Literature and German Reunification [Paperback]

A full-length study of the literary consequences of German reunification.This book is the first systematic attempt in English to examine the literary consequences of German reunification. In its emphasis on problems of national identity, it is one of the first books in any language to treat contemporary Germany as a cultural and national unity. In exploring the ways in which authors of the 1990s have sought to cope with history and national identity, the book addresses questions about the role of the nation and a national literature in the context of economic and political globalization.This book is the first systematic attempt in English to examine the literary consequences of German reunification. In its emphasis on problems of national identity, it is one of the first books in any language to treat contemporary Germany as a cultural and national unity. In exploring the ways in which authors of the 1990s have sought to cope with history and national identity, the book addresses questions about the role of the nation and a national literature in the context of economic and political globalization.This book is the first systematic attempt in English to examine the literary consequences of German reunification. In its emphasis on problems of national identity, it is one of the first books in any language to treat contemporary Germany as a cultural and national unity. In exploring the ways in which authors of the 1990s have sought to cope with history and national identity, the book addresses questions about the role of the nation and a national literature in the context of economic and political globalization.Acknowledgments; Introduction: locating the nation; 1. Searching for Germany in the 1980s; 2. A third path? 3. Literature and politics; 4. Literature and the Stasi; 5. The rebirth of tragedy?; 6. The defense of childhood and the guilt of the fathers; 7. The time and the place of the nation; Notes; Works cited; Index. This book surveys the issues and problems of lƒ1