Poetic Alterity as an Element Triggering Interculturality in the Context of Yoko Tawada's Work Talisman

In contrast to the general assumption that intercultural literature is a literature that is operated or produced by writers who come from a different linguistic and thus cultural area, this article aims for a clearer definition. An attempt is made to determine what makes a literary product an intercultural work and what aspects it is based on. Once such a definition is established, the contribution goes to that of alterity. By defining the alterity as the alien or the other, its relation to literature is clarified and thereby the contribution arrives at a more specific alterity, namely the poetic one. This contribution will recognize that the literary text is also a text in itself, but one that is constituted by its otherness. Because it deviates from normal language usage by using various means. The analysis of the work Talisman by the Japanese author Yoko Tawada is based on this theoretical foundation. The intercultural element and the poetic alterity in this work are worked out through a variety of examples. From the perspective of a foreigner, seeing how attention is attracted to the peculiarities of the German language becomes interesting. Then the current study how the work, which can be described as intercultural, illuminates the own and ensures that it is better understood. This allows perception to be de-automated. What had been usual and common up to then is alienated, which leads to it being perceived more consciously. In addition to this inference, this study also comes to a further one that through this comprehending one gains a deeper understanding of and perception of the other.

Keywords:

interculturality, intercultural literature, poetic alterity, Yoko Tawada Talisman,

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