Идеалисты и реалисты современной немецкой литературы

Abstract

The subject of the research in this article is a combination of two approaches to the representation of the world by modern German writers. Attention to the antithesis of the idealistic and realistic, due to the special development of German society after 1945, often makes it possible to explain both the public position of many authors and their artistic practice. The debates on the significance of the Na-zi past for German consciousness, on the value of the GDR literature and ideals questioning by East German authors after unification, on the formation of a united Europe are consistently considered. The article shows how the idealization of certain concepts inevitably leads to the mythologization of the problems under consideration, to the emergence of the opposition “we and they”. The process of idealization of the European cultural and political space is particularly noticeable in the last decade, which has a serious impact on the individual consciousness of German writers. German authors almost unconditionally accept the idea that the European political and cultural unification project is a “reasonable and logical consequence of historical experience” (Menasse). Due to the mythologization of this idea, other opinions are rejected. A united Europe of the present and future is declared ideal from all points of view, and skeptics or opponents of unification are entitled into the mythological category of enemies, dialogue with whom is difficult due to their mental and spiritual underdevelopment. Only few German writers (L. Bärfuss, I. Schulze) retain the ability to think outside the mainstream settings.