Daniela Dröscher: Sprechen – Eine Geschichte der Selbstermächtigung

"Sprechen" is the title of Daniela Dröscher’s new book. In it, the author tells a very personal story of self-empowerment—from a silent woman to one who speaks out in public. And she explores the question of how we should speak in order to truly understand one another.

For writer Daniela Dröscher, speaking was never a harmless means of communication. As the child of a newcomer to the Hunsrück region, caught between High German and a broad Palatinate dialect, speaking proved to be such a double-edged act of adaptation that she preferred to remain silent. Even later, outside of her private life, she long lacked the courage to stand by her own words; the fear of being perceived as an upstart or misunderstood was simply too great. With radical candor, she recounts her journey from a shy, silent woman to one who speaks publicly. In doing so, she reflects on whether the very willingness to be misunderstood might not be the actual prerequisite for true understanding and a productive social dialogue.

Featuring:

    Daniela Dröscher, writer and essayist
    Dr. Ole Meinefeld, Expert on Contemporary Analysis and Discourse Analysis, Heinrich Böll Foundation