Miriam Stein will discuss her book Berlin –Seoul –Berlin(2008), a literary memoir about a Korean-German adoptee’s first trip to her native South Korea since her birth there in the spring of 1977. Back in Korea, Miriamattempts to find traces of her biological family, as well as any remaining cultural roots with great support from Hye-YoonJung, a Korean artist living in Stuttgart, as well as fellow adoptees, liaisons and Korean women. Berlin –Seoul –Berlin tells the story of one woman’s quest for cultural identity against the bigger political picture.This is the historical background: After the Korean war, about 200,000 South Korean orphans were adopted into families acrossEurope and the United States. Up until the 1980s, there is little recorded information regarding the adoptees‘ birth families.  There is even a lack of data regarding birthdays and birthplaces at the Korean Archives, which transforms the first months of the adoptees‘ lives into blank spaces. In addition, most German families who adopted neithermaintaineda cultural relationship with the children’s birth countriesnor found a healthy way to address racial differences and racism. Germany considered itself “colorblind” which of course wasn’t true,as structural racism prevented and prevents People of Color from equal opportunities until today. Although Miriam never finds out any facts about the circumstances of her birth and first seven months, she finds solace in friendship and a fascinating, cross-cultural experience and research.

Miriam Yung Min Stein, born in South Korea in 1977, grew up in West Germany in a German Baptist family. She lived in New York, London, and Cologne before moving to Berlin in 2001. There, she did some short format directing before settling as a writer and journalist. She has been a lecturer at various German Universities and works full-time as a Features Director at Harper’s Bazaar Germany. Her latest book Das Fürchten verlernenwas published by Suhrkamp in 2016.

This event is part of Transcultural Approaches to Europe. For more information, contact Kye Terrasi, kterrasi@uw.edu