“The Right Blend” – Mischung, Überblendung und Identität in interkulturellen Kontexten

The contributions comprising the Festschrift are very much reflective not only of interdisciplinarity characterizing Arnd’s studies and subsequent scholarly activity but also of the core notion of ‘blending’ at the heart of Arnd’s work and this Festschrift. The first six contributions sit predominantly in the Literary/Cultural Studies field and address ‘blending’ of identities in cultural and intercultural contexts (with many focused on African experiences familiar to Arnd, who lived in Africa before coming to Ireland). The second six contributions are clearly located in the field of Applied Linguistics/Intercultural Studies, addressing ‘blending’ in terms of interculturality, multilingualism and teaching and learning. The final contribution of the volume is a personal reflective piece bridging the often perceived and structurally reinforced divide in academia between Literary/Cultural Studies and Applied Linguistics/Intercultural Studies, mapped onto the author’s shared experiences with Arnd in the Irish higher education system. By bringing together and ‘blending’ contributions across this traditional divide in language studies, the Festschrift is reflective of Arnd’s endeavours to support ‘blending’ across time and space in modern foreign language studies. As guest editor, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the editors of Germanistik in Ireland, Jürgen Barkhoff and Siobhán Donovan, without whose support this volume would not have been possible and whose efforts went above and beyond what would normally be expected of them in this role. An additional sincere note of thanks to my colleague Florian Krobb for his support in communicating with potential contributors internationally and his keen editorial eye. Given the secretive nature of the Festschrift, I would like to thank all colleagues and friends in German Studies and beyond for managing to keep the existence of the volume hidden in order to surprise Arnd. I know it would have been possible to draw on the enthusiasm of many more colleagues for this celebration of their long-standing friend, but given logistical reasons the outreach had to be limited.