Twark Humor, Satire, and Identity

Eastern German Literature in the 1990s
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-3-11-095814-0
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 480 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 230 mm

This is the first book in English to survey the Eastern German literary trend of employing humor and satire to come to terms with experiences in the German Democratic Republic and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As sophisticated attempts to make sense of socialism’s failure and a difficult unification process, these contemporary texts help define Germany today from a specific, Eastern German perspective. Grounded in politics and history, ten humorous and satirical novels are analyzed for their literary aesthetics and language, cultural critiques, and socio-political insights. The texts include popular novels such as Thomas Brussig’s , Ingo Schulze’s , and Jens Sparschuh’s , as well as lesser-known but equally relevant works like by Bernd Schirmer and by Erich Loest. A broad spectrum of humor and satire theories is applied to probe texts from various angles and suggest multi-layered answers to the question of how these literary modes function in postwall Germany to construct a specifically Eastern German identity. Interviews the author conducted with five of the satirists are appended as primary sources and contribute to the interpretation of the texts.

Zielgruppe

Academics, Institutes, Libraries

Autoren/Hrsg.

Twark, Jill

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Deutsche Literatur

Über Autor(innen)

Jill E. Twark, East Carolina University, Greenville, USA.