Decolonizing German Studies from outside and within

Although considerable attempts have been made to decolonize German Studies curricula in UK universities through an inclusion of German-language cultural artifacts of authors and artists from ethno-racially marginalized backgrounds, this kind of expansionist method––the endeavor to merely expand the canon of German Studies––does not suffice. While the decolonization of the canon of German Studies immensely increases visibility and representations of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers and artists who create in German, the theoretical methods through which these cultural artifacts are examined remain predominantly within the Euro-American academe. The combination of decolonized German reading lists with Eurocentric theoretical tools, I argue, create theoretical and pedagogical barriers in German Studies, which risks resuscitating the kind of power imbalance between German/European cultures and other cultures, against which initiatives for decolonizing German Studies seek to counteract. Focusing on pedagogical practices of Yōko Tawada's work in an advanced-level German literature course, I propose to address the issue of diversity and inclusivity both from the outside––the continuous effort to foreground German-language cultural artifacts created by BIPOC writers and artists––and from within––the re-evaluation and decolonization of theoretical tools by engaging with an integrative translingual approach that brings together resources of Western and non-Western languages.