The Ambivalent Didacticism of Jenny Erpenbeck’s Gehen, Ging, Gegangen

Abstract

Jenny Erpenbeck’s 2015 Gehen, ging, gegangen has largely been received as a novel meant to educate the German public about the current “refugee crisis” in Europe. This article argues that Erpenbeck’s text has a more complicated relationship to its own didactic potential. By situating Gehen, ging, gegangen within the history of didactic narrative as a genre, the article demonstrates how Erpenbeck’s novel borrows from typical didactic conventions, yet also questions the ability of literature to facilitate the political education of its readers.