Contemporary German fiction: writing in the Berlin Republic

Abstract

Taberner, Stuart, ed. Contemporary German Fiction. Writing in the Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 254 pp. $96.00 hardcover. Even though this is not visible at first or even at second glance, the contributions to this volume originated at workshop held in late 2005. Considering this, and also the challenges associated with writing about truly contemporary (here, post- 1990) literature, this collection of essays is remarkable. Many diverse aspects of the multifaceted literature emerging from the Berlin are addressed by thirteen contributors working in the UK and in the US. Frank Finlay context ualizes the literary debates and their relationship to the literary markets since 1990 by pointing out how they differ from earlier engagements with issues of aesthetics and political writing (Lessing / the Romantics), citing the debates around Wolf, Walser, and Politycki as examples. Stephen Brockmann' s contribution impressively showcases how four disparate literary works (by Grass, Brussig, K. Hensel, and Draesner) all pay detailed attention to as physical space, while displaying decidedly German characteristics. Yet, individual loneliness and subjectivity are themes that tie the characters in said works to global and urban patterns of international dimensions. Paul Cooke examines the complex situation of GDR writers in the Republic by focusing not only on Wolf and Hilbig, seeking to defend GDR idealism, but also on Schulze, Brussig, and younger writers such as J. Hensel, noting that especially the younger generation loses its distinctiveness as east German literature, moving in the vicinity of German discourses. Following from this, Taberner's own piece on west German writing carefully considers the generational divide between the '68ers such as Walser and P. Schneider, the generation of '78ers such as Meinecke and Politycki, as well as the slightly younger Generation Golf who often challenges the politics of the older generation. Even though I personally would squabble with Taberner 's finding that Grass's recent Beim Hauten der Zwiebel represents valid defense for his politically engaged literature, Taberner presents notable survey of the challenges faced in politically engaged fiction in West-Germany. Ingo Cornils focuses on the many diverse and important literary representations of '68, examining its legacies in works by Calioux, P. Schneider, and Timm, among others. Sabine von Dirke appropriately traces representations of the new pop literature of the 1990s as response to the perceived hegemony of the '68ers, emphasizing many writers' outspoken hostility towards their moralizing political engagements, while aptly defining pop fiction as exhibiting a keen sense of the historical, socio-political, and technological forces. …