TY - CHAP

T1 - An Animal-Centered Perspective on Colonial Oppression

T2 - Animal Representations and the Narrating Ox in Uwe Timm’s Morenga (1978)

AU - Röhrs, Steffen

N1 - Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Humanities

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - As a result of its topic and its narrative style, Uwe Timm’s novel Morenga (1978) marks an important step in the development of postcolonial German literature. The main theme of the book is the bloody suppression of the Herero and Nama uprisings through the German army in South-West Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. With recourse to historical and fictional documents and by using different narrative perspectives, the text achieves a plurality of voices and thereby destabilizes a one-dimensional view on colonialism. The present article discusses the functions of the nonhuman animals appearing in Morenga. It is assumed that the animal representations are an essential part of the plot and underscore the criticism of colonial rule in a narrative manner too. The novel contains several descriptions of suffering animals and links them to the harm of the Herero and the Nama in order to point out the ruthlessness of the colonists. Moreover, the book features a story-telling ox, which initiates a reflection process about possible ways of narrating colonial history. The talking ox adds a specific animal-centered perspective on colonial oppression and raises questions about emancipation, self-determination, and the agency of the nonhuman ‘other’.

AB - As a result of its topic and its narrative style, Uwe Timm’s novel Morenga (1978) marks an important step in the development of postcolonial German literature. The main theme of the book is the bloody suppression of the Herero and Nama uprisings through the German army in South-West Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. With recourse to historical and fictional documents and by using different narrative perspectives, the text achieves a plurality of voices and thereby destabilizes a one-dimensional view on colonialism. The present article discusses the functions of the nonhuman animals appearing in Morenga. It is assumed that the animal representations are an essential part of the plot and underscore the criticism of colonial rule in a narrative manner too. The novel contains several descriptions of suffering animals and links them to the harm of the Herero and the Nama in order to point out the ruthlessness of the colonists. Moreover, the book features a story-telling ox, which initiates a reflection process about possible ways of narrating colonial history. The talking ox adds a specific animal-centered perspective on colonial oppression and raises questions about emancipation, self-determination, and the agency of the nonhuman ‘other’.

KW - Uwe Timm

KW - Morenga

KW - African history

KW - colonialism

KW - postcolonial German literature

KW - animal narratology

KW - speaking animals

KW - multi-perspective narration

KW - animal agency

UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-03928-349-1

M3 - Contribution to book/anthology

SN - 978-3-03928-348-4

SP - 307

EP - 319

BT - Animal Narratology

A2 - Jacobs, Joela

PB - MDPI AG

CY - Basel

ER -