@article{Goerbert2020, author = {G{\"o}rbert, Johannes}, title = {Erinnerung an die Zukunft}, series = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r interkulturelle Germanistik}, volume = {11}, journal = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r interkulturelle Germanistik}, number = {2}, issn = {2198-0330}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:526-opus4-14082}, pages = {115 -- 128}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The following article investigates assessments of the Pacific Ocean as the ›sea of the future‹, following a Mediterranean past and an Atlantic present, and standing in a stark contrast to the ›exotic‹, marginalised view of its islands and shores. It analyses three German-language texts from the era of the Second World War: Egon Erwin Kisch's travelogue Secret China (China geheim, 1933), Vicki Baum's Hotel Shanghai (1939), and Alfred D{\"o}blin's short expository text The Golden Gate (Das Goldene Tor, 1946). Despite the many variations in their portrayals of wars and crises, migrations and acculturations, breakdowns and new beginnings around the Pacific Ocean, all three authors evaluate the challenge posed by the transpacific triangle evolving around China, Japan, and the US to Europe's self-postulated role as a leading continent. In that vein, they are (re-)activating a specific lieu de m{\´e}moire of a Pacific future in world affairs, in hopes of heightening transcultural self-understanding and self-positioning in times of crisis.}, language = {de} }