Gintera Grasa pēdējās atzīšanās

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the Günter Grass’s (1927–2015) second posthumous book “In letzter Zeit” that came out in 2017. Heinrich Detering, a professor at the University of Göttingen and a friend of the poet, has compiled the last interviews with Grass and discussions on literature and politics. The concept of the book is based on critical analysis of Grass’s works, treating them not as comments on political events, but as expressions of the poet’s creative work, in which he was able to harmoniously merge and consolidate the fairy tale, art, and joy of imagination in one masterpiece. Detering looks at Grass’s life from the socio-political aspect, emphasising the writer’s role in the life of the country and the people. Grass’s social themes (German history, splitting of the state and reunification, refugee policy, etc.) are gradually crystallizing in the collection, not forgetting the events of German literary life and giving them a principled assessment and putting the culture of criticism as one of the most important issues. The dialogues with Grass, collected and published by Detering, is a valuable cultural and historical material both for the research of the writer’s creative work and for the evaluation of German literary processes.