Origin plus: How did "guest workers" and "contract workers" perceive the two German states? What role were they assigned?
Origin plus: How did "guest workers" and "contract workers" perceive the two German states? What role was intended for them, what role could they fight for, what role was denied to them? 22-year-old Nour comes to West Germany from Istanbul in the 1970s to work. She is one of the many motivated guest workers. While Nour wears a miniskirt and goes to the factory every day, many of the Upper Palatinate women in the village wear headscarves and are housewives. In "Die Optimistinnen", author Gün Tank tells the story of her mother's generation, a group of migrant women who came before the men, who fought for workers' rights, helped build the country and changed it.
André Kubiczek's novel "Nostalgia" tells of the life of his Laotian mother, who comes to the GDR in 1968 for love. But her new life in Potsdam, seemingly a socialist idyll, is difficult. Even perfect German is no match for the alienation she feels every day. André Kubiczek's perhaps most personal book is about his relationship with his mother, who tried to find a home in a foreign country. The result is a somewhat different picture of life in the GDR - from the perspective of a binational family.
Gün Tank is an author and presenter. "The Optimists. Roman unserer Mütter" is her debut novel.
André Kubiczek is the author of several novels. His most recent book is "Nostalgia", nominated for the German Book Prize 2024.
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