Paper short abstract:

Images of Africa in German-language travelogues (in text and film) about Africa published in the last decade (2010s) are in the focus of this presentation. Especially the film "Anderswo - allein Afrika" (2018) by Anselm Pahnke will be analysed drawing on travel writing studies and mobility studies.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation I will examine images of Africa in German-language travelogues (in text and film) about Africa that were published in the last decade (2010s). The focus is on travelogues by authors who were only in their twenties during the trip and who are not professional journalists or travel writers. Their travelogues find a large audience not least because they are marketed and perceived as particularly "authentic". Even if the authors position themselves and their journeys as "different" in the sense of "progressive", the images of Africa that are passed on in them are often surprisingly stereotypical and not very diverse (cf. Sennefelder 2020). Africa thus seems to become a "playing field" for young Europeans who want to "find themselves" on the continent, and whose involvement with people and societies in the countries they travel through remains surprisingly superficial despite the length of their stays. This, I argue, is in particular valid for those travelling by bicycle, quite in contrast to their claims.

By taking the example of the film "Anderswo - allein Afrika" (“Elsewhere – alone in Africa”) (2018) by Anselm Nathanael Pahnke and his book “Von Anderswo und anderen Orten” ("On Elsewhere and Other Places") (2020), I will analyse in depth the numerous pitfalls of these travelogues from an African Studies perspective. Further, the analysis draws on concepts and approaches from travel writing studies and mobility studies.