The research action had an impact on several fields within the humanities: On the one hand, it responded to the continuing demand for internationally oriented, comparative research in African American studies by investigating understudied aspects of the field. It goes beyond the state of the art in showing how writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Alain Locke, James Baldwin, Vincent O. Carter, John A. Williams or Paul Beatty creatively made use of Germany and German history to articulate their own visions about America and Europe, to draw innovative comparisons, and to position themselves as competent observers of European and international (post-)modernity. At the same time, the project enriched comparative literature by advancing the theory and practice of comparative imagology, as well as by connecting the timely discourse on multidirectional memory and global comparison in world literature with the question of national images. In addition, the project touched upon growing scholarly fields such as of African European studies, critical whiteness studies, and interdisciplinary studies on the concept of appropriation, and enriched them by providing a literature-specific perspective.
The wider societal impact of the project results from its capacity of confronting the citizens of Berlin, Germany, and the European continent with the perception of themselves and their places of origin through the “eyes” of African American literature. Thus, the project has brought people in touch with past processes of cultural exchange in Europe, and challenged them to reflect how collective images of ourselves and others arise and shape our views of the world. This is of timely relevance in a period in which European societies struggle to find adequate responses to refugees coming to Europe from different directions, bringing along different images and expectations regarding the countries they immigrate into. By maintaining that the perspective of African Americans on Germany is one that is very specific and highly different from the perspective of people of color of Afro-German, Afropean, or African descent, the project has showcased the need of getting aware of the specificity and high variability of collective images, which often differ depending on country of origin, social status, gender, religion, or other factors.