We define “cultural borderland” as a space where two or more cultures and races/ethnicities occupy the
same territory. As such a cultural borderland is a political, social and psychological space without fixed
geographical borders. It is a space of resistance and liberation, a space that problematizes racial
differences and one that is defined by continuous change and ambiguities.
Choose one of the minority cultures in post-war Germany that we studied and discuss (May Aiyem Story)
and how discourses of race and racialization, and differences continue beyond 1945 and how they change
in postwar Germany. Provide example evidence across the sources we used to demonstrate how
members of one minority community responded to the dominant beliefs that “race thinking” and racial
distinctions had ended with the demise of the Nazi state.
While your essay should focus on one minority community, reflect on some similarities with and
differences to one other minority group we discussed in class. For example, what might members of the
Black People share with the Turkish minority? What are differences and/or similarities between the
experience of Germans of African descent and Turkish people returning to post-war Germany?
Sample Solution
