Viktoria Lühr

IRTG Diversity University of Trier DM 243 |
|
Phone | +49 651 201 4921 |
viktoria.luehr@uni-saarland.de |
Dissertation
Kulturelle Diversität im Spannungsfeld zwischen Globalisierung und (Re-)Nationalisierung.
Eine Diskursanalyse von Presse und Sozialen Medien in Deutschland, Frankreich und Québec (2015-2019)
(Supervisors: Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Saarland / Reiner Marcowitz, Metz
Mentoring: Laurence McFalls, Montréal)
The notion of cultural diversity is at the heart of contemporary socio-political issues in Western societies between, on the one hand, an ever-increasing globalization and, on the other hand, the resurgence of nationalist discourses. The phase between 2015 and 2019 marks a decisive turning point in the discourse on diversity in Western societies diverging between the maximalist ideal of a pluralist and egalitarian citizenship without ethno-cultural limitations and the retreat into a national society perceived as homogeneous marked by the legacy of the 19th and 20th centuries. The controversy focuses on the compatibility of cultural diversity and national unity, and debates how to construct a model of society that both accepts, values, and helps diversity to flourish and that ensures the integrative framework of the majority society as well as the maintenance of the cultural heritage.
With a critical discourse analysis approach, this thesis investigates the negotiation of cultural diversity in three Western societies. Contrary to the binary vision of the discourse on diversity that marks the scientific literature, this thesis proposes an analysis of the different positions taken by the discourse participants. Stipulating that the discourse cannot be reduced to the simple polarization between supporters of a pluralist openness on the one hand and exclusionary actors on the other, I seek to point out the different approaches that participants in the discourse present in order to manage the pluralist society. To do so, this thesis focuses on parliamentary debates on cultural diversity in three different Western nations - France, Germany and Quebec - in a phase of continuous cultural heterogenization, namely between 2015 and 2019, where the discourse evolves significantly from its previous development. National parliaments, as the elected representation of citizens, function as mediators between society and government: they not only exercise their legislative function in the areas of immigration and integration policy, combating discrimination and extremism, and securing and maintaining social cohesion, but they also comment on ongoing sociopolitical developments. Therefore, the analysis of the parliamentary debates allows for an examination of the diversity of opinion offered by the discourse on cultural diversity that marks politics between 2015 and 2019.
The questions that guide the analysis of the sociopolitical discourse on cultural diversity refer to three levels: the micro-analysis focuses on the content of the parliamentarians' statements, their conceptualizations of cultural diversity and their linking of different terms in a discursive field. This analysis distinguishes not only the ideologies influencing the different attitudes, but also the justification of these positions. The meso-analysis considers the transfer of the concept to the political management of cultural diversity. In all three nations, most parliamentarians refer to assimilationist, integrative, multi- or intercultural models of integration. Moreover, the different forms of cultural diversity impose new motives in the debates of national parliaments between 2015 and 2019. The macro-analysis finally integrates the corpus of debates in the global evolution of the discourses on diversity firstly in the broader framework of society, which includes notably the discourse of the press, and secondly in its evolution since the 1990s. The comparative approach not only helps to point out national particularities of the different discourses in continuity with their evolution since 1990. It also allows alluding to the convergences and divergences of the discourses on diversity on a more global scale and thus opens a perspective for the future development of diversity management in Western societies.
Eine Diskursanalyse von Presse und Sozialen Medien in Deutschland, Frankreich und Québec (2015-2019)
(Supervisors: Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Saarland / Reiner Marcowitz, Metz
Mentoring: Laurence McFalls, Montréal)
The notion of cultural diversity is at the heart of contemporary socio-political issues in Western societies between, on the one hand, an ever-increasing globalization and, on the other hand, the resurgence of nationalist discourses. The phase between 2015 and 2019 marks a decisive turning point in the discourse on diversity in Western societies diverging between the maximalist ideal of a pluralist and egalitarian citizenship without ethno-cultural limitations and the retreat into a national society perceived as homogeneous marked by the legacy of the 19th and 20th centuries. The controversy focuses on the compatibility of cultural diversity and national unity, and debates how to construct a model of society that both accepts, values, and helps diversity to flourish and that ensures the integrative framework of the majority society as well as the maintenance of the cultural heritage.
With a critical discourse analysis approach, this thesis investigates the negotiation of cultural diversity in three Western societies. Contrary to the binary vision of the discourse on diversity that marks the scientific literature, this thesis proposes an analysis of the different positions taken by the discourse participants. Stipulating that the discourse cannot be reduced to the simple polarization between supporters of a pluralist openness on the one hand and exclusionary actors on the other, I seek to point out the different approaches that participants in the discourse present in order to manage the pluralist society. To do so, this thesis focuses on parliamentary debates on cultural diversity in three different Western nations - France, Germany and Quebec - in a phase of continuous cultural heterogenization, namely between 2015 and 2019, where the discourse evolves significantly from its previous development. National parliaments, as the elected representation of citizens, function as mediators between society and government: they not only exercise their legislative function in the areas of immigration and integration policy, combating discrimination and extremism, and securing and maintaining social cohesion, but they also comment on ongoing sociopolitical developments. Therefore, the analysis of the parliamentary debates allows for an examination of the diversity of opinion offered by the discourse on cultural diversity that marks politics between 2015 and 2019.
The questions that guide the analysis of the sociopolitical discourse on cultural diversity refer to three levels: the micro-analysis focuses on the content of the parliamentarians' statements, their conceptualizations of cultural diversity and their linking of different terms in a discursive field. This analysis distinguishes not only the ideologies influencing the different attitudes, but also the justification of these positions. The meso-analysis considers the transfer of the concept to the political management of cultural diversity. In all three nations, most parliamentarians refer to assimilationist, integrative, multi- or intercultural models of integration. Moreover, the different forms of cultural diversity impose new motives in the debates of national parliaments between 2015 and 2019. The macro-analysis finally integrates the corpus of debates in the global evolution of the discourses on diversity firstly in the broader framework of society, which includes notably the discourse of the press, and secondly in its evolution since the 1990s. The comparative approach not only helps to point out national particularities of the different discourses in continuity with their evolution since 1990. It also allows alluding to the convergences and divergences of the discourses on diversity on a more global scale and thus opens a perspective for the future development of diversity management in Western societies.
Education
Since 2019
Doctoral Candidate at IRTG Diversity
Since 05/2018
PhD student in the binational PhD track (Cotutelle) "Interkulturalität in Literaturen, Medien und Organisationen" at the University of Saarland and the Université de Lorraine
09/2015 - 11/2017
MA student in the binational PhD track "Interkulturalität in Literaturen, Medien und Organisationen" at Saarland University and the University of Lorraine
09/2015 - 11/2017
Trinational Master's Degree Course "Deutsch-französische Studien: Grenzüberschreitende Kommunikation und Kooperation" at the Universities of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg
08/2013 - 02/2014
Erasmus semester abroad at the Universidade do Porto (Portugal)
10/2011 - 03/2015
Bachelor's degree in "Romanistik" (French and Portuguese Literature and Linguistics) and "Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft" at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Work Experience
Since 04/2019
Research assistant in the IRTG Diversity Research Training Group and in the senior professorship of Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Saarland University
11/2016 - 03/2019
Research assistant of Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, since 2018 senior professor at the Chair of Romance Cultural Studies and Intercultural Communication, Saarland University
03/2017 / 08/2017 - 09/2017
Research Assistant at the International Research Training Group IRTG Diversity, Saarland University
09/2016 - 07/2018
Freelancer at the International Research Training Group IRTG Diversity, Université de Montréal
04/2016 - 07/2016
Intern at the International Research Training Group IRTG Diversity, Université de Montréal
11/2014 - 03/2015
Student assistant of Prof. Dr. Christine Ott at the Institute for Romance Languages and Literatures, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
07/2014 - 09/2014
Trainee at the Institute for German Language Mannheim, Department: Grammar
Awards and Fellowships
2018 - 2022
Scholarship for the Franco-German Cotutelle de thèse by the Franco-German University
2017 - 2021
Mobility scholarship from the Franco-German University within the framework of the binational PhD track "Interkulturalität in Literaturen, Medien und Organisationen"
2014 - 2016
Mobility scholarship from the Franco-German University within the framework of the trinational Master's programme "Deutsch-französische Studien: Grenzüberschreitende Kommunikation und Kooperation"
Publications
2022
(co-edited with Charlotte Kaiser/Ouennassa Khiari) Temporalities of Diversity – Temporalités de la diversité – Zeitlichkeiten der Vielfalt. Diversity / Diversité / Diversität Vol. 6 (Münster: Waxmann).
2022
(co-authored with Charlotte Kaiser/Ouennassa Khiari) "Introduction", in: Charlotte Kaiser/Ouennassa Khiari/Viktoria Sophie Lühr (eds.), Temporalities of Diversity - Temporalités de la diversité - Zeitlichkeiten der Vielfalt. Diversity / Diversité / Diversität Vol. 6 (Münster: Waxmann), 7-16.
2022
(Podcast with Laurence McFalls in conservation with Frank Bösch) "Historische Ereignisse, Zeitenwenden und Vielfalt der Temporalitäten", in: Charlotte Kaiser/Ouennassa Khiari/Viktoria Sophie Lühr (eds.), Temporalities of Diversity - Temporalités de la diversité - Zeitlichkeiten der Vielfalt (Münster: Waxmann), https://irtg-diversity.com/index.php?page=video&article=441
2021
(co-autored with Jasmin Berger/Carla Dalbeck/Marie Luise Leppla-Weber) "[Konferenzbericht] Demokratiekritik, Autoritarismen und Populismen in Europa: Kontinuitäten und Brüche von der Zwischenkriegszeit bis heute" / « [Compte rendu de la Journée d’étude] Critiques de la démocratie, autoritarismes, populismes : quelles continuités et ruptures entre l’entre-deux-guerres et aujourd’hui », DHIP 14-15.03.2019, https://ciera.hypotheses.org/1128
2019
"Non-communication interculturelle. La langue en tant que barrière culturelle dans l’œuvre de Leïla Sebbar", in: Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink/Sarga Moussa (eds.): Dialogues interculturels à l’époque coloniale et postcoloniale. Représentations littéraires et culturelles. Orient, Maghreb et Afrique Occidentale (de 1830 à nos jours) (Paris: Kimé), 359-376.
Conference Presentations
06/2022
Kulturelle Vielfalt in der Krise – Ein Vergleich der deutschen und französischen Aushandlung von Diversität zwischen 2015 und 2019
Journées Doctorales du Grand Est, Université de Lorraine (Metz), France
05/2022
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Representations and Interpretations of Interculturalism in Québécois Cinema
Maple Leaf & Eagle Conference 2022, University of Helsinki, Finland
04/2020
Organisation und Moderation des zweitägigen Workshops « Angewandte Diskursanalyse. Theoretische Grundlagen und aktuelle Herausforderungen » (koorg. mit Charlotte Kaiser), Universität des Saarlandes
07/2019
Komparatistik als „Quell der Innovation“? Aushandlung kultureller Diversität im soziopolitischen Diskurs Québecs, Deutschlands und Frankreichs zwischen 2015 und 2019
Grenzüberschreitende Doktorand/innenschule in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften, « LOGOS 2019: Innovation et coopération », Universität Luxemburg, organisiert von Christoph Brüll, Jeanne E. Glesener, Sonja Kmec, Christian Wille (Luxemburg)
03/2019
Le populisme d’hier et d’aujourd'hui à travers l’exemple de la diversité culturelle: l’interaction du nationalisme, de la critique de la mondialisation et de l’othering culturel en Allemagne et en France
Workshop « Critiques de la démocratie, autoritarismes, populismes en Europe : quelles continuités et ruptures entre l’entre-deux-guerres et aujourd’hui », Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris, organisiert von Zoé Kergomard (Paris)
11/2017
Non-communication interculturelle – La langue en tant que barrière culturelle dans l’oeuvre de Leïla Sebbar
Internationales Kolloquium « Dialogues interculturels à l’époque coloniale et postcoloniale. Représentations littéraires et culturelles – Orient, Maghreb et Afrique Occidentale », Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris, organisiert von Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink (Universität des Saarlandes) und Sarga Moussa (CNRS-Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
07/2017
Présentation de la banque de données (en voie de constitution) sur l’intertextualité et l’intermédialité des littératures sénégalaise (zus. mit Diouma Faye, Université Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar)
Internationales Kolloquium « Cultures médiatiques globalisées et littératures sénégalaises. Dimensions intermédiatiques de l’époque coloniale à la postmodernité », Universität des Saarlandes, organisiert von Ibrahima Diagne (Université Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar) und Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink (Universität des Saarlandes)