Abstract
In this paper, I examine alternative media practices in the digital realm as acts of performing citizenship, and in particular Germanness. Based on the thesis that traditional (mass) media, and especially linear television, narrate Germanness in a very narrow and therefore exclusionary way, I argue that the digital realm, and especially social media sites, provide the necessary platforms and tools to question this narrative and to (re)write conceptions of Germanness. Drawing upon theories of citizenship (Marshall, Turner, Klaus and Lünenborg) and the (digital) public sphere (Habermas, Fraser, Klaus), I analyze and discuss one selected example of alternative media that (re)negotiates Germanness: The talk show episode Die beste Instanz conceptualized, financed and hosted by the German comedienne Enissa Amani in 2021. In this show that has more than 610,000 views on YouTube Amani discusses racism, antisemitism, and specifically antiziganism in Germany together with her guests - a diverse group of experts and those concerned. I seek to argue that alternative media like Die beste Instanz scrutinize the dominant narrative of Germanness in traditional (mass) media as a cause for exclusion and suffering. In addition, they can empower the marginalized individual and contribute to their exercise of agency by enabling them to narrate Germanness in a more diverse and inclusive way that better reflects the plurality, heterogeneity and hybridity of German society in the 21st century.
Presenters
Isabell SlukaPh.D. Candidate, Literatures, Cultures, and Languages (German Studies), University of Connecticut, Connecticut, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Social Media, Alternative Media, Public Sphere, Counter Publics, Resistance
