Most recent articles by Claudia Kramatschek
-
Book review: Victoria Schneider's "Are you Charlie?"A deeply divided country
A very topical and important e-book entitled "Are you Charlie?" was published on 25 February. Its author, Victoria Schneider, offers her impressions of France after the "Charlie Hebdo" attack and paints a picture of a divided society. Claudia Kramatschek read the book
-
Interview with the Syrian writer Samar YazbekDivided society, divided souls
Samar Yazbek is a rebel. From an early age, she rose up against societal conventions, demanding her right to lead a free and self-determined life as a woman. When the revolution erupted in Syria in 2011, she was on the front lines of the struggle, but subsequently had to leave the country because of death threats. Claudia Kramatschek talked to her
-
Book review: "The Last Place" by Sherko FatahA book about intercultural misunderstandings
Just like his novel "The Dark Ship", Sherko Fatah's latest book is alarmingly topical: one of the characters, the kidnapper Abdul, stands for all the radical Islamists who mourn the bygone days of Mesopotamia and embrace a fundamentalist worldview. Claudia Kramatschek spoke to the author about his new novel
-
Interview with the philosopher Hélène Cixous"I don't regret attending the school that is Algeria"
The renowned philosopher and leading French feminist theoretician Hélène Cixous talks about her latest literary work, her lifelong friendship with the "father of deconstruction", Jacques Derrida, and her difficult relationship with Algeria. She is interviewed by Claudia Kramatschek
-
Book review: Zahra Ali's "Islamic Feminisms"Female emancipation based on the spirit of Sharia
In 2012, the French sociologist Zahra Ali published a book entitled "Féminismes islamiques" (Islamic Feminisms), a compilation of ground-breaking articles by female Muslim scholars and activists from around the world. It has just been published in German translation. Claudia Kramatschek read the book
-
Interview with Nadeem AslamShadows of the past
"The Blind Man's Garden" is the fourth novel to be published by the British–Pakistani author Nadeem Aslam. In this book, he returns to the days, weeks and months immediately following 9/11 and relates them from the perspective of a Pakistani family that is subsequently drawn into the ensuing war in Afghanistan. Claudia Kramatschek spoke to Aslam about his new novel
-
Interview with the Pakistani Writer Mohsin Hamid"The Markets Have Taken the Commons Over"
Mohsin Hamid's new novel tells the tale of a man's journey from impoverished rural boy to corporate tycoon. In this interview with Claudia Kramatschek, he talks about universality, his belief in the city, and how commodities like water have become an object of speculation
-
Shereen El Feki's ''Sex and the Citadel''Exploring a Sexual Minefield
Journalist Shereen El Feki feels that the taboo surrounding all subjects relating to sexuality in public discourse in the Arab world is not only an ideological deficit, but also dangerous, due to what she sees as a shocking lack of knowledge across the board. Claudia Kramatschek read her book
-
Book Review: Miltiades Oulios on deportation in GermanyThe Dark Side of a Cosmopolitan and Liberal Society
According to the Cologne-based journalist Miltiades Oulios, deportation only works in an environment of intransparency. With his recently published book, he seeks to shed some light on the obscurity of this subject. Claudia Kramatschek read the book
-
Abdellah Taïa's Novel ''The Day of the King''The Bitter Taste of Injustice
In his most recent novel, Le jour du Roi (The Day of the King), which has just been published in German translation, the Moroccan author Abdellah Taïa once again takes the reader back to the "leaden years", Morocco's dark days under the former ruler Hassan II. Claudia Kramatschek sends us this review
-
Interview with Mohammed HanifThe Joys and Struggles of Everyday Life
Mohammed Hanif's first novel, A case of exploding mangoes, was a critically acclaimed success. Claudia Kramatschek met the author and spoke to him about Pakistan, minorities and his most recent novel, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti
-
Tariq Ali: ''The Night of the Golden Butterfly''Shimmering Prose against the Clash of Civilisations
Tariq Ali has written a multi-faceted picaresque novel about Pakistan and the West. In "The Night of the Golden Butterfly", the Pakistani-British intellectual lays bare the cynical bigotries of both the western and the Muslim world, writes Claudia Kramatschek