The self in transition : : East German autobiographical writing before and after unification : essays in honour of Dennis Tate / / edited by David Clarke, Axel Goodbody.

• Superior document: German Monitor ; Number 75
• TeilnehmendeR: Clarke, David, 1972-; Goodbody, Axel, 1950-
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Editions Rodopi,, 2012.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English; German
• Series: German monitor ; Number 75.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (304 pages)

Taking as its starting point the work of Professor Dennis Tate, this volume brings together essays which explore varieties of East German autobiographical writing before, during and after German unification. The volume examines the invention and re-invention of the self through literature in response to historical change, analysing how authors have negotiated social transition in the East German context. Many of the contributions also discuss how authors have sought to understand lives which have spanned the National Socialist, socialist and post-unification periods. This volume will be particularly valuable to students and researchers working on contemporary Germany and its culture, as well as to those with an interest in autobiographical writing.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / David Clarke and Axel Goodbody -- Foreword / Ian Wallace -- Introduction / David Clarke and Axel Goodbody -- Omissions and Revisions: Hans Marchwitza’s Autobiographical Writing / Martin Kane -- Verehrter Gen. Ulbricht: Negotiations of Self and Socialist Identity in Greta Kuckhoff’s Letters / Joanne Sayner -- ‘Ein Kommunist kann nicht die Politik seiner Partei vom Blickwinkel seines Einzelschicksals her begreifen’: Rudi Goguels Schreiben über das eigene Leben / Helmut Peitsch -- Why Stay? Shifting Perspectives on ‘Inner Emigration’ and Resistance in the Works of Elfriede Brüning / Sara Jones -- Heinrich von Kleist in Christa Wolfs Kein Ort. Nirgends / Ricarda Schmidt -- ‘Aber erzählen läßt sich nichts ohne Zeit’: Time and Atemporality in Christa Wolf’s Subjectively Authentic Narratives / Georgina Paul -- From Vergangenheitsbewältigung to Living with Ghosts: Christa Wolf’s Kindheitsmuster and Leibhaftig / Renate Rechtien -- Poetic Reflections on Stunted Lives: Wulf Kirsten’s Contribution to East German Autobiographical Writing / Axel Goodbody -- Institutionen hatten ‘sich in der Landschaft festgesetzt wie ägyptische Pyramiden’: Volker Brauns Lebens/Werk und sein Hinze-Kunze-Roman in der Dialektik von Stagnation und Radikalkritik / Heinz-Peter Preußer -- ‘Ein Botschafter des Vergessenen’: Günter de Bruyn, the Chronicler / Owen Evans -- Re-writing My Life and Work: Jurij Brězan's Autobiographical Writings / Peter Barker -- ‘Idylle mit Gewehr’: Volker Brauns Versuche einer Annäherung an den Vater in Das Mittagsmahl / Christine Cosentino -- Vom verblendeten Selbst zum gewendeten Selbst: Der Wandel in der narrativen Identität in den Selbstreflexionen Günter Schabowskis nach 1989 / Ute Hirsekorn -- ‘Wer schreibt, kann nicht töten’: Writing and Life in Reinhard Jirgl’s Abtrünnig: Roman aus der nervösen Zeit / David Clarke -- Experience, Military Fiction and the Shameful Self in Ingo Schulze’s Neue Leben / Andrew Plowman -- Memories of a GDR-Watcher, oder: Die westdeutsche Germanistik und die DDR-Literatur / Hannes Krauss -- Dennis Tate: List of Publications / David Clarke and Axel Goodbody -- Contributors / David Clarke and Axel Goodbody -- Index / David Clarke and Axel Goodbody.