From Patriarchal Stereotypes to Matriarchal Pleasures of Hybridity: Representation of a Muslim Family in Berlin

Sinan Cetin's blockbuster Berlin in Berlin (1993) is a Turkish-German co-production. In contrast to certain representational tendencies with German orientalism or Turkish occidentalism, it deconstructs the intersectional structures of migration, religion, and gender. The portrayal of religion in films about Turkish-German labour migration is a kind of cultural narcissism often projected into national cinema by denigrating the faith of the other and glorifying one's own religion. However, perspectives at such intersections are critical and require sensitivity in filmmaking, as films can create prejudice or help build peaceful relationships around these sensitive issues. The paper employs discourse analysis in linking Derrida's and some Islamic philosophers' notions of hospitality with characteristics of feminine societies. According to findings, the co-production deconstructs -reductive and stereotypical- traditionalist or, conversely, modernist representations in certain Turkish and German films. Berlin in Berlin features a heterogeneous and integrative portrayal of a matriarchal Muslim family with religious-ethnical practices and customs. Keywords Migration, Matriarchy, Religion, Hospitality, Gender