Gabriele M. Linke | University of Rostock (original) (raw)
Papers by Gabriele M. Linke
A/b: Auto/biography Studies, 2011
The use of the body metaphor—as in the “body politic” of the Mayflower compact—to conceptualize a... more The use of the body metaphor—as in the “body politic” of the Mayflower compact—to conceptualize abstract and complex social organizations or institutions not only has a long tradition but has recently been analyzed and explained by cognitive linguists such as Zoltán Kövecses (209). Therefore it is not surprising that questions of sexuality, and the sexologist Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894–1956) as well as the ‘Kinsey Reports’ of 1948 and 1953 in particular, have recently been considered to be “at the heart of the concept of national character” (Simmons 201). Miriam G. Reumann argues that because of the changes in sex talk and the sexualization of public discourse, sex can no longer be seen “as merely a private or individual matter” (201) but has been more closely linked to the public order than in earlier eras. In the national-sexual discourses of the early Cold-War period, the perceived decline of the male-breadwinner family and male power was read as a sign of the decline of the virility of the nation, a hypersexuality much needed to resist communism—the pattern recurs in the war against terrorism in the 2000s. On the other hand, women’s active sexuality and engagement in preand extramarital sex have often been seen as tainting not only individual but national purity; and, of course, homosexuality has been linked to weakness and the loss of (national) character. Recent texts abound with body metaphors that give Kinsey’s work a national scope, as in “undressing America” (Ansen 58) or exploring America’s silenced other half, the lower abdomen (Hüetli 158).
Social Semiotics, Apr 1, 2012
This essay looks at recent Scottish autobiographical writing in the context of Scottish devolutio... more This essay looks at recent Scottish autobiographical writing in the context of Scottish devolution and the collective memory work produced to mark the millennium. This focus on collective memory through oral history life-stories was aimed at documenting the “life of the nation”. The essay addresses the question: Whose life-stories are recorded, published and enter the public sphere? It argues that an understanding of this provides relevant insights into the inner structure, self-image and current concerns of the nation. Major themes of the texts chosen for analysis are gender, class and location. The main focus of the essay is on what these autobiographical texts reveal about Scottish identity and the essay identifies the key narratives of Scottishness in play in the selection and publishing of the collective autobiographies.
The European Journal of Life Writing, Mar 17, 2023
This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych 'The War' (19... more This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych 'The War' (1929-1932). The horrors of war and presence of death Dix exposed in his painting form the implicit point of reference for three short stories of reconciliation in and after the Second World War. The three auto/biographical memories by and 'as told to' the author celebrate forgiveness and humaneness among ordinary people in and after times of war as the one way to survive and continue life after the pain and losses caused by war, which are not part of the stories. The condensed form of the triptych recalls Dix's painting as well as the sacredness of suffering and reconciliation as symbolized by conventional Crucifixion triptychs.
J.B. Metzler eBooks, 2014
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verz... more Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.
A/b: Auto/biography Studies, 2011
Scottish affairs, May 1, 2011
Jackie Kay's reputation as a writer was first and foremost established through her poetry, and Th... more Jackie Kay's reputation as a writer was first and foremost established through her poetry, and The Adoption Papers (1991) in particular, but since then she has explored several other forms of writing, from young adult fiction (Strawgirl) to novel (The Trumpet). Some of the themes Kay addressed in The Adoption Papers have surfaced again and again in her twenty years' writing, and these themes clearly reflect major incidents in her life and the specific constellation of persons that shaped it. Since Kay was adopted as a baby, these persons are not only the family she grew up in, but also her biological parents: a Nigerian student and a Scottish nurse. Her new booklength autobiography, Red Dust Road, takes up the adoption theme and, as the title indicates, focuses on her search for her birth parents and her own identity, which assumed a new intensity through her contact with her birth parents.
VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften eBooks, 2010
... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er i... more ... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er in dem Film The Siege (1998) sei, in dem ... In der ersten Ein-stellung von Redacted schwenkt die Kamera vertikal vom Himmel über einem Dach nach unten in einen Kasernenhof. ...
International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity, Nov 2, 2019
In modernity studies, there has been an ongoing debate about different forms and phases of modern... more In modernity studies, there has been an ongoing debate about different forms and phases of modernity. Eastern and Western Europe present special cases in this debate because modernity developed unevenly, and differences became particularly obvious after World War II. While the 'Eastern bloc' strove for socialist modernity, Western Europe continued its route of classic capitalist modernity, soon entering the state of late, or liquid modernity, of which fluid and fragmented identities were a defining feature. These conceptions of modernity have been reflected upon in the life narratives of people who experienced different modernities, of which Vesna Goldsworthy's memoir Chernobyl Strawberries is a compelling example. She grew up in Yugoslavia's socialist modernity but, at the age of twenty-five, left for Britain, where she became a journalist and literary scholar. A close reading of her memoir reveals that she emphasizes the similarity of Western classic and Yugoslav socialist modernities but also constructs herself as a cosmopolitan subject with the flexible identity typical of liquid modernity.
The European Journal of Life Writing, Nov 3, 2014
In EnGLISh Yash pal Suri, a young indian doctor, went to the uK in 1965 to complete his medical t... more In EnGLISh Yash pal Suri, a young indian doctor, went to the uK in 1965 to complete his medical training. he equipped himself and his family back in india with a camera, tape recorder etc. so that they could film episodes of their lives and exchange 'cine-letters,' which they did for about 40 years. in 2005, Yash's daughter, Sandhya Suri, created a 70-minute documentary from her family's filmed stories and other sources, selecting and arranging the various scenes and voices recorded and combining them with clips from historical TV programmes as well as interviews and short scenes filmed between 2003 and 2005 in india and england. She reconstructs her transnational family's life story as embedded in a complex set of factors and influences. Sandhya's documentary is, on various levels, both biographical (her portrait of her family, and family members' memories of others) and autobiographical (her presence in the film, and family members talking about themselves), and these perspectives are deeply entangled. By emphasising her family's failed attempt to re-settle in india, she complicates the story of cultural integration. The result is a reconstruction of this diasporic life narrative from various angles and along the various axes of diasporic relations, especially those with home (india) and the host society (england), describing the position of the diasporic subject as in-between and continually shifting.
Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, Dec 14, 2012
European Journal of Life Writing
This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych ‘The War’... more This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych ‘The War’ (1929-1932). The horrors of war and presence of death Dix exposed in his painting form the implicit point of reference for three short stories of reconciliation in and after the Second World War. The three auto/biographical memories by and ‘as told to’ the author celebrate forgiveness and humaneness among ordinary people in and after times of war as the one way to survive and continue life after the pain and losses caused by war, which are not part of the stories. The condensed form of the triptych recalls Dix's painting as well as the sacredness of suffering and reconciliation as symbolized by conventional Crucifixion triptychs.
Handbook of Autobiography / Autofiction, 2019
Metaphern in Wissenskulturen, 2010
... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er i... more ... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er in dem Film The Siege (1998) sei, in dem ... In der ersten Ein-stellung von Redacted schwenkt die Kamera vertikal vom Himmel über einem Dach nach unten in einen Kasernenhof. ...
A/b: Auto/biography Studies, 2011
The use of the body metaphor—as in the “body politic” of the Mayflower compact—to conceptualize a... more The use of the body metaphor—as in the “body politic” of the Mayflower compact—to conceptualize abstract and complex social organizations or institutions not only has a long tradition but has recently been analyzed and explained by cognitive linguists such as Zoltán Kövecses (209). Therefore it is not surprising that questions of sexuality, and the sexologist Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894–1956) as well as the ‘Kinsey Reports’ of 1948 and 1953 in particular, have recently been considered to be “at the heart of the concept of national character” (Simmons 201). Miriam G. Reumann argues that because of the changes in sex talk and the sexualization of public discourse, sex can no longer be seen “as merely a private or individual matter” (201) but has been more closely linked to the public order than in earlier eras. In the national-sexual discourses of the early Cold-War period, the perceived decline of the male-breadwinner family and male power was read as a sign of the decline of the virility of the nation, a hypersexuality much needed to resist communism—the pattern recurs in the war against terrorism in the 2000s. On the other hand, women’s active sexuality and engagement in preand extramarital sex have often been seen as tainting not only individual but national purity; and, of course, homosexuality has been linked to weakness and the loss of (national) character. Recent texts abound with body metaphors that give Kinsey’s work a national scope, as in “undressing America” (Ansen 58) or exploring America’s silenced other half, the lower abdomen (Hüetli 158).
Social Semiotics, Apr 1, 2012
This essay looks at recent Scottish autobiographical writing in the context of Scottish devolutio... more This essay looks at recent Scottish autobiographical writing in the context of Scottish devolution and the collective memory work produced to mark the millennium. This focus on collective memory through oral history life-stories was aimed at documenting the “life of the nation”. The essay addresses the question: Whose life-stories are recorded, published and enter the public sphere? It argues that an understanding of this provides relevant insights into the inner structure, self-image and current concerns of the nation. Major themes of the texts chosen for analysis are gender, class and location. The main focus of the essay is on what these autobiographical texts reveal about Scottish identity and the essay identifies the key narratives of Scottishness in play in the selection and publishing of the collective autobiographies.
The European Journal of Life Writing, Mar 17, 2023
This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych 'The War' (19... more This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych 'The War' (1929-1932). The horrors of war and presence of death Dix exposed in his painting form the implicit point of reference for three short stories of reconciliation in and after the Second World War. The three auto/biographical memories by and 'as told to' the author celebrate forgiveness and humaneness among ordinary people in and after times of war as the one way to survive and continue life after the pain and losses caused by war, which are not part of the stories. The condensed form of the triptych recalls Dix's painting as well as the sacredness of suffering and reconciliation as symbolized by conventional Crucifixion triptychs.
J.B. Metzler eBooks, 2014
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verz... more Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.
A/b: Auto/biography Studies, 2011
Scottish affairs, May 1, 2011
Jackie Kay's reputation as a writer was first and foremost established through her poetry, and Th... more Jackie Kay's reputation as a writer was first and foremost established through her poetry, and The Adoption Papers (1991) in particular, but since then she has explored several other forms of writing, from young adult fiction (Strawgirl) to novel (The Trumpet). Some of the themes Kay addressed in The Adoption Papers have surfaced again and again in her twenty years' writing, and these themes clearly reflect major incidents in her life and the specific constellation of persons that shaped it. Since Kay was adopted as a baby, these persons are not only the family she grew up in, but also her biological parents: a Nigerian student and a Scottish nurse. Her new booklength autobiography, Red Dust Road, takes up the adoption theme and, as the title indicates, focuses on her search for her birth parents and her own identity, which assumed a new intensity through her contact with her birth parents.
VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften eBooks, 2010
... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er i... more ... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er in dem Film The Siege (1998) sei, in dem ... In der ersten Ein-stellung von Redacted schwenkt die Kamera vertikal vom Himmel über einem Dach nach unten in einen Kasernenhof. ...
International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity, Nov 2, 2019
In modernity studies, there has been an ongoing debate about different forms and phases of modern... more In modernity studies, there has been an ongoing debate about different forms and phases of modernity. Eastern and Western Europe present special cases in this debate because modernity developed unevenly, and differences became particularly obvious after World War II. While the 'Eastern bloc' strove for socialist modernity, Western Europe continued its route of classic capitalist modernity, soon entering the state of late, or liquid modernity, of which fluid and fragmented identities were a defining feature. These conceptions of modernity have been reflected upon in the life narratives of people who experienced different modernities, of which Vesna Goldsworthy's memoir Chernobyl Strawberries is a compelling example. She grew up in Yugoslavia's socialist modernity but, at the age of twenty-five, left for Britain, where she became a journalist and literary scholar. A close reading of her memoir reveals that she emphasizes the similarity of Western classic and Yugoslav socialist modernities but also constructs herself as a cosmopolitan subject with the flexible identity typical of liquid modernity.
The European Journal of Life Writing, Nov 3, 2014
In EnGLISh Yash pal Suri, a young indian doctor, went to the uK in 1965 to complete his medical t... more In EnGLISh Yash pal Suri, a young indian doctor, went to the uK in 1965 to complete his medical training. he equipped himself and his family back in india with a camera, tape recorder etc. so that they could film episodes of their lives and exchange 'cine-letters,' which they did for about 40 years. in 2005, Yash's daughter, Sandhya Suri, created a 70-minute documentary from her family's filmed stories and other sources, selecting and arranging the various scenes and voices recorded and combining them with clips from historical TV programmes as well as interviews and short scenes filmed between 2003 and 2005 in india and england. She reconstructs her transnational family's life story as embedded in a complex set of factors and influences. Sandhya's documentary is, on various levels, both biographical (her portrait of her family, and family members' memories of others) and autobiographical (her presence in the film, and family members talking about themselves), and these perspectives are deeply entangled. By emphasising her family's failed attempt to re-settle in india, she complicates the story of cultural integration. The result is a reconstruction of this diasporic life narrative from various angles and along the various axes of diasporic relations, especially those with home (india) and the host society (england), describing the position of the diasporic subject as in-between and continually shifting.
Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, Dec 14, 2012
European Journal of Life Writing
This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych ‘The War’... more This three-part collection of personal memories was inspired by Otto Dix's triptych ‘The War’ (1929-1932). The horrors of war and presence of death Dix exposed in his painting form the implicit point of reference for three short stories of reconciliation in and after the Second World War. The three auto/biographical memories by and ‘as told to’ the author celebrate forgiveness and humaneness among ordinary people in and after times of war as the one way to survive and continue life after the pain and losses caused by war, which are not part of the stories. The condensed form of the triptych recalls Dix's painting as well as the sacredness of suffering and reconciliation as symbolized by conventional Crucifixion triptychs.
Handbook of Autobiography / Autofiction, 2019
Metaphern in Wissenskulturen, 2010
... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er i... more ... So berichtet Shaheen (2008: 11) von einem Ge-fangenen in Abu Ghraib, der sich fragte, ob er in dem Film The Siege (1998) sei, in dem ... In der ersten Ein-stellung von Redacted schwenkt die Kamera vertikal vom Himmel über einem Dach nach unten in einen Kasernenhof. ...