Kyung Lee Gagum (MSU Texas, USA) p.158-174
2023 Issue 2
Sondernummer zum Thema: DaF-Anfängerunterricht als Teil von Germanistik-Studiengängen – Ansätze, Motivation, Lernerfolge.
Abstract
This article proposes Mikael Ross’s novel Der Umfall (2018) as part of an inclusive curriculum in a German as a Foreign Language classroom that allows space for a general and non-threatening discussion of disability. Der Umfall, a graphic novel with fairy tale tropes, documents in word and image the protagonist Noel’s life-changing experiences and showcases a protagonist with a disability. Noel’s disability limits the vocalization of his emotions, since his physical experiences in the real world contradict how he mentally processes the transformation of his living arrangements. His consistent and safe world vanishes when his mother suffers a head injury that results in a coma. Despite his inability to communicate verbally how he interprets the alterations to his previously stable environment; readers gain insight into his mental state through the novel’s visual juxtaposition of real-life events and his mental interpretation of how he comes to terms with the changes to his life. The dialogic images, and not just the printed words, are essential to deciphering the narration. This visual support makes this graphic novel accessible to learners of German at the beginner’s level, who otherwise could not process a topic as complex and challenging as disability.