al-Mozany, Der Marschländer: Bagdad, Beirut, Berlin (1999)

Frame and Preparation

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Hussain al-Mozany’s Der Marschländer: Bagdad, Beirut, Berlin (1999) Introduction

Conceptual Frames and Background

• border crossing, migration, flight
• transit
• multidirectional memory
• narrative re-telling
• Arab-German studies

Introduction

This lesson introduces Hussain al-Mozany’s novel Der Marschländer: Bagdad, Beirut, Berlin (Frankfurt am Main: Glaré Verlag, 1999) through a series of pre-reading activities, to be completed before starting to read excerpts or sections of the novel.

Der Marschländer begins with the sole protagonist Alwan’s arrival and pursuit of exile in a small East German town named Hitler before pivoting back in time to narrate Alwan’s journey. Der Marschländer richly narrates the birth, home life, journeys, and settling in Germany of its primary protagonists, but it concludes decisively with Alwan’s suicide and funeral. It represents countless border crossings, depicts refugees and migrants in numerous locations of transit, and is laden with references to historical moments mediated through destabilized national perspectives.

Potential Expansions to the Lesson

• This lesson could be further expanded in the following ways:
  • The layered and compounding structure of Abbas Khider’s Der falsche Inder (2008) stages a narrative punctuated through with moments of historical and geographic specificity that are re-narrated from different perspectives — a narrative technique it shares with Hussain al-Mozany’s novel Der Marschländer: Bagdad – Beirut – Berlin (1999). Juxtaposing these two novels could allow for a broader discussion on questions about how histories are communicated and interpellated among populations.
    • Lessons on Der falsche Inder can be found here.

Text and Discussion

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Overview

This lesson plan focuses on preparing students for reading excerpts from this novel. These are essentially pre-reading activities to prepare students to look at certain themes and to begin cultivating necessary vocabulary for discussing the novel.

It features two discussions: 1) a discussion focusing on the book cover, 2) a reading activity and discussion based on short descriptions of the novel.

Al-Mozany, Hussain. Der Marschländer: Bagdad, Beirut, Berlin. Frankfurt am Main: Glaré Verlag, 1999.

Teil 1: der Buchumschlag

As a pre-reading in-class activity, display each title and book cover in class. Some potential questions to ask:

• Welche Wörter oder Assoziationen wecken die Buchumschlagen?
  • Collect answers to generate an initial vocabulary list for students.
  • Some words that could be useful are included in the following vocabulary list but solicit potential words from students prior to providing them with a completed list.

• Welche Orte werden erwähnt oder gezeigt?
  • Kennt ihr diese Orte?
  • Wie werden die Orte dargestellt? Wie werden sie im Verhältnis zueinander dargestellt?
• Gibt es neue Wörter oder Assoziationen, die ihr für unsere Vokabelliste sammeln möchtet?
  • Return to collecting words for the initial vocabulary list to conclude this warm up activity.

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Teil 2: der Klappentext

Below is a simple worksheet with a paragraph synopsis of the novel and a series of vocabulary words for students to look up. This could be adapted to be a homework assignment, as desired. Working with partners, students should:

1. Partners read aloud the first synopsis, alternating turns either by sentence or paragraph depending on the pair’s preference.
2. Partners look up the words included in the table following the synopsis.
3. Coming back together as a group, the instructor will read aloud the first synopsis.
   • Pause every few sentences to check for general comprehension. Students will not understand everything, but we are looking for a general comprehension of themes.
   • You could translate a few sentences as a group as instructor sees fit and depending on time.

Diskussion: Was steht im Klappentext?

• Welche Wörter, Themen oder Motive werden in beiden Zusammenfassungen erwähnt?
• Was erwartet ihr in Der Marschländer zu lesen?
  • Wo spielt das Buch?
  • Wer sind mögliche Figuren?
  • usw.

Diskussion: Was ist das Schicksal?

• Was ist das Schicksal?
• Welche Rolle spielt das Schicksal in ihrem Leben?
  • Glaubt ihr an das Schicksal?
  • Können Menschen ihr Schicksal ändern? Können Menschen ihre Zukunft kontrollieren?
  • Welche Dinge beeinflussen die Zukunft, die Entscheidungen und die Möglichkeiten der Menschen?

Diskussion: Was ist Heimat?

• Was ist Ihre Heimat oder haben Sie mehrere Heimaten? Wo, wann, oder wie fühlen Sie sich zu Hause?

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