As part of the DDGC 2025 conference, “Interdependence and Solidarity Formations in German Studies and the Arts,” the organizers are hosting a reading group featuring Şeyda Kurt’s Hass and bell hooks’ All about Love.

The official descriptions for the books read:

Şeyda Kurt’s Hass: “Der Hass, dieses knirschende, zersetzende Gefühl, ist allgegenwärtig. Er brüllt von den Straßen oder flüstert in gutbürgerlicher Feindseligkeit. Er wächst in Parlamentsreden, Querköpfen und Kinderzimmern – und ganz bestimmt nicht im Verborgenen, auch wenn viele ihn gerne dorthin verdammen würden. Şeyda Kurt holt den Hass raus aus der Verbannung und begibt sich auf die Spuren seines widerständigen Potentials. Dabei interessieren sie vor allem die Menschen als Subjekte des Hasses in einer kapitalistischen, rassistischen und patriarchalen Welt. Wer sind sie, diese Hassenden, und aus welchen Machtverhältnissen kommen sie? Wer darf überhaupt hassen und wer nicht? Welche Gefühle lähmen, welche Gefühle helfen, nicht zu erstarren, und sich immer und immer weiter zu bewegen auf dem Weg in eine gerechtere und zärtliche Gesellschaft? Schonungslos, launig und jenseits selbstgerechter Entrüstung erkundet Şeyda Kurt den Hass von seiner schöpferischen Seite: als Kategorie der Ermächtigung, der Menschen in ihrem innersten Unbehagen abholen und mobilisieren kann, als widerständiges Handwerk – und nicht zuletzt als dienliches Gefühl, das uns hilft, uns in einem Ozean aus möglichen Reaktionen auf die Welt zurechtzufinden.”

bell hooks’ All About Love: “The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet we would all love better if we used it as a verb,” writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, renowned scholar, cultural critic and feminist bell hooks offers a proactive new ethic for a society bereft with lovelessness--not the lack of romance, but the lack of care, compassion, and unity. People are divided, she declares, by society’s failure to provide a model for learning to love. As bell hooks uses her incisive mind to explore the question “What is love?” her answers strike at both the mind and heart. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for individuals and for a nation. The Utne Reader declared bell hooks one of the ‘100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life.’ All About Love is a powerful, timely affirmation of just how profoundly her revelations can change hearts and minds for the better.”

With the conference topic “Interdependence and Solidarity Formations in German Studies and the Arts” in mind, we would like to discuss the following questions during the reading group meetings:

• What feelings does reading the two books evoke in us? How can we use these feelings for our research?

• What ideas about interdependence and solidarity do the two books articulate?

• Which of hooks’ and Kurt’s ideas can we apply to our work in the field and the arts? How?

The reading group will meet online. Each participant will find their own way to a copy of the book. These ought to be available through your institutional libraries, available for purchase through your independent bookstore, and in other venues. If you have a hard time finding a copy of the book, reach out to one of the organizers. Please note that the English translation of Şeyda Kurt’s Hass has not been published yet. Therefore, we will discuss the original text in German. 

The registration period for the group is over. If you would like to join us, reach out to the organizers via email.

Meeting Schedule

• Meeting 1 (discussion in German, Şeyda Kurt): March 11, 10am-12pm (PT, USA), 1pm-3pm (Eastern Time, USA) 6pm-8pm (Central European Time)

• Meeting 2 (discussion in English, bell hooks): April 7, 10am-12pm (PT, USA), 1pm-3pm (Eastern Time, USA) 6pm-8pm (Central European Time)
  

Organizer Contact

Ervin Malakaj (ervin.malakaj[at]ubc.ca)

Jeannette Oholi (jeannette.oholi[at]dartmouth.edu)