Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Rider, N. Ann
(1997)
"The Critical Difference: Meeting the Challenge of Multicultural Pedagogy,"
GDR Bulletin:
Vol. 24:
Iss.
1.
https://doi.org/10.4148/gdrb.v24i0.1211
References
1. This is a revised version of an essay which first appeared under the title "East German Culture and the Challenge of Multicultural Pedagogy," Selecta: Journal of the Pacific Northwest Council on Foreign Languages 16 (1995): 24-28. Since the readership of Selecta is by and large distinct from that of the GDR Bulletin, it is offered here as well.
2. See, for example, Ingeborg Henderson, "Multikulturalismus als Unterrichtsgegenstand," Unterrichtspraxis 2 (1994): 29-33. doi:10.2307/3530984
3. While this essay focuses on GDR culture in the multicultural curriculum, clearly much of my argument would hold true as well for the many cultures thrown together under the rubric of "minorities" in German studies curricula. A curriculum which focuses on the "problems" of minority groups in Germany is in danger of succumbing to the same pitfalls.
4. Schmitz enumerates several problems of the "inclusion" model that lead to misrepresentation of the target culture. Among the ones she cites are: privileging one group over another such that "paradigms chosen to organize a course define a priori other cultures only through Western eyes;" introducing other groups for comparison such that the target culture is recognized as "absence or negation of mainstream culture;" focusing on "special problems," which, from the perspective of mainstream culture, represent members of the target culture as victims; focusing on only one aspect such that the target culture appears unidimimensional.
5. Chartier makes us aware of the way in which subsequent historical events (the French Revolution) shape the reception of that which precedes them (Enlightenment). Unification is similarly inventing the GDR through the lens of the victor's history. See Roger Chartier, The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution, trans. L. G. Cochrane (Durham: Duke University Press, 1991).
6. See "So viele Länder, Ströme, Sitten. Gedanken über die deutsche Kulturnation," in Günter de Bruyn, Jubeigeschreie, Trauergesänge. Deutsche Befindlichkeiten (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1991).
7. See Daniela Dahn, Wir bleiben hier oder Wem gehört der Osten (Reinbek: Hamburg, 1994).
8. See for example Myra Marx Feree, "The Rise and Fall of Mommy Politics: Feminism and Unification in (East) Germany," Feminist Studies 19(1993): 89-115. doi:10.2307/3178354
9. One example that immediately comes to mind is the West German "dual system of interest representation" in business guaranteed by the Labor-Management Relations Act.
10. Woods (8) cites a survey by Michael Brie, "Nostalgie: Die Sehnsucht nach der 'ANDEREN ddr,"' Presseinformation Deutsche Shell Aktiengesellschaft, 1
Works Cited
Brie, Michael. "Nostalgie: Die Sehnsucht nach der 'ANDEREN ddr.'" Presseinformation Deutsche Shell Aktiengesellschaft. 1992.
Chartier, Roger. The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution. Trans. L. G. Cochrane. Durham: Duke University Press, 1991.
Dahn, Daniela. Wir bleiben hier oder Wem gehört der Westen. Reinbek: Rowohlt, 1994.
De Bruyn, Günter. Jubeigeschreie, Trauergesänge. Deutsche Befindlichkeiten. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1991.
Gordon, Edmund and Maitrayee Bhattacharyya. "Human Diversity, Cultural Hegemony, and the Integrity of the Academic Canon." Impart: Journal of OPENMIND 2 (Spring 1994): 27-45.
Henderson, Ingeborg. "Multikulturalismus als Unterrichtsgegenstand." Unterrichtspraxis 2 (1994): 29-33.
Katz, Judith H. "The Challenge of Diversity." Valuing Diversity on Campus: A Multicultural Approach. Ed. Cynthia Woolbright. Bloomington: Association of College Unions-International, 1989.
Marx Feree, Myra. "The Rise and Fall of Mommy Politics: Feminism and Unification in (East) Germany." Feminist Studies 19 (1993): 89-115.
Noronha, June. "International and Multicultural Education: Unrelated Adversaries or Successful Partners?" New Directions for Teaching and Learning 52 (1992): 53.
Marcuse, Peter. "Is Anything Positive to be Learned from the GDR? Cities and Housing in Real Existing Socialism." Studies in GDR Culture and Society 13. Ed. Margy Gerber and Roger Woods. Lanham: University Press of America, 1994. 75-86.
Schmitz, Betty. "Cultural Pluralism and Core Curricula." Promoting Diversity in College Classrooms: Innovative Responses for the Curriculum, Faculty, and Institutions. Ed. Marianne Adams. New Directions for Teaching and Learning 52 (Winter 1992): 61-69.
Schröter, Eckhard. "When Cultures Collide: The Case of Administrators from East and West Berlin." Studies in GDR Culture and Society 13. 55-73
Woods, Roger. "The East German Contribution to German Identity." Studies in GDR Culture and Society 13. 25-38.
