Slap in the face (novel)
Face Slap is the fourth novel by Abbas Khider . It deals with the situation of asylum seekers in Germany and how young Iraqis got caught up in the mills of the German authorities between 2000 and 2002. Designed as a frame narrative in terms of form, there are a large number of internal narratives that the author stylistically settles on three different linguistic levels.
Khider worked on this work for four years; it was published in 2016 by Carl Hanser Verlag in Munich and is dedicated to "For ORFEAS".
content
| Title page | |
| Dedication (page 5) | |
| Author and title | |
| "Mute and rigid with fear ..." | |
| A pack of big cats chases a herd of gazelles ... | |
| "Three years and four months ..." | |
| "During my entire escape ..." | |
| "I lived in Bayreuth ..." | |
| "Right at the beginning of my stay ..." | |
| "Dear Ms. Schulz." | |
| Standing in front of the toilet bowl ... | |
| "Dear Ms. Schulz." | |
| "Two or three days ..." | |
| "Dear Ms. Schulz." | |
| "Compared to Bayreuth ..." | |
| "Some of us ..." | |
| "I remember exactly ..." | |
| "Ali wanted to meet a few days later ..." | |
| "Mrs Schulz. Excuse me, please..." | |
| I'm still lying on the sofa. | |
| "My language course in Germany ..." | |
| "You know, Ms. Schulz, ..." | |
| "Dear Ms. Schulz." | |
| “Karim Charab Allmanya! Wake up!" | |
The novel has no plot in the traditional sense, but consists of episodes on different levels. Four passages serve as a framework in which Karim, who is also the first-person narrator of all other passages, went into hiding with his friend Salim after his asylum recognition was withdrawn and plans to flee Germany.
The opening of the novel is about the farewell visit to Karim's clerk at the asylum authority. Karim says he tied her to the chair because he wanted someone to finally listen. Karim is about to look for a smuggler to bring him to Finland. "Frau Schulz" appears several times in the flow of the narrative as a direct form of address, becoming more and more common towards the end.
The numerous internal narratives are located on three different language levels. Karim speaks objectively about himself. Here he orientates himself on correct German. When he smoke weed (for example in A pack of big cats chasing a herd of gazelles ... ) the style is poetic, metaphorical and sometimes confused. When Karim talks about others, the thoughts get depth and the style is fluid.
Reviews
- Julia Encke: refugee novel. You get more and more stupid from waiting. The German-Iraqi writer Abbas Khider has written a novel about an asylum seeker. Again "the book of the hour"? Or a very good novel? , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , January 24, 2016
- Fatma Aydemir: Novel "Slap in the Face" by Abbas Khider. A clerk is tied up. His novel "Face Slap" revolves around the insanity in everyday life of an asylum seeker in Germany. An encounter with Abbas Khider , in: the daily newspaper , January 29, 2016
- Ursula March: Abbas Khider: "Slap in the face". The angry speech of a rejected asylum seeker , in: Deutschlandradio Kultur , January 30, 2016
- Carsten Hueck: Abbas Khider: Ohrfeige (Link to mp3 download), in: SWR2 Literatur, January 31, 2016 (available until: January 25, 2017, May 17)
- Renée Zucker: Abbas Khider: Slap in the Face , in: Inforadio , January 31, 2016
expenditure
- Slap in the face , Hanser, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-446-25054-3
- Slap in the face , radio play adaptation Julia Tieke with the author, director: Claudia Johanna Leist. With Omar El-Saeidi, u. a. (WDR) published by Audiobook Hamburg, 2016, ISBN 978-3-95713-042-6
advancement
The work on Slap in the Face was funded by a grant from the Berlin Senate .
Web links
- Slap. Abbas Khider. With an unmistakable voice, Abbas Khider questions the self-image of an open society: powerfully voiced, deeply sad and full of wit. , hanser-literaturverlage.de
- Press reviews or the latest press reviews , abbaskhider.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ The change from D-Mark to the euro is a topic, as is 9/11. , plus a certain lead time.
- ↑ a b Carsten Hueck: Abbas Khider: Ohrfeige (Link to mp3 download), in: SWR2 Literatur, January 31, 2016 (available until: January 25, 2017, May 17)
- ↑ Abbas Khider: Ohrfeige , Hanser, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-446-25054-3 , p. 5.
- ↑ Cover text on the back of the book