Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration

What does an identity card mean to a refugee who is seeking asylum? Drawing on the story of the ancient protection-seeking Danaids, Julia Kristeva developed the conception that we are strangers to ourselves, whereby the stranger proves to be, uncannily, part of our own identity. To grant a stranger...

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Main Author: Patrice Djoufack
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Presses universitaires de Strasbourg 2018-12-01
Series:Recherches Germaniques
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rg/392
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author Patrice Djoufack
author_facet Patrice Djoufack
author_sort Patrice Djoufack
collection DOAJ
description What does an identity card mean to a refugee who is seeking asylum? Drawing on the story of the ancient protection-seeking Danaids, Julia Kristeva developed the conception that we are strangers to ourselves, whereby the stranger proves to be, uncannily, part of our own identity. To grant a stranger political asylum means, in this understanding, the same thing as to offer hospitality to a member of the tribe. Analyzing modern migration processes, this paper casts a critical eye at this conception. Based on the literary production of selected German writers, who experienced exile during national socialism, and first and foremost, on Anna Seghers’ novel Transit, the paper illustrates to what extent the possession of a valid identity card can be said to have an existential value to refugees in modern times. Faking such a document therefore appears as a survival strategy by means of which refugees manage to get by as they are faced with a state apparatus intent on maintaining order, lacking humanity and subjecting them to perpetual police harassment. Against this background, the paper questions the possibility of a more humane treatment of refugees and points at the new risks which could be connected to such a treatment.
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spelling doaj-art-62d3f79c46084a7db62e56274b1a6f6c2025-01-10T14:28:00ZdeuPresses universitaires de StrasbourgRecherches Germaniques0399-19892649-860X2018-12-0148456810.4000/rg.392Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und MigrationPatrice DjoufackWhat does an identity card mean to a refugee who is seeking asylum? Drawing on the story of the ancient protection-seeking Danaids, Julia Kristeva developed the conception that we are strangers to ourselves, whereby the stranger proves to be, uncannily, part of our own identity. To grant a stranger political asylum means, in this understanding, the same thing as to offer hospitality to a member of the tribe. Analyzing modern migration processes, this paper casts a critical eye at this conception. Based on the literary production of selected German writers, who experienced exile during national socialism, and first and foremost, on Anna Seghers’ novel Transit, the paper illustrates to what extent the possession of a valid identity card can be said to have an existential value to refugees in modern times. Faking such a document therefore appears as a survival strategy by means of which refugees manage to get by as they are faced with a state apparatus intent on maintaining order, lacking humanity and subjecting them to perpetual police harassment. Against this background, the paper questions the possibility of a more humane treatment of refugees and points at the new risks which could be connected to such a treatment.https://journals.openedition.org/rg/392refugeesexileidentityidentity cardself-construction
spellingShingle Patrice Djoufack
Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration
Recherches Germaniques
refugees
exile
identity
identity card
self-construction
title Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration
title_full Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration
title_fullStr Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration
title_full_unstemmed Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration
title_short Ausweis, Exil, Flucht und Migration
title_sort ausweis exil flucht und migration
topic refugees
exile
identity
identity card
self-construction
url https://journals.openedition.org/rg/392
work_keys_str_mv AT patricedjoufack ausweisexilfluchtundmigration