Children at the Margins of Labour Migration in Füruzan’s Works After Germany

Year 2023, Volume: 63 Issue: 2, 383 - 407, 27.12.2023

Burcu Alkan Nazan Maksudyan

https://doi.org/10.26650/TUDED2023-1312287

Abstract

In 1975, novelist and short story writer Füruzan came to West Berlin following the invitation of the German Academic Exchange Service and spent the next five years on and off in Berlin until 1980. Following her travels, she published her journalistic essays/memoirs Yeni Konuklar (1977) and Ev sahipleri (1981), her children’s book Vom rotgesprenkelten Spatzen (1980), and her novel Berlin’in Nar Çiçeği (1988). While she gained a transregional perspective on issues concerning labour migration and class during her time in Germany, her works resulting from it introduced these subjects to her readership in Turkey. Her Yeni Konuklar and Ev sahipleri in particular provide a significant amount of data on the subject of labour migration to Germany, while her Vom rotgesprenkelten Spatzen and Berlin’in Nar Çiçeği elaborate upon the inherent large cultural shifts on both sides resulting from labour migration. This article examines the works Füruzan produced following her stay in Germany in the 1970s. It discusses the ways in which she presents the perspectives of the children as previously underexplored material on issues concerning global labour mobility. It looks at how children’s experiences reveal a more complicated reality in regards to social and cultural integration with an emphasis on the difficulties that they face and go unnoticed. Moreover, it also argues for the distinct potentialities of integration rendered possible through the relationship between the immigrant children and the elderly Germans due to a shared experience of marginalisation.

Keywords

Füruzan, labour migration, Guest Workers (Gastarbeiter), migrant children, Germany

Füruzan’ın Almanya Sonrası Eserlerinde Emek Göçünün Sınırında Çocuklar

Abstract

Roman ve öykü yazarı Füruzan 1975 yılında Alman Akademik Değişim Servisi’nin (DAAD) davetlisi olarak Batı Berlin’e geldi ve 1980 yılına kadarki beş yıl boyunca Berlin’e ziyaretlerde bulundu. Bu seyahatlerinden sonra deneyimlerini ve gözlemlerini içeren eserleri Yeni Konuklar (1977) ve Ev sahipleri (1981), çocuk kitabı Vom rotgesprenkelten Spatzen (1980) ve romanı Berlin’in Nar Çiçeği’ni (1988) yayımladı. Almanya’da geçirdiği süre boyunca emek göçü ve sınıf meseleleri üzerine bölgeler üstü bir bakış açısı kazanan yazarın ürettiği eserler bu meseleleri Türkiye’deki okurlarına da tanıttı. Yeni Konuklar ve Ev sahipleri Almanya’ya emek göçüne dair yüklü miktarda veri sağlamakta, Vom rotgesprenkelten Spatzen ve Berlin’in Nar Çiçeği ise emek göçü nedeniyle iki tarafta da oluşan büyük kültürel dönüşümlere dair incelikli değerlendirmeler sunmaktadır. Bu makale Füruzan’ın 1970’lerde Almanya’da geçirdiği zamandan sonra ürettiği eserleri ele almakta ve yazarın küresel işçi hareketliliği meselelerinde daha önceden çalışılmamış bir malzeme olarak çocukların bakış açılarını ne şekilde sunduğunu tartışmaktadır. Makale, göçmen çocukların yaşadığı ama dikkatlerden kaçan zorluklara odaklanarak onların bu deneyimlerinin toplumsal ve kültürel entegrasyona dair nasıl daha karmaşık bir gerçekliği açığa çıkardığını incelemektedir. Ayrıca göçmen çocukların farklı şekillerde olsa da kendileri gibi ötekileştirilmiş olan yaşlı Almanlarla kurdukları ilişkiler aracılığıyla özgün bir entegrasyon potansiyeline sahip olduklarını ileri sürmektedir.

Keywords

Füruzan, işçi göçü, konuk işçiler (Gastarbeiter), göçmen çocuklar, Almanya

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