Writers and politics in Germany, 1945-2008
By: Stuart Parkes.
Series: Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture
Publisher: Camden House
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Rochester, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 239
ISBN-13: 9781571134011
Subjects: Authors, German -- 20th century -- Political and social views; Authors, German -- 21st century -- Political and social views; German literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism; German literature -- 21st century -- History and criticism; Germany -- Politics and government
Description: "George Orwell said that all writing is political; but the writers of some nations and some periods are more political than others. German writers after 1945 have exemplified such heightened politicization, and this book considers their contribution to the democratic development of Germany by looking principally at their directly political, non-fictional writings. It pays particular attention to writers and the student movement of the 1960s and '70s, when some proclaimed the death of literature and called for a turn to direct political action. Yet writers in both parts of Germany gradually came to identify with their respective states, even if the idea of one Germany never entirely disappeared. The unification of 1989-1990, in which this idea astonishingly became reality, posed a major (and some would say unmet) challenge to writers in both East and West. After looking at this period of intense political activities, the book considers the continuing East/West division and changing attitudes to the Nazi past, asking whether the intellectual climate has swung to the right. It also asks to what extent political involvement has been a generational project for the immediate postwar generation and is less important for younger writers who see the Federal Republic as a "normal" democratic state"--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.