**Christa Wolf:** A group of scholars is preparing a comprehensive analysis of Christa Wolf's work. If you would like to contribute the chapter on Wolf's recent *Kein Ort Nirgends*, please contact one of the editors: Theodor Langenbruch (address above) or Nancy A. Lauckner (Dept. of Germanic & Slavic Languages, U. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916).

SOCIO-CULTURAL RESEARCH

*A Comparative Study of Compulsory Education in the GDR and the FRG:* work-in-progress. Margrete Siebert Klein (American Embassy, Box 305, APO New York 09080)

*Compulsory Education in the GDR:* work-in-progress.
Margrete Siebert Klein (address above)

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THEMES

DDR-Romanforschung - a selection of articles to appear in Klett-Verlag: editing work-in-progress.
Marc Silberman (3349 Sherbourne Dr., Culver City, CA 90230)

*Drama in the GDR as Mirrored in THEATER DER ZEIT:* work-in-progress.
Michael L. Burwell (Dept. of German, 219 Folwell Hall, U. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455)

*The Female Adolescent in East German Literature* - discussing her freedoms, outlook for the future, and her role in and relation to society: work-in-progress.
Judith H. Cox (2515 Colleen, Arlington, TX 76016)

*Nature poetry in the German Democratic Republic* - a study of East German nature poetry in the 1960's and 1970's within the context of the aesthetic continuum of modern poetry and the complicated relationship between cultural politics and poetic practice: work-in-progress.
Wolfgang Ertl (address above)

The University of Dayton REVIEW (Winter 1978), Vol. 13, No. 2 offers a special issue on GDR literature. In a brief introduction, editor Robert C. Conard explains the intent of the issue: "to introduce East German Literature to a broader audience, to explain the criteria for judging literature produced in East Germany, and to demonstrate the problems of writers in the East, but to do so in a scholarly manner that was characterized by straightforward style and diction so that a general reader curious about belles-lettres in the GDR could read the essays with ease and understanding." The 111-page issue contains essays by Margy Gerber: "After the Revolution -- What then? Peter Hacks' Theory of a Socialist Classicism"; Karin McPherson: "Franziska Linkerhand -- Introduction and Analysis of the Last (Unfinished) Work by the Late GDR Novelist Brigitte Reimann"; Gerhard F. Probst: "Thematization of Alterity in Christa Wolf's Nachdenken über Christa T."; Juergen K. Hoegl: "Language, Metaphor, and Strategy of Composition in Ulrich Plenzdorf's Novel *Die Neuen Leiden des Jungen W.*"; Wolfgang Ertl: "*Der Flug der Taube:* Stephan Hermlin's Attempts to Adjust to the Cultural-political Demands in the GDR in the Early Fifties"; Margaret E. Ward: "Volker Braun's *Tinka: Two Views*" (a comparison of performances in Potsdam and Mannheim, including views obtained in interviews with the author, producers, and actors); W. Clark Kenyon: "An Analysis of Günter Kuhnert's 'Schatten Entziffern' "; Ted E. Frank: Günter de Bruyn's *Preisverleihung: A GDR Novel with a Mission*"; Joseph P. Dolan: "The Politics of Peter Huchel's Early Verse"; and Willkie K. Cirker: "The Socialist Education of Rita Seidel. The Dialectics of Humanism and Authoritarianism in Christa Wolf's *Der geteilte Himmel*".

While one could complain that the essays are rather uneven in quality and that some seem strangely outdated -- they reflect surprisingly little awareness of developments in the last half decade -- the issue is nonetheless useful: it is an accessible anthology for teachers who seek materials in English treating some of the major authors and genres of recent GDR literature. It can be obtained for $1.00 (to cover postage and handling) from the University of Dayton REVIEW, 300 College Park Ave., Dayton, Ohio 45469.

Patricia Herminghouse
Washington University