"Constructing a Diaspora. German Turks and the German-Jewish Narrative
Abstract:
This article examines how German Turks employ the German Jewish trope to establish an analogous discourse for their own diasporic position in German society. Drawing on the literature on immigrant incorporation, we argue that immigrants take more established minority groups as a model in their incorporation process. Here, we examine how German Turks formulate and enact their own incorporation into German society. They do that by using as a master narrative the socio-cultural repertoire of Germany’s principal minority, German Jewry. This is accomplished especially in relation to racism and anti-Semitism and as a political model in terms of making claims against the German state. Jews and Turks, moreover, take notice of each other’s position in German society and think in terms of triadic relations. In order to understand immigrant incorporation, it is not sufficient to look at state-immigrant relations only; we also need to look at immigrant groups’ relationships with other minority groups."
More:Constructing a Diaspora. German Turks and the German-Jewish Narrative.