Beschreibung
FAMILY MATTERS follows the traces of a German family that, over generations, continues to cross the Atlantic in both directions. Like Elizabeth and Henry who, at the beginning of the 20th century, are forced to leave their beloved New York to return to the old countr; the violinist Clara who can only live her passion for music in the American of the suffragettes; the war bride Toni, who courageously follows a G.I to Nebraksa after World War II; and, finally, the student Iris who is trying to find her place in both worlds in the 1980s. Looking back, they all ask the same question: "What if. ?" What if they had not gone to America, or back to the old country? If they had not fallen in love? What if they had taken that other road and pursued their dreams a bit more forcefully? FAMILY MATTERS takes ordinary, yet memorable characters out of the yellowed pictures in the photo albums, gives them a voice and places them in their own time. Martina J. Kohl revives the past. She shows that today cannot be understood without the yesterday. And that migration, uprooting and the search for belonging are universal themes.
Autorenportrait
Martina J. Kohl hat viele Jahre in der Kulturabteilung der amerikanischen Botschaft in Berlin Veranstaltungen konzipiert und organisiert. Ihre bevorzugten Programme waren dabei die Literaturveranstaltungen. Das Schreiben hat sie immer wieder seit ihrer Tätigkeit an der Univesity of Michigan in die Lehre einfließen lassen können. Sie unterrichtet regelmäßig in der Amerikanistik der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin und war Mitherausgeberin des American Studies Journal. Als Beiratsmitglied des Salzburg Global American Studies Program ist ihr der transatlantische Dialog weiterhin eine Herzensangelegenheit. Family Matters ist neben den akademischen Publikationen ihr erstes belletristisches Buch.
