Learning Deutsch - Hatje Cantz

A white paperback book titled LEARNING DEUTSCH by Mazen Kerbaj, shown at an angle on a white background. The cover features a cartoon illustration of a person in a green shirt with a cone on their head, alongside a yellow sticker that reads 365 German words.

The back cover of a vertically oriented, off-white paperback book against a plain white background. The cover features descriptive text in English, German, and Arabic, with a barcode at the bottom.

An open zine with two hand-drawn illustrations on facing pages. The left page shows a man's head with his brain exposed, a red line pointing to it with the label 4GB, illustrating the term memory card. The right page shows an abstract portrait inside a picture frame, illustrating the word frame. Both pages feature the terms in English, German, and Arabic.

An open book on a white background displays a two-page spread. The left page shows a connect-the-dots puzzle of a face. The right page shows a colored drawing of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, with his iconic red and blue lightning bolt makeup. The left page is labeled with the word puzzle in English, German, and Arabic, and the right page is labeled with the word famous in the same languages.

An open book against a white background, showing a two-page spread with illustrations. The left page has a cartoon of a reclining merman with a blue tail, labeled with the word mermaid in English, German, and Arabic. The right page features a line drawing of a hand ordering one last drink at a table of empty glasses, illustrating the word nightcap in the same three languages.

A black and white ink drawing of a stylized, anxious man's face with a large nose and one wide eye, seen through a dark, circular frame resembling a peephole. The image is surrounded by text labeling it as peephole in English, Arabic (ثقب الباب), and German ((das) Guckloch), with 01/01 at the top.

A two-panel, side-by-side image illustrating concepts in English, German, and Arabic. The left panel, dated 15/02, displays a halftone portrait of a man to represent halftone printing. The right panel, dated 16/02, shows two wide-open eyes peering out of a fuzzy black rectangle to represent insomnia.

A two-panel watercolor illustration. The left panel, dated 15/03, shows a figure resembling Queen Elizabeth II but with a mustache, dressed in a pink coat and hat. This is labeled royal family in English, German, and Arabic. The right panel, dated 16/03, shows a cartoon man resembling Tintin with a beard, next to his white dog Snowy who holds a bone. This is labeled hero in the same three languages.

A two-panel, black-and-white line drawing. The left panel, dated 23/03, shows a box with neatly organized disembodied facial features—eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth. This is captioned with the phrase to tidy up in English, German, and Arabic. The right panel, dated 24/03, shows a cartoon head with very large, alert ears. This is captioned with the phrase to listen in the same three languages.

A page from an illustrated dictionary with two entries side-by-side. On the left, dated 22/04, is a black and white line drawing of a bicycle. It is labeled as means of transport in English, (das) Transportmittel in German, and with Arabic text. On the right, dated 23/04, is a colored drawing of a round green bottle with a cork, labeled Absinthe 76%. This is labeled as magic potion in English, (der) Zaubertrank in German, and with Arabic text.

A two-panel black and white line drawing with text in English, German, and Arabic. The left panel, dated 26/04 and labeled toad, shows a man wearing a crown and a sign that reads KISS ME. The right panel, dated 27/04 and labeled story within a story, shows an open book depicting the man from the first panel on one page and a drawing of another book on the opposite page, creating a nested narrative effect.

A two-panel comic diary entry. The left panel, dated 28/04, shows a pencil portrait of a man and is labeled with the word erased in English, German, and Arabic. The right panel, dated 29/04, shows a cartoon of a drunk lightbulb character slurring OOONE... MMORE! while having a crazy idea, a concept labeled in English, German as (die) Schnapsidee, and Arabic.

A two-panel, black-and-white line drawing. The left panel, dated 16/05, shows a person passed out on a table with a bottle, surrounded by the words seemingly dead in English, scheintot in German, and its Arabic translation. The right panel, dated 17/05, shows a pyramid with two eye-like openings, surrounded by the word Egyptology in English, German, and Arabic.

A two-panel black-and-white comic strip. The left panel, labeled mother tongue, shows a thought bubble with Arabic script. The right panel, labeled pipe dream, depicts a man in a tuxedo accepting a Nobel Prize and saying, ...AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MY PARENTS WITHOUT WHOM... Each label is also translated into German and Arabic.

A two-panel page from an illustrated diary. The left panel, dated 17/07, is a watercolor of two large brown eyes floating like buoys in the blue sea. The right panel, dated 18/07, is a black-and-white line drawing of a sand bucket, shovel, and rake. Both images are labeled with the corresponding words in English, German, and Arabic.

A two-panel, black-and-white language learning illustration. The left panel shows a deck of cards labeled deck of cards in English, (das) Kartenspiel in German, and in Arabic. The right panel shows a hand holding a weak poker hand with a speech bubble saying I'M ALL IN!!!, illustrating the concept of bluffing, labeled with to bluff in English, bluffen in German, and in Arabic.

A two-panel, black and white illustration acting as a multilingual vocabulary lesson. On the left, labeled 03/10, a drawing of an open oyster shell reveals a cartoonish human face inside. On the right, labeled 04/10, a bouquet is composed of similar human faces instead of flowers. Both images are labeled in English, German, and Arabic as oyster and bouquet of flowers.

Learning Deutsch

Mazen Kerbaj

€ 20.00

VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout

Author: Mazen Kerbaj

Illustrated by: Mazen Kerbaj

April 2024, 384 Pages, 375 Ills.

Paperback

106mm x 140mm

ISBN: 978-3-7757-5638-9

HATJE CANTZ VERLAG
Mommsenstr. 27
10629 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: contact@hatjecantz.de

According to Article 9(7) of the GPSR Regulation, no additional security information is required for books without supplements or special functions.

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Learning the true essentials of the german language—From "Besserwisser" to "Schnapsidee"

After experimental musician and visual artist Mazen Kerbaj moved with his family from Beirut to Berlin, he found himself confronted with a new language, a new culture. He decided to learn German in his very own way: one new word per day, illustrated with a related self-portrait. The resulting 365 drawings are framed by Arabic, English and German words, making the book a language- learning tool—albeit an unconventional one—but also an open diary that lets us in the intimacy of the artist's day- to-day life. Day after day, word after word, we follow Mazen Kerbaj through his learning process, getting to know his family, his friends, his passions, his habits, and even his political opinions.
The drawings are often funny, but also sad and touching at times; they rarely simply illustrate the words, but rather answer them with Kerbaj's signature satirical counterpoints, ultimately reiterating the story of a Middle Eastern artist finding his way through the German language and its peculiarities.

Working in fields as varied as music, visual arts, comics or theater, MAZEN KERBAJ (*1975, Beirut) is one of the key figures of the post-civil war Lebanese artistic scene. His work has been published in more than ten languages and has been shown in galleries, museums and art fairs around the world.