sometime there’ll be the Third World War. I don’t know but I have this bad feeling because everywhere you hear about war and so. That also draws attention to that and so on.] (Vanessa, interview) Reflections Many students are of the opinion that they can identify very well with the chil‐ dren in Children of the Red Fields and understand the situation of child soldiers better after reading. • Ich würde diesen Text weiterempfehlen, weil er so geschrieben ist, dass man ihn gut versteht und weil die Handlung, mich jedenfalls, gefesselt hat. Außerdem kann man sich gut in die Personen hineinversetzen, was für mich zu einem guten Buch dazugehört. [I would recommend this text because it is written in such a way that you can understand it well and because the plot was captivating, at least it captivated me. Besides you can empathise well with the people which is part of a good book for me.] (Rebecca, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • An dem Buch bewundere ich einfach alles, diese Art des Schreibstils, die vielen Beschreibungen und die Storyline. Für mich persönlich konnte man schon ei‐ nige Punkte auf das reale Leben übertragen. [I simply admire everything about this book, the type of writing style, the many descriptions and the storyline. For me personally some aspects could be applied to real life.] (Sophie, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Only one student, Emma, expresses difficulties in the understanding process: Ich weiß jetzt ein bisschen, wie man sich fühlen muss, wenn man verschleppt wird. Also, eigentlich weiß ich es nicht wirklich, denn dazu muss man so etwas durchleben. Aber ich kann mir jetzt vielleicht ansatzsweise [sic] vorstellen, wie traumatisierend das sein muss. [I know now a bit how you must feel when you are abducted. But actually I do not know it really because for that you have to live through it yourself. But now I can imagine to some extent how traumatising it must be.] (Emma, interview) Students’ Reactions Students’ attitudes to the narrative Children of the Red Fields go in two different directions. Some of the students express their deep appreciation and admiration of the text, even referring to it as their favourite text in the project. Others state 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 378 <?page no="379"?> that they do not like the text at all. These different attitudes are displayed in Table 23: Positive Attitudes Negative Attitudes Mir hat Children of the Red Fields am besten gefallen, da es mich am meisten bewegt hat und ich mich am besten in die Person herreinversetzen [sic] konnte. [I liked Children of the Red Fields the most because it touched me the most and I could empathise best with the character.] (Re‐ becca, final questionnaire) Mir gefällt eigentlich kein Abschnitt / Satz besonders gut, da die Handlung, wie ich finde, nicht sehr positiv ist. [I do not like any of the passages / sentences very much because the plot is not very positive in my opinion.] (Monika, reading diary for Chil‐ dren for the Red Fields) Mir hat das ganze Buch wirklich gut ge‐ fallen deshalb würde ich nichts daran ve‐ rändern wenn ich könnte bzw. sollte. Ich bewundere, wie der Autor die ganze Ge‐ schichte aufgezogen hat. Wirklich span‐ nend. [I liked the whole book very much and I would therefore not change any‐ thing about it if I could or should. I admire how the writer has structured the story. Really exciting.] (Mia, reading diary for Children for the Red Fields) Mir hat das Buch Children of the Red Fields nicht so gut gefallen, da ich die Thematik sehr schlimm fand und auch etwas traurig. [I did not really like the book Children of the Red Fields because the topic was ter‐ rible in my opinion and also a bit sad.] (Lea, final questionnaire) Ich fand Children of the Red Fields am besten. Einfach weil es nicht wie in fast allen Büchern, die ich gelesen habe, um eine Schule geht, sondern dass etwas Spannendes, ungewöhnliches [sic] pas‐ siert. [I consider Children of the Red Fields the best book in the project. Simply be‐ cause it is not like almost all the books that I have read about a school but something exciting, unexceptional happens.] (Miriam, final questionnaire) Der Terror wurde sehr graphisch darges‐ tellt und das würde ich auch verändern, weil ich keinen Terror mag. [The terror was portrayed very graphically and that’s something I would also change because I do not like terror.] (Leonie, reading diary for Children for the Red Fields) Table 23: Students’ Attitudes to Children of the Red Fields The aspects that the students appreciate about the text are, for example, that it is thought-provoking and touching. In addition, they point to characters in the narrative to whom they look up to. Vanessa, for example, states that she admires the children in the novella because they never lose hope, and Rebecca evaluates it as positive that the child soldier Kiden still cares about love: ‘‘You don’t hate me, right? ’ I nod left and right.’ Ich finde es gut, dass selbst leuten [sic], die bereit sind Menschen zu töten, Dinge wie geliebt bzw. nicht gehasst zu werden wichtig sind. [‘‘You don’t hate me, right? ’ I nod left and right.’ I find it good 7.3 Global Topics 379 <?page no="380"?> that even people who are ready to kill human beings, consider things like being loved or not hated to be important.] (Reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) Other students particularly express their aversion concerning the rather nega‐ tive plot and sad nature of the story. They are shocked by the way the children are treated in the narrative. 7.3.4 Summary and Interpretation The data analysis shows that students only have a limited knowledge about topics such as HIV / AIDS , gender issues and war involving child soldiers. They state that they sometimes learn about topics of that type in lessons at school but mainly get exposed to facts and figures in those lessons. This superficial prior knowledge leads to encounters with foreignness during the reading process and partly inhibits the students’ understanding of the texts. Many of the students appreciate the texts for providing them with new information on the topics, particularly for giving them an insight into the emotions of the people. There‐ fore, the texts seem to humanise the factual information they are usually ex‐ posed to in lessons and the media. All three topics, i.e. HIV / AIDS , gender issues and child soldiers, are perceived as phenomena of ‘the other’ rather than ‘self ’ by the students. They pity the people who are affected by these topics and express their gratitude about their own unconcern. In the eye of the students, the topics, therefore, do not seem to carry the denomination ‘global’. Some students also reflect upon the difficulty of understanding topics of this type in the reading diaries and interviews. They describe the encounters with those topics sometimes as overly taxing. 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project To gain insights into the potential and limitations of the extensive reading project in general and for cultural and global learning particularly, the students were asked to evaluate the reading project after it was completed. They assessed how appealing the reading project was as a whole and the activity of writing in the reading diary in particular. In addition, they gave reasons for their evaluation and made suggestions for improvement. Moreover, to obtain a perspective on the subject matter from a researcher’s point of view, the students’ reading be‐ haviour during the extensive reading project is analysed in the final part of this chapter. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 380 <?page no="381"?> Evaluation of the Reading Project as a Whole In the final questionnaire, the students were asked to indicate on a five-point Likert scale how much they liked the reading project as a whole. Their answers are depicted in Figure 3. Figure 3: Students’ Evaluation of the Reading Project (n=44) As the figure illustrates, slightly more than half of the students state that they either liked the extensive reading project or liked it very much. There are only a few students who indicate that they did not like it. The students give various reasons for this positive evaluation of the project, of which the most frequently given answers are listed in Table 24 (multiple reasons could be given): 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 381 <?page no="382"?> Reason Examples Fre‐ quency Insight into an‐ other/ the Ugandan culture Mir persönlich gefiehl [sic] das Leseprojekt gut, weil man Einblicke in eine andere Kultur bekam. [I personally liked the reading project because it gave insights into another culture.] (Magdalena) Ja, es ist schon interessant zu lesen, was die Leute in Uganda in ihre Bücher schreiben (was ihnen wichtig ist). [Yes, it is interesting to read what people in Uganda write in their books (what is im‐ portant to them).] (Leonie) 22 Improvement of English lan‐ guage / reading skills Ich habe mein English [sic] verbessert, sonst lese ich nie englisch [sic]. [I have improved my English, otherwise I never read English.] ( Jessica) Denn man hat Erfahrungen sammeln können, vor‐ allem [sic] machte man Fortschritte im Umgang mit dem Lesen englischer Texte. [Because you could gather experiences, in particular you made progress in dealing with English texts.] (Theresa) Man lernte die englische Sprache mit mehr Spaß, indem man Bücher las. [The English language was learnt with more fun by reading books.] (Sophie) 13 Interesting / cool texts Ich fande [sic] das Leseprojekt besser als erwartet, da die Geschichten doch sehr interessant waren. [In my opinion the reading project was better than expected because the stories were very interesting after all.] (Charlotte) Generell waren die Bücher sehr cool [In general the books were really cool.] (Mia) Außerdem waren mehrere Bücher dabei, die Spaß gemacht haben, sie zu lesen. [Besides, there were several books which were enjoyable to read.] (Anita) 11 Variation in the classroom Ich würde es weiterempfehlen, da es eine Ab‐ wechslung zum normalen Unterricht ist und man neue interessante Dinge lernt. [I would recom‐ mend it because it provides a change from normal lessons and new interesting things can be learnt.] (Niklas) Es war toll, da es mal was anderes war, als die Texte im Schulbuch. [It was great because it was some‐ thing different to the texts in the school book.] (Leon) 10 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 382 <?page no="383"?> Organisation of the reading project Dies geschah auch durch Belohnungen zur Ermu‐ tigung und der ständigen Auswertung unserer Le‐ setagebücher und Verbesserungsvorschlägen. [This was also done through awards for encour‐ agement and the continuous analysis of our reading diaries and suggestions for improve‐ ments.] (Leyla) Durch die verschiedenen Preise werden sie zusätz‐ lich motiviert, mit Spaß zu lesen. [The various prizes help to encourage them more to read with joy.] (Vanessa) 8 Table 24: Most Frequent Reasons for Students’ Appreciation of the Reading Project Many of the students are of the opinion that the extensive reading project gave them an insight into another / the Ugandan culture. They appreciate, for ex‐ ample, that they could read something different to the usual books and also discover what people in Uganda write in their books. In addition, the students repeatedly state in the final questionnaire that they were able to improve their English language skills through the reading project. Many of them point out that they usually do not have the opportunity to read a book in English and, therefore, considered the reading project as a chance to read also in English. Some of them state that they got increasingly used to reading in the foreign language during the project. Sophia asserts that she learnt English with more fun through reading books. Furthermore, other students base their positive evaluation of the reading project on the “interesting” or “cool texts” that were part of the project or state that the reading project brought variation into the classroom. In addition, some students refer to the organisation of the reading project, i.e. prizes and feedback given to the students during the reading process as positive. The students, however, also list a number of aspects that they did not partic‐ ularly like about the reading project. The most frequently mentioned points of criticism are listed in Table 25: Reason Examples Fre‐ quency Types of texts Ich persönlich fande [sic] es ein wenig langweilig, da es sehr unspektakuläre Geschichten waren. Selbst wenn die Geschichte nicht sonderlich lang ist, könnte sie wenigstens spannender gestaltet sein. [I personally found it a bit boring because the stories were unspectacular. Even when the stories 14 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 383 <?page no="384"?> are not that long, they could at least be made more exciting.] (Lisa) Ich fand manche Bücher schrecklich (Gewalt, Tod, usw.) und manche ganz ok, aber keine wirklich gut. [In my opinion some of the books were terrible (vi‐ olence, death, etc.) and some were quite okay but none of them was really good.] (Leonie) Es waren meiner Meinung nach nicht sehr realis‐ tische Bücher dabei und das mag ich nicht. [In my opinion, there were no very realistic books in the project and I do not like that.] (Andreas) Die Bücher waren zu kindisch und die Ansprüche zu hoch. [The books were too childish and the ex‐ pectations too high.] (Felix) Reading diary Jedoch sind die Tagebücher zu lang und die Fragen wiederholen sich. [But the diaries were too long and the questions repeated themselves.] (Hannes) Die Lesetagebücher waren sehr nervig, da die Fragen sich immer wiederholten und man lange Texte schreiben musste. Dies nahm viel Zeit in An‐ spruch. [The reading diaries were very annoying because the questions always repeated themselves and long texts had to be written. This took a lot of time.] (Andreas) Die Tagebücher waren immer gleich. [The diaries were always the same.] (Miriam) 10 A lot of work/ addi‐ tional pressure Bisschen viel arbeit [sic] [A bit too much work] (Oliver) Es ist viel arbeit [sic] und wir haben so schon viel zu tun. [It is a lot of work and we already have a lot to do.] (Alexander) An sich fand ich das Projekt gut, aber ich fand auch, dass es zusätzlichen Druck dargestellt hat. [I liked the project in principle but in my opinion it also caused additional pressure.] (Anna) 9 Dislike of reading Ich habe zwar etwas über Uganda gelernt, jedoch ist Lesen nicht mein größtes Hobby. [I have learnt something about Uganda but reading is not my biggest hobby.] (Philipp) 4 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 384 <?page no="385"?> Mir hat es nicht ganz so gut gefallen, weil ich nicht gerne lese. [I did not like it that much because I do not like reading.] (Andreas) Table 25: Most Frequent Reasons for Students’ Dislike of the Reading Project The students repeatedly criticise the texts that were part of the reading project. For example, they state that they consider them to be boring since they simply talk about everyday issues or are too cruel or unrealistic. Felix points out that the books for him were too childish. Much of the students’ criticism also focuses on the reading diaries which will be dealt with in more details below. The stu‐ dents, for example, perceive them as too long, they criticise the repetition of questions and the fact that the guiding questions do not differ much for the different texts. Some students also state that the reading project meant too much (additional) work for them or put pressure onto them. Others justify their neg‐ ative evaluation of the reading project with their general dislike of reading. The students make varied suggestions for the improvement of the extensive reading project, of which the most frequently mentioned are displayed in Table 26: Suggestion Examples Fre‐ quency Improve reading diary Man könnte die Lesetagebücher stark verkürzen, da dass [sic] Ausfüllen oft mehr Zeit beansprucht hat als das Lesen der Bücher. [The reading diaries could be greatly shortened because writing them often takes more time than reading the books.] (Monika) Dass die Lesetagebücher kürzer sind, und dass man evtl. praktische Sachen macht, denn nur Schreiben ist langweilig. [That the reading diaries are shorter and that one does maybe practical things because writing only is boring.] (Isa) kreativere Lesetagebücher & nicht so dicke und spannendere & weniger Bücher [more creative reading diaries and not so thick, more exciting & fewer books).] (Michelle) 10 Improve text selec‐ tion Ich würde die Auswahl der Bücher verändern, so‐ dass es auch verschiedene Genre gibt. [I would change the choice of books so that different genres are available.] (Leon) 8 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 385 <?page no="386"?> Außerdem könnte man versuchen ‘modernere’ Bücher dazuzunehmen [sic], falls es solche gibt. [Besides, you could try to add more ‘modern’ books, if they exist.] (Monika, final questionnaire) Ich denke man sollte keine Geschichten zur Verfü‐ gung stellen, die nicht das reale Uganda darstellen. [I think no stories should be provided that do not depict the real Uganda.] (Philipp, final question‐ naire) Shorten time span of reading project Ich fand, dass das Leseprojekt ein bisschen lang ging und deshalb zum Schluss die begeisterung [sic] nachgelassen hat. Man hätte es kürzen können. [In my opinion the reading project took a bit long and the enthusiasm therefore waned at the end. It could have been shortened.] (Oliver, final questionnaire) 3 Lengthen time span of reading project Es wäre spannend, wenn man zeitlich die Möglich‐ keit hätte alle Bücher zu lesen und trotzdem nicht die Schule und die Hobbies zu vernachlässigen. Ich hätte gern alle Bücher gelesen und hätte mehr Zeit benötigt. [It would be exciting if you had the chance to read all the books and while not ne‐ glecting school or hobbies. I would have liked to read all the books and would have needed more time.] (Magdalena, final questionnaire) 3 Table 26: Students’ Suggestions for Improvement of the Reading Project Many of these suggestions focus on the reading diaries. The students propose leaving out certain questions, shortening them or giving more space for practical or creative activities. In addition, many students address the aspect of text se‐ lection in their suggestions. They ask for a wider selection of texts, different genres and “modernere [more modern]” (Monika) books. Some students also state that they would leave out certain books that were part of the project, e.g. texts they consider to be unrealistic. Concerning the time span in which the reading project was conducted, the students’ suggestions diverge. Whereas some students point out that the reading project was a bit too long, others state that they would have needed more time to read all the texts they wanted to read. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 386 <?page no="387"?> Evaluation of the Reading Diary Another question that students were asked in the final questionnaire investi‐ gated their attitudes to writing in the reading diary. Their answers are displayed in Figure 4. Figure 4: Students’ Evaluation of the Reading Diary (n=44) As the figure shows, none of the students in my study liked writing in the reading diary very much, the majority of the students state that they neither liked it nor disliked it but there are also some students who disliked it or disliked it very much. Some of the most frequently mentioned aspects are listed in the following table: Positive aspects Negative aspects Es war gut, dass man nochmal über das Buch nachgedacht hat während dem Schreiben. [It was good that you thought again about the book while writing.] (Emma) Ich hatte ein paar Schwierigkeiten damit. Ich fand ein paar Fragen aus dem mittleren Teil des Lesetagebuchs sehr schwer. [I had difficulties with it. Some of the questions from the middle part of the reading diary were very difficult in my opinion.] (Anita) Wenn man sich das wieder durchliest nach der Fertigstellung, hat man wieder alles im Sinn und einen Überblick über sich selber. Die Lesetagebücher waren bis auf die letzten Seiten immer gleich. Das hat es nach mehreren Tagebüchern sehr ein‐ 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 387 <?page no="388"?> [When you read through it again after completing, you have everything again in mind and an overview of yourself.] (Simon) tönig gemacht. [Apart from the final pages, the reading diaries were always the same. This made them very monotonous after writing a few reading diaries.] (Ben‐ jamin) Es macht Spaß seine Gedanken aufs‐ chreiben zu können [It is fun to write down your thoughts.] (Alexander) Da viele Fragen mehrfach vorkamen und so der Leseprozess gestört wurde. [Be‐ cause many questions appeared several times and disturbed the reading process.] (Elias) Table 27: Students’ Reasons for Their Evaluation of the Reading Diary What students evaluate as positive about the reading diaries is, for example, that they consider the guiding questions to initiate further reflections upon the texts. According to them, the diary entries also give an overview after reading of what they have read. Occasionally, the students also state that it is fun to write down their own thoughts. The majority of students, however, rather criticise the reading diaries. As mentioned above, for example, they state that the reading diaries are too long. In addition, they perceive the guiding questions to be too difficult, general, unclear and repetitive. Moreover, they point out that writing diary entries disrupts the reading process. Evaluation of the Introductory Lessons In the interviews, the students were also asked to evaluate the introductory lessons of the reading project, in which they were familiarised with Ugandan geography and history. Students’ answers concerning this aspect diverge. Some of them consider the introductory lessons to be helpful for the reading process, others see them as not particularly meaningful for a better understanding of the texts: The different reasons the students give for their evaluation of the intro‐ ductory lessons are displayed in Table 28: Helpful Not helpful Es hat mir schon geholfen, weil, wenn Sie jetzt einfach uns die Bücher hingeklatscht hätten und gesagt hätten ‘So, das sind jetzt ugandische Bücher, die lest ihr jetzt.’ (…) Ich bin in Geographie sehr, sehr, sehr schlecht. Hätte dann so ‘Uganda, ist das bei Russland? Ich habe keine Ahnung.’ Ähm, ja, also es hat mir schon geholfen so, dass ich so wusste, ja das ist so in der Ge‐ Nein, weil die Bücher haben ja nicht wir‐ klich etwas mit der Geografie oder mit der Geschichte von Uganda zu tun. Und eher mit dem Jetzigen oder, überhaupt, was es gar nicht geben kann. [No, because the books did not actually have anything to do with Ugandan geography or history. Rather with the present time or even with something unreal.] (Rebecca) 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 388 <?page no="389"?> gend, wo wahrscheinlich sehr andere Ver‐ hältnisse und auch Klimaverhältnisse her‐ schen. Und so da sind wohl wahrscheinlich auch Farbige. [Yes, it has. It has. It has helped me because if you had just given us the books and said ‘So, these are the Ugandan books which you will read now.’ (…) I am very, very bad at ge‐ ography. I would have [asked] ‘Uganda, is that close to Russia? I have no idea.’ Yes, well it has helped to know, yes that is an area where there are probably very dif‐ ferent conditions and also climate condi‐ tions. And there are probably also col‐ oured people.] (Anna) Zum Beispiel, da das Mädchen in The Un‐ fulfilled Dream kommt ja nach Kampala, glaube ich, ja. Und vorher wusste ich jetzt nicht mehr so genau so aus dem Geoun‐ terricht, dass Kampala die Hauptstadt von Uganda ist. Und das hat mir dann schon geholfen, den Unterschied zu verstehen, zwischen dem wenig entwickelten Dorf und der weit entwickelten Hauptstadt Kampala. [For example, the girl there in The Unfulfilled Dream comes to Kampala, I think, yes. And before I did not know ex‐ actly from geography lessons that Kam‐ pala is the capital city of Uganda. And that helped me to understand the difference between the less developed village and the much developed capital city Kampala. (Monika) Weil jetzt in den Büchern, die ich zu‐ mindest gelesen habe, jetzt nicht ir‐ gendwie großartig etwas von Geografie vorkam, auch nichts, was sich jetzt auf die Geschichte bezogen hätte, war eigentlich alles relativ, was in unserer Zeit spielt und ja, einfach keinen Bezug in die Vergan‐ genheit herrscht. Wenn nicht so sehr, dass ich das jetzt irgendwie wahrgenommen hätte. [Because now the books which I have read at least do not have anything about geography and nothing which re‐ fers to history, but actually everything was set in our time and yes, there is simply no reference to the past, at least not in such a way that I noticed anything.] (Mag‐ dalena) Also mit der Geschichte, die hat mir schon ein bisschen geholfen halt, wenn man das im Kopf behalten hat, dass da halt immer noch, ja eine Diktatur herrscht und/ Also eigentlich eine Diktatur. Dass deshalb halt, auch wieder bei I Will not Fail, dass deshalb vielleicht die Gleichberechtigung einfach, ja, nicht da ist. Weil der Diktator sagt, ja, Frauen sind, sag ich jetzt einmal, Untermenschen, nenne ich jetzt einfach einmal so. Wenn der das so sagt, dann ak‐ zeptiert das die Menge so. [Well, the his‐ tory part has helped me a little when you keep in mind that there a dictatorship still rules and/ Well, actually a dictatorship. That because of this, again in I Will Not Fail, that therefore gender equality does not exist. Because the dictator says that women, let’s put it like that, are subhu‐ Weil ich habe jetzt selten irgendwie ge‐ dacht, ‘ah, das habe ich ja da dann am An‐ fang schon ein bisschen gelernt’, oder. Ähm, ich fand es auch ein bisschen/ es hat mich nicht so wirklich interessiert, also so die Vergangenheit, die history von Uganda, oder so. Und, Geografie, fand ich okay, dass man das so ein bisschen ge‐ macht hat, aber es hat mir jetzt nicht wahnsinnig viel geholfen, außer, dass ich halt wusste, Kampala ist so die, die Haupt‐ stadt, die Zentralstadt. Das fand ich gut, dass ich das dann schon wusste. Aber an‐ sonsten (…) Also, ich fand es okay. [Be‐ cause I rarely thought ‘ah, I have already learnt about this a bit at the beginning’, or. I found it a bit/ it did not really interest me, well the past, the history of Uganda and so on. And geography, I thought it was 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 389 <?page no="390"?> mans, if I can just use that term. When he says it like that, then the masses accept it like that.] (Gabriell) okay we did that a bit but it has not helped me a great deal despite knowing that Kam‐ pala is the capital city, the central city. I thought that was good that I knew that already. But otherwise (…) Well, I found it okay.] (Charlotte) Table 28: Reasons the Students Give for the Introductory Lessons Being Helpful or Not Those students who see the lessons at the beginning of the project as helpful particularly appreciate the fact of having been introduced to Ugandan geog‐ raphy. They state that they did not know before these lessons where Uganda is located (Anna, case 10) or that there are also big cities in Uganda (Monika; also see Niko, case 1). Very few students retrospectively perceive the overview of Ugandan history that they were introduced to at the beginning of the project as helpful for the reading process. Gabriell points out that the fact that he still remembers from the introductory lessons that Uganda is a dictatorship today helped him to understand the prevalence of gender inequality in the country. This statement is, however, inherently inconclusive and therefore illustrates that supposed facts may also lead students to quick and rather unfounded conclu‐ sions. There is only one student in my study, Niko (case 1), who refers in the interview to the history of colonialism to which he was exposed in the intro‐ ductory lessons. Asked to elaborate more on this, he cannot, however, explain how it influenced his understanding: B: Also das mit der Kolonialherrschaft war auch interessant. Das hat das schon [unv.] Wie die Grenzen so in Uganda sind und so. Den ganzen Überblick von dem Land. Das hat schon zu einem besseren Verständnis beigetragen. [I: Inwieweit? ] B: Keine Ah‐ nung wie. Aber es ist schon interessant. [P: Well, that stuff about colonial rule was also interesting. That has [inc.] How the borders in Uganda are and so on. The whole overview of the country. That has contributed to a better understanding. [I: How far? ] P: No idea how. But it is rather interesting.] Many of the students who point out in the interview that they do not regard the introductory lessons to have contributed to a better understanding of the texts perceive the books that they have read in the project as not having anything to do with geography or history. Thus, the relevance of the lessons does not seem be clear to them. Rebecca and Magdalena, for example, state that the books in the project are set in the present time and therefore knowing about Ugandan history is not meaningful in their eyes for a better understanding. Charlotte 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 390 <?page no="391"?> expresses indifference concerning this aspect. She is not particularly interested in the history of Uganda, she explains. Students’ Reading Behaviour in the Extensive Reading Project As already mentioned in Chapter 7.1.2, some of the students repeatedly establish links between different texts that they read in the reading project. The following quotes highlight this: • Ich habe zuletzt Moses gelesen und da Moses in Trouble der dritte Teil in der Moses-Reihe ist, habe ich mir dieses - Buch ausgesucht. [The last book I read was Moses and because Moses in Trouble is the third part of the Moses series, I chose this book.] (Magdalena, reading diary for Moses in Trouble) • Ich hab gedacht, dass so ähnlich wie in dem Buch Voice of a Dream am Anfang gleich erst mal ein großes Problem / das erste ‘Tief ’ kommt, das es dann im Laufe der Geschichte zu bewältigen gilt. Das war bei I Will Not Fail allerdings nicht der Fall: ganz im Gegenteil - es fing eigentlich schön an, als Namukose dann in die Schule gehen durfte, worüber sie sich ja riesig freute. Für mich war Voice of a Dream eigentlich mehr eine richtige Geschichte und I Will Not Fail hatte eigentlich so alle Kindheiten der Kinder in Uganda vertreten - man hat sehr, sehr viel über das Leben der Kinder erfahren. [I thought that like in the book Voice of a Dream, there would be a big problem at the beginning which has to be overcome during the story. This was, however, not the case for I Will Not Fail. On the contrary, it starts well with Namukose being able to go to school, something she is very happy about. For me Voice of a Dream was more of a real story and I Will Not Fail included all childhoods of the children in Uganda - one got to know very, very much about the life of the children.] (Charlotte, interview) • Vorher hab ich gedacht, das [sic] es selten ist in Uganda auf eine Schule zu gehen und das [sic] das was besonderes [sic] ist (war in den anderen Büchern so). Jetzt habe ich erkannt, das [sic] auch das Gegenteil der Fall sein kann. [Before, I thought that it is rare to go to school in Uganda and that it is some‐ thing special (that is what it was like in the other books). Now I have realised that the opposite may also be the case.] (Miriam, reading diary for Moses) • Ich habe bereits das Buch I Will Not Fail gelesen indem [sic] es, denke ich, um ein ähnliches Thema ging. Deshalb weis [sic] ich, dass Mädchen sich sehr stark anstrengen müssen, um einen guten oder überhaupt einen Beruf zu bekommen. [I have already read the book I Will Not Fail which is about a similar topic, I think. Therefore, I know that girls have to struggle hard to get a good occupa‐ tion or any at all.] (Rebecca, reading diary for Voice of a Dream) 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 391 <?page no="392"?> These links, for example, play a role in the text selection process of the students, as in the case of Magdalena who opts for Moses in Trouble because she has al‐ ready read the first book in the Moses series. Furthermore, they influence their understanding process. Students compare the different texts with each other and construct similarities and differences between the plots and writing styles. At times it becomes apparent that they use the knowledge they constructed while reading one of the texts as a basis for understanding another. This seems to support their reading process. It should be noted, however, that many of the students do not appear to construct any links between different narratives they read in the reading project. In the reading diaries and interviews, it can also be observed that the students repeatedly exchange ideas with their classmates. As illustrated in the following quotes, this exchange played an essential role in the text selection and also in the meaning creation process: • Dieses Buch wurde von 2 Personen positiv bewertet / empfohlen, also wollte ich das auch lesen. [This book was rated positively by 2 people, therefore, I also wanted to read it.] (Emma, reading diary for Children of the Red Fields) • Ich habe von Klassenkameraden gehört, dass das Buch schlecht sei und darin irgendetwas mit einem Löwenschwanz geschieht. [I have heard from class‐ mates that the book is bad and it has something to do with a lion’s tail.] (Hannes, reading diary for The Precious Calabash) • Ich habe am Ende zuerst nicht verstanden, warum er dann schlussendlich doch zufrieden war, im Internat zu sein. Dann allerdings habe ich ein Mädchen aus meiner Klasse gefragt, warum dies so ist. Sie hat es scheinbar gut verstanden. Moses war nun zufrieden, da er jetzt ein neues Hobby entdeckt hat: Das Theater spielen. [At the end I did not understand at first why he was eventually content to be in boarding school. Then I asked a girl from my form, however, why this is the case. She apparently understood it well. Moses was content now because he had discovered a new hobby: acting.] (Vanessa, reading diary for Moses) The students frequently state that they chose texts because they were recom‐ mended by their classmates. In addition, they occasionally talk about the texts with fellow students and exchange ideas. In some instances, these discussions seem to have an influence on the attitudes the individual student has to the text. Emil, for example, expresses his appreciation concerning the text How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails in the reading diary. In the interview, however, he rather criticises the text. This sudden dislike of the text may be grounded in the fact that he discussed it with classmates, as he also states in the interview. Peer pressure may play a role here. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 392 <?page no="393"?> Ähm, also ich habe auch mit meinen Freunden über über das Buch geredet [zeigt auf How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails], dass das eben ein bisschen, äh, erfunden ist, also sehr erfunden. Und, dass das halt einfach ein bisschen komisch ist, das Buch. [Well, I have also talked with my friends about How Goats Lost Their Beautiful Tails, that it is a bit, well, contrived, well very much contrived. And that it is really just a bit strange, the book.] With family members or friends outside the classroom, students say they only talk about the literary texts rarely and superficially. Summary and Interpretation In general, the students evaluate the reading project quite positively. They par‐ ticularly emphasise its value for getting to know more about another country / culture and improving their English skills. Much of their criticism is directed at the reading diary and the texts that were part of the project. Whereas most of the students seem to dislike writing in the reading diary, their opinions towards the narrative texts, however, diverge. Many of the students also express their appreciation and admiration concerning the texts and evaluate the project positively because of the texts that were used. This once again underlines that different students react very differently to the texts in the extensive reading project. The introductory lessons are evaluated quite negatively by the students in the interviews. Many students point out that they do not regard them as having contributed in any way to a better understanding of the texts. The students’ lack of references to the colonial history in this context suggests that the lesson on this topic did not have a lasting impact on them. Moreover, it seems that the lesson did not succeed in demonstrating the importance of knowing about the colonial history and its aftermath in order to understand the present time. This lack of impact on the students may be ascribed to the fact that the introductory lessons only comprised four sessions, in particular, only 45 minutes were avail‐ able to deal with the country's history. But it could also be based on students’ indifference concerning this topic, as Charlotte, for example, points out when she states that she was not interested in learning about the history of Uganda. The students in this study read literary texts autonomously. They make use of different strategies in their reading and understanding process (see also Chapters 7.1.2 and 7.2.3). Some of them also establish links between different texts they read in the reading project and so come up with (de)constructions that go beyond a single text in the project. This plays an important role in their understanding process. Another factor that has a slight influence on students’ mental processes is the conversations they have with their classmates about the 7.4 Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project 393 <?page no="394"?> texts. Occasionally, these discussions seem to influence the students’ attitudes about certain texts or facilitate / inhibit their process of understanding. 7 Research Findings: Thematic Structure 394 <?page no="395"?>