MULTICULTURAL CITIZENSHIP

According to Kymlicka, modern societies have minority groups that wants to be recognized by the majority groups of the societies. They want their identity and accomodation of their cultural differences. And it is called as challanges of“multiculturalism”.[1] Generally, many immigrants migrate to another countries with their families and they want to be integrated into the society and be accepted by the major groups at the society and be known as a member of the large society as the nation citizenships. [2] However, it can be a great issue at multicultural countries especially in Germany. The migrants can be seperated from the society and after seperation they cannot be integrated to the society. After not to be integrated to the society, they can be seperated. It becomes as a circulation.

In the film, “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul” (1974), there is an Arabic young migrant worker and there is a german old cleainingwoman. They love each other and they get marry. They meet at an Arabic pub where there is playing Arabic songs. When the old woman asks that which language of the songs is, the waitress of the pub says that, “This language Arabic. Also, we have german jukebox but they prefer Arabic songs to feel that they are home.” There ara many immigrant people in Germany as arabs, Turks and so on. They have thier own places to go and to do their cultural things as eating, drinking and having a fun. They have their own places so the cannot enter the society. This can be because of lack of language ability, however in the film, the old woman says to Ali, “You speak German pretty well.” Thus, the observer can understand that, Ali speaks German but he cannot enter the society. For case of Ali, he does not want to be accepted by the others because he just sees that Germans behave Arabs in a bad way. The integration problem have two sides, so it becomes a great

problem. Migrants cannot be integrated the society and the nation citizenships donot help them for the integration process.

According to Partridge, after the falling of the Berlin Wall that represents the freedom era. After that, transnational travel has started. This leads to new consumptions. At this period of time, noncitizens are incorporated into the nation-state just as compromised subjects.[3] In the film, “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul” (1974), Ali has seen as nude for two times. And German old woman says, “you are so beautiful.” On the other hand, young German waitress has some sexual interests for Ali. It is obvious that, Ali has an critical visual importance for the film. [4] There is critism however the relationships between nation citizenship women and noncitizenship men has been increased. At that period, some women writers of the left wing Frankfurt paper say that, “ some women search for the eroticism from the foreign Others.” [5] This type of attitudes of women make the men part of the society but not be integrated to the society. The women seem that they have interest for the culture of the noncitizens. Thus, these migrants behave as they are in their own country and apply try to apply their own culture to the new country. After that, they can not be integrated.

According to Immanuel Wallerstein, “the inclusiveness of citizenship was exclusion.” [6] In the film, when Ali goes to the market for buying margarine, the shop owner pretends as he does not understand Ali and he says that, “learn German, firstly.” However, Ali knows German to survive. Owner does not want to behave in a good way to him. Ali has german wife, he knows German and he is working in Germany however German shop owner does not wnat to serve him. If he serves him, he can earn on the other hand Ali feels better and he can be included easily. After, this bad manner, he does not feel himself good so he does not like Germans and it can be a porblem for integration. Last year, I was an Eramus Student in Hannover in Germany. I faced with these kind of things. I know a little bit German and mostly I prefered to speak English. On time, I was looking for an adress and on the street I asked many people for it. And one of the old woman asked me, “where do you come?” and I answered. She said me, “All Turks are like you. You come here and learn no German even a word and you are taking money from the government.” On the other hand, I had many friends at university and we talked about the old woman and my diaologue togehter. They said me that, she has right. Because of seeing these kind of Turkish people in Germany. My friends who have education says that “There is Turkish and Turkish” in German. It becomes as an idiom. That means there are types of Turkish people. Nowadays, the educated people have the ability understand to seperate people so they can behave based on this seperation.

The other example from my experiences in Germany is happedn with my German teacher. She was very young and she works at language course. She said to me, “I got shocked when I saw you. You speak perfect English. I had known Turkish people can know just Turkish because you have lack of education.” I understood her because at language course she know only women who comes from Turkey without any education. Some of them does not know even how to read and write but they must learn German to stay there. Some of the citizenship has prejudices about foreigners. In the film, the german women, the friends of Emmi say asked if he takes a shower or not. They say that, “I know, they do not have shower.” This can be an example for the prejudies about foreign people. These prejudices makes integration of the foreigner people much more difficult.

To sum up, multicultural citizenship is complex concept for both nation citizens and foreigners. Foreigner people should do all the things that they can do for well integration as learning culture of the nation, language, rules and so on. They should be aware that they are in another country, not at their homeland. They should not try to apply their own culture into there. Nation-citizens should be understandable for foreigners. They should not have prejudices about foreigners. In addition to these, they should not generalize all the foreigners. They should try to look foreigners not as a group, look just as an individual person. Multiculural citizenship is a problematic issue because of the both sides. It can be solved with mutual understanding. If migrant people and citizens of the country try to do their best, problems can be solved. First step should be walked by foreigners with learning the language as well as they can.

RESOURCES

[1] Kymlicka W., Multicultural Citizenship, 1995, Oxford, p. 10

[2] Kymlicka W., Multicultural Citizenship, 1995, Oxford, p. 11

[3] Partridge D., We were dancing in the club, not on the Belin Wall: Black bodies, street bureucrats, and exclusionary incorparation into the New Europe, University of Michigan, p. 660

[4] Partridge D., We were dancing in the club, not on the Belin Wall: Black bodies, street bureucrats, and exclusionary incorparation into the New Europe, University of Michigan, p. 662

[5] Partridge D., We were dancing in the club, not on the Belin Wall: Black bodies, street bureucrats, and exclusionary incorparation into the New Europe, University of Michigan, p. 662

[6] Wallerstein I., Citizens all? Citizens some! The making of citizen, Yale University, p. 651