There, you can read that Eric studied in Germany and wrote several books in German. Both books and articles are based on solid research but are characterized by satire and absurdities. Eric's credo: No one understands the Germans less than the Germans themselves. My job is to hold a mirror up to them, where he likes to be provocative.
Here is an example translated from the German original: The [right-leaning] Bild-Zeitung is Germany's only working-class newspaper. In a country that counts Karl Marx among its national heroes, there should be a serious effort to establish a left-leaning workers' newspaper. Nope. In Germany, left-oriented newspapers are exclusively and consciously written for the educated upper class. Already in sentences of the Berlin newspaper taz overflowing with intellectual and nearly desperately exaggerated grammar, one feels a deep-seated contempt for those without a college degree.
Thirteen months ago, I continued my blog with the following explanatory text, which remains valid today: The European Union and the United States are working on a trade agreement called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). There is a lot of fear in Germany that we will be Americanized by eating chicken imported from the States, treated with chlorine instead of consuming European bio (organic) poultry full of salmonella.
Eric, however, fears that TTIP will result in just the opposite, i.e., the Germanization of the States, when he writes: We Americans buy any shit of European origin, whereas Germany is the most challenging market in the world.
There are fewer than 2,000 hamburger restaurants in Germany (McDonald's and Burger King combined), but there are 3,500 Chinese restaurants and 12,000 Döner places. KFC has only 120 chain stores, and Wendy's withdrew from the German market following massive investments in the 1980s. In fact, downtown Burger King threw in the towel in Freiburg more than 18 months ago. So will the Döner really invade the States?
Fast food may not be the best indicator of market interpenetration. Still, Eric noted with some bitterness that America's most prominent publisher, Random House, is now part of the Bertelsmann Group.
Last year, Eric T's articles in Die Zeit abruptly stopped, so I had nearly forgotten about the text when suddenly Hansen's name appeared on an invitation to Freiburg's Carl-Schurz-Haus:
I went to the café early, thinking the small place would be crowded. However, five minutes before eight, only about twenty people had arrived. Following an introduction by the Director of the Carl-Schurz-Haus, Friederike Schulte, Eric began his self-portrait by telling the audience how he had grown up as a Mormon, including his missionary efforts in Germany.
At the age of 29, he broke with his religion. This self-confident American gave a reason for his decision to leave The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: it had hampered his personality development. This statement was difficult for me to digest.
Since there is no longer a God, Eric is afraid of a black hole after death, a hole that makes life meaningless for him. Neither atheist nor agnostic, he lives in the hope of a dream that, in the transience of life, the personality of a person will survive. An exciting view of the Seinsfrage (question of existence) that Eric draws from the basics of Mormonism, and that he, once a missionary, always a missionary, enthusiastically supports.
Note: When faith fails, hope hops in.
Here is an example translated from the German original: The [right-leaning] Bild-Zeitung is Germany's only working-class newspaper. In a country that counts Karl Marx among its national heroes, there should be a serious effort to establish a left-leaning workers' newspaper. Nope. In Germany, left-oriented newspapers are exclusively and consciously written for the educated upper class. Already in sentences of the Berlin newspaper taz overflowing with intellectual and nearly desperately exaggerated grammar, one feels a deep-seated contempt for those without a college degree.
Thirteen months ago, I continued my blog with the following explanatory text, which remains valid today: The European Union and the United States are working on a trade agreement called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). There is a lot of fear in Germany that we will be Americanized by eating chicken imported from the States, treated with chlorine instead of consuming European bio (organic) poultry full of salmonella.
Eric, however, fears that TTIP will result in just the opposite, i.e., the Germanization of the States, when he writes: We Americans buy any shit of European origin, whereas Germany is the most challenging market in the world.
There are fewer than 2,000 hamburger restaurants in Germany (McDonald's and Burger King combined), but there are 3,500 Chinese restaurants and 12,000 Döner places. KFC has only 120 chain stores, and Wendy's withdrew from the German market following massive investments in the 1980s. In fact, downtown Burger King threw in the towel in Freiburg more than 18 months ago. So will the Döner really invade the States?
Fast food may not be the best indicator of market interpenetration. Still, Eric noted with some bitterness that America's most prominent publisher, Random House, is now part of the Bertelsmann Group.
Last year, Eric T's articles in Die Zeit abruptly stopped, so I had nearly forgotten about the text when suddenly Hansen's name appeared on an invitation to Freiburg's Carl-Schurz-Haus:
November 24, at the Café artjamming, Eric T. Hansen will speak:
about: me - Die Mormonen & Ich (The Mormons and me).
I went to the café early, thinking the small place would be crowded. However, five minutes before eight, only about twenty people had arrived. Following an introduction by the Director of the Carl-Schurz-Haus, Friederike Schulte, Eric began his self-portrait by telling the audience how he had grown up as a Mormon, including his missionary efforts in Germany.
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| Eric at the Café artjamming on November 24, 2015. |
Since there is no longer a God, Eric is afraid of a black hole after death, a hole that makes life meaningless for him. Neither atheist nor agnostic, he lives in the hope of a dream that, in the transience of life, the personality of a person will survive. An exciting view of the Seinsfrage (question of existence) that Eric draws from the basics of Mormonism, and that he, once a missionary, always a missionary, enthusiastically supports.
Note: When faith fails, hope hops in.
**
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