Page - 90 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/01

90 | Verena Eberhardt www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/1, 81–99 lar group, on the one hand, and to form the sense of belonging to the community, on the other.24 Traditions and customs as well as ma- terial culture keep communities to- gether. This analysis focuses on cultur- al semantics with regard to language, tradition, clothing and interior design. Language and lettering are impor- tant factors in the construction of cul- tural difference between own identi- ties and foreign identities. The short story “Mwangaza und die Geschichte mit dem Zahn” was written in German and complemented with sentences in Kiswahili to represent the Tanza- nian background: “‘Sala ya Watoto wadogo, Mungu mwema nijalie…’ This is Tanzanian language and means that God may bless the children.”25 A character in “Bilal und die Blüten des Korans” states, “Bilal speaks German very well. His parents were born in Ger- many and attended school there.”26 Bilal, a third-generation descendant of immigrants, is of course able to speak German fluently. The mention of his ability is deployed to mark otherness. Similarly, the illustration of writing sys- tems represents cultural difference. Emma, a character in “Lili und das chinesische Frühlingsfest”, calls Chinese let- ters “strange signs” (fig. 9).27 The author of “Huda bekommt ein Brüderchen” uses Arabic letters and explains, “أنا هدى” means “I am Huda” (fig. 10).28 In both text and illustration, traditions and customs are strongly linked with otherness. The characters describe their activities in detail, which leads us to as- 24 Croitoru 2013, 28. 25 Ngonyani 2016, n. pag. 26 Zöller 2006, 87. 27 Yu Dembski 2016, n. pag. 28 Taufiq 2016, n. pag. Fig. 9: Emma perceives Chinese letters as “strange signs” in Yu-Dembski/Leberer (illust.), Lili und das chinesische Frühlingsfest (n. pag.) © Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2011. Fig. 10: Arabic language and lettering in Taufiq/ Spanjardt (illust.), Huda bekommt ein Brüder­ chen (n. pag.) © Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Ham- burg 2011.