The Invasion of German in Rob Salzig's Systemfehler Novels

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the construction of the invasion narrative in Rob Salzig’s two-parter Systemfehler that was published in 2016 after the height of the “migration crisis.” The theoretical framework consists of concepts that deal with the construction of the “other” and the “self” by Edward Said, Sarah Ahmed, Sara Farris, Ottfried Schäffter and Benedict Anderson. The enquiry reveals that xenophobic depictions of immigrants generate the idea of a collective danger coming from culturally inferior opposites to Germans. Dirt, misogyny, crime and fundamentalist Islamism become readable as the inevitable consequence of an ever-increasing mass of dark-skinned immigrants overtaking Germany. This narrative supports the idea that a liberal-leftist elite is the cause of the invasion by migrants, representing a self-negating element. Representing oppression of Germans by alien elements such as the U.S. and migrants enabled by liberals enables Salzig to establish “true” Germanness according to the fight for sovereignty and cultural purity.