Una vida en dos mundos

When I arrived at the Goethe Institut, the reading had ended, but the question-and-answer session was still going on. Hatice Akyün, German author and journalist of Turkish origins, was reading from her new book, Einmal Hans mit scharfer Soße: Leben in zwei Welten, which means, One Hans with Hot Sauce: Living in Two Worlds. The title needs a little explanation, which I will get to shortly. But I entered the reading room in the majestic Back Bay building that houses the Boston Goethe Institute, and I saw a room full of people, maybe between 40 and 60 in total, sitting in attention, as Ms. Akyün answered a question. Both questions and answers were in German, and I was able to follow a surprising amount. As she spoke, with such clarity, confidence, and good humor, I became nervous, and felt my adrenaline rushing, because I knew, that by the time she was done here, I would buy her book, and go talk to her.

And so I did. I am easily starstruck. Especially by writers. Und besonders wann sie eine Autorin ist, die so hübsch und intelligent wie Ms. Akyün ist, und wann sie mit mir auf Deutsch spricht!

Pues para mi el mundo se me hizo mucho mas pequeño aquella noche. Que yo, un inmigrante del Ecuador, viviendo en los Estados Unidos, esté hablando con una turka-alemana en ingles y en aleman, descrubiendo que tanto en comun tenemos por vivir entre dos mundos muy distintos (Ecuador/EEUU y Turkia/Alemania), para mi me parecio una maravilla, e indica lo tanto comun que tenemos todos los seres humanos, especialmente hoy en dia.

The title of the book is a reference to the stereotype that exists in Turkey that all Germans are named Hans or Helga. And when Ms. Akyün travels to Turkey, she is frequently asked, "Where is your Hans?", or "Why aren't you married yet (to a German)?". One of the cultural divides between people like Ms. Akyün is a lack of understanding on her Turkish side of friends and family of why a woman would forgo marriage and children for a career that pays little and requires lots of time (journalism). This and more she gets into in the book. And from what I've read so far, it is very funny and fascinating. I do hope an English translation becomes available soon.

When we wrapped up our brief but memorable conversation, Ms. Akyün wrote in my book, appropriately, in German and Turkish:

Für Marcelo,

Güzel günlerde okuyun

Hatice Akyün
Boston, 27.04.07

UPDATE
A thought-provoking piece on Germans of Turkish stock in this week's New York Times Magazine. The article lingers heavily in Duisburg, the same very Turkish German city where Ms. Akyün grew up.