German Culture, Politics, and Literature into the Twenty-First Century: Beyond Normalization by Stuart Taberner, Paul Cooke

Abstract

MLR, 103. 1, 2oo8 299 controversial text,Der Mull, die Stadt und der Tod, a play that continues to cause scandal by itsportrayal of 'The Rich Jew'.While Barnett gives a full account of the debate that surrounded the firstfailed attempt to stage the play after the author's death, he goes beyond this togive a fascinating and unique examination of the text as a piece of theatre. This book is amajor achievement. It is an important addition toFassbinder scho larship and more than fulfils itsstated intention of introducing the reader 'to the im pressive diversity' of the artist's theatricalwork 'and enthus[ing] him or her enough to read theplays' (p. 262). My one slight complaint is theuse the author makes of his interviews.The excerpts quoted are tantalizingly brief. Itwould have been informa tive tohave heard more fromSchygulla, Raben, Gunter Kraa, and Gerhard Zwerenz, whose comments could have added even more colour to the highly illuminating ac count Barnett gives of Fassbinder's impact on post-war theatre. UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS PAUL COOKE German Culture, Politics, and Literature into theTwenty-First Century: Beyond Nor malization. Ed. by STUART TABERNER and PAUL COOKE. (Studies inGerman Literature, Linguistics, and Culture) Rochester, NY: Camden House. 2006. 256 pp. $75; ?45. ISBN 978-I-57II3-338-3. This collection of essays investigates theGerman discourse on normalization since unification.While before I989 normalization used tobe primarily propagated by con servative politicians and intellectuals,who criticized theprominence of theHolocaust inGerman identitydebates, unification and the achievement of national sovereignty signalled the end of thepost-war period aswell as a new role forunited Germany in the international arena. Against this backdrop, the contributors use Helmut Kohl's I990 declaration that 'thingswill normalize' as a springboard inorder to explore the shifting discourse on normalization from a range of interlocking positions. In their introduction Stuart Taberner and Paul Cooke argue thatalthough the idea of norma lityas a self-evident goal originated in conservative circles, the rhetoric of normality was also advanced by politicians of theRed-Green coalition. Fischer and others used their 'I968er' biographies as social capital to legitimize the project of normalization. Some of theensuing essays explore theRed-Green government's officialdiscourse on normalization inmore detail, others examine counter-discourses which challenge thevery notion of normality. Stephen Brockmann argues thatalthough Germany has achieved thenormality desired byKohl internationally, in termsof its management of the past ithas constructed a post-conventional national identity. While JeremyLea man analyses the 'abnormality' ofGermany's economy since unification, Sebastian Harnisch and Kerry Longhurst debate the realignment of German foreign policy with reference to theKosovo crisis and the Iraq war. The German discourse on the formerYugoslavia is also the subject of Karoline von Oppen's detailed analysis of the controversy over Germany's involvement inNATO's campaign. Lothar Probst discusses theEuropeanization of theHolocaust in recent discourse and itspolitical implications. Simon Ward's essay argues thatpost-unification architecture inBerlin has further shaped normalization through the institutionalization of predominantly West German values. By contrast, Anna Saunders's essay on Ostalgie analyses how an Eastern cultural memory has been validated in popular films and autobiogra phical texts. While Annette Seidel-Aparci's essay criticizes a monolithic memorial culture which excludes ethnic minorities, Chris Homewood compares and contrasts two iconic representations of terrorism in filmsby von Trotta and Petzold. In con trast to the political agenda of these films,Paul Cooke's essay diagnoses the aesthetic 300 Reviews normalization of recentGerman cinema in termsof its 'Hollywoodization'. A range of essays discusses literaryexpressions of normalization: while Andrew Plowman exa mines recent texts about growing up in the FRG, Helmut Schmitz's excellent piece engages with memories of theSecond World War in fiction.The generational dimen sion,which is implied in these contributions, also surfaces in William C. Donahue's comparison of Uwe Timm and Thomas Brussig and inKathrin Schodel's essay on Grass's Im Krebsgang. Stuart Taberner examines how a range of recent narratives articulates alternative identitieswithin the context of globalization. In its range of topics the volume clearly demonstrates the semantic elasticity of a termwhich is regularly invoked by politicians and conservative cultural critics.With itscross-disciplinary approach, the book provides a good overview of the discursive...