Talking German

Abstract

The German debate on migration and citizenship reveals a close connection between the discourse on immigration (and the imagination of Germany as a multicultural society) and general perceptions of German national identity. The article analyses how `Germanness' is constructed and communicated through public and everyday discourses - on the basis of some recent empirical research that has been carried out in the field of discursive representations of German identity. This research confirmed the prominent role of the `internal Other' for dominant German self-definitions. The article then analyses the resultant strategic possibilities of these `Others'. The most central category of the `Other' in German self-definitions are the Ausländer (foreigners) and the role of the prototypical Ausländer is most prominently played by the German Turks. The article thus also focuses on self-definitions of German Turks and their responses to dominant role ascriptions.