Brückenschläge: DDR-Autoren vor und nach der Wiedervereinigung by Astrid Köhler

Abstract

284 Reviews Gutenberg-Galaxis' andan 'Abschied vonderDDR', butalso a lossoffixed identities underglobalization and thecontingency of textitself. And finally Knopfs Piranesis Traumfittingly etches outfor us the endofendingsinaworldofimagined simulacra. Platen,though, neverreducesthesetexts tothestatus ofmere examples.Instead he analysesthem on their own terms, evenat therisk ofoccasionallyseemingto losesight ofhisnarrower end.Hence this book canbe recommended notonlyto thoseintrigued by itsculture-historical theme, but also to those with a particular interest inanyor allof theauthors discussed. QUEEN MARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ROBERT GILLETT Briickenschlage: DDR-Autorenvorund nachderWiedervereinigung. ByASTRID KOHLER. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck& Ruprecht. 2007. 255 PP. ?29.90. ISBN 978-3-525-20853-3. This isa study that has taken Wolfgang Emmerich's plea forthe'Wahrnehmung von DDR-Literatur alsLiteratur'(Kleine Literaturgeschichte derDDR (Leipzig: Kiepen heuer,1996),P. 27) toheart. A volumeexploring prose texts pennedbothbefore and after theWende by seven of theGDR's more 'unbequem[ ]' (p. lo) authors, it rejects a politically situated reading of their work infavour ofone premissed upon theautonomy ofaesthetic endeavour. The resultisa studythatestablishes literary continuities whichKohlerclaimsbridgeanysocio-political changesthatthereader may associate with the demise of theGDR. Be it the questions thather authors ask, or thenarrative strategies they use,Bruickenschlage positions GDR writersas agents inanongoing'Gesamtwerk' (p.17),boththeir ownand that ofGDR literature more broadly. As thetitle of the volumeindicates, theauthors consideredinthisstudy(Christa Wolf,Klaus Schlesinger, UlrichPlenzdorf, Irina Liebmann, Christoph Hein,Angela Krauss,andKerstin Hensel)may havebegun their publishing careersduringthe lifetime of the GDR, but they have,inaddition,foundsuccess withinunified Ger many.Thevolumeisstructured chronologically (accordingtoageofauthor ordate offirst publication), witheachchapter also offering 'Langsschnitte' (p. 16) through thework of each writer. Given the biographies of several of the study's authors, a number ofthechapters have muchgroundtocover.In thecaseof Wolf,for example, almostthirty years of writing published duringthe GDR, together with twelve years ofpost-Wende work,aredealtwith infewer thanthirty pages.Thus,althoughthe volume'sscope is impressive, somepreparatory reading may be necessaryforthe readerlessfamiliar with thetexts orauthors considered. In summarizing thevolume'sfindings, twokeydynamicsemerge:at a chapter level, Kohler identifies what she terms the'wiederkehrend[e] AblaufeundGrund strukturen' (p.213) that bind thepre-andpost-Wende workofherauthors. Texts arepositionedas linked, forexample, by recurring thematic preoccupations(e.g. Hein's 'Zivilisationskritik' (p.214)); bycharacterization (e.g.Plenzdorf's'Rebellen figuren' (p.214)); bylocation(e.g.therepresentation ofBerlininLiebmann's work); MLR, 104.1, 2009 285 andbynarrative form(e.g. Hensel'suseofdialect).In the volume'sconclusion, the seconddynamicisexplored, namelytherelationships Kohler identifies betweenthe authors surveyed. Isolating a commonquestioning ofestablished modes ofhistory writing(reflected, for example,intherecurrent problematization ofthe photograph as historical medium), a broadengagement with thecomplexities of therelation shipsbetweenindividual and society(seen in a preoccupation withquestionsof subjectivity), and a propensity to intertextuality (acrosstheauthorssurveyed, but alsobeyond), Kohlerpositions herauthors asconstitutive of'eineliterarische Kultur [. .], die nun nicht mehr staatlich und durchauI3ere Grenzen,sonderndurch innerliterarische Verkniipfung definiert ist'(p.215). To conclude:thisis a volume which offers a vigorousdefenceof theaesthetic 'Haltbarkeit' (p.229)ofGDR literature. Theopeningupofwhatfor manyobservers remains a politically andhistorically contingent chapterin German literary history toan aesthetic reappraisal is illuminating. The text'sscopemay be challenging; a broaderintroduction to theauthorssurveyed, aswell as problematization ofkey terms (including theterm'GDRauthor'itself), would havebeenbeneficialinthis respect. However,forthereader seeking toengageindetail withtheaesthetic strate giesthat havecontributed tocontinued scholarly interest in writing byauthors from theformer GDR, thisstudy willproveuseful. UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS JENNY MCKAY Honecker's Children: YouthandPatriotisminEast(ern)Germany, 1979-2002. By ANNASAUNDERS. Manchester: ManchesterUniversity Press. 2007. 252 pp. ?50. ISBN 978-0-7190-7411-0. The statedaimof thepresent volumeisan intergenerational comparison ofyouth attitudes totheformer GDR and theunified Germany. Saundersassessesthelong terminfluence ofGDR socialization on identity withinpresent-day Germanyand examinestheextentto which therapidchangesexperienced inEastGermany have led toshifts incivicloyalties andnotionsofpatriotism. The title, Honecker's Chil dren,imposesa ready-made identity on thesocialgroupunderscrutiny; a senseof loyalty and ofbelongingto theformer East is implicit, whichhas thepotentialto undermine theintention of theinvestigation from theoutset. Manifestations ofpatriotism byyoung Easterners areexplored byadopting an in terdisciplinary approachin whichSaunderscombinesthefindings ofherown field work (undertaken inSachsen-Anhalt in2001and 2002)withofficial statistics and established theories. The twogroups which formthebasisofher study are,firstly, thoseyoungadults who were teenagers at thetimeofunification and for whom unification represented a crucialcaesuraintheir biographies, acutely markingthe transition from childhoodtoadulthood, and,secondly, those whowere teenagers at thetime of interview and therefore had little ornopersonalexperience ofthe GDR. Inestablishing thiscontrast, Saundersseekstodemonstrate theinfluence ofGDR socialization, or lackof it, on forming attitudes and identities inthe present. ...