"Do you have a tongue?" Language and transitions in Yoko Tawada's 'Überseezungen'

Abstract

Primarily in the field of literature in consequence of migration processes, the work of Y?ko Tawada is still a widely discussed and controversial topic, focusing on a very characteristic style of writing, which playfully morphs from German to Japanese and vice versa. In this sense, an approach to Tawada’s works would not be possible exclusively through grammatical or metaphorical elements, but also on the basis of the so-called migration literature and its relevance today. With this in mind, the present contribution attempts on one hand to present Y?ko Tawada’s place as an author of migration literature in the German context and on the other hand to give a general overview of the Japanese language, with the help of which Tawada bases her writing process. For this purpose, two texts from her essay volume Überseezungen (2002) were selected and analyzed as examples.