German Literature Of The 1990s And Beyond: Normalization And The Berlin Republic (studies In German Literature Linguistics And Culture)

German Literature of the 1990s and Beyond Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture Edited by James Hardin (South Carolina) German Literature of the 1990s and Beyond Normalization and the Berlin Republic Stuart Taberner Camden House Copyright © 2005 Stuart Taberner All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. First published 2005 by Camden House Camden House is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA www.camden-house.com and of Boydell & Brewer Limited PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK www.boydellandbrewer.com ISBN: 1–57113–289–9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Taberner, Stuart. German literature of the 1990s and beyond: normalization and the Berlin Republic / Stuart Taberner. p. cm. — (Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–57113–289–9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. German literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. German literature—21st century—History and criticism. 3. Germany— Intellectual life—20th century. 4. Germany—Intellectual life—21st century. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture (Unnumbered) PT405.T33 2004 833'.9209—dc22 2004022546 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. This publication is printed on acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America. Contents List of Illustrations vi Acknowledgments vii List of Abbreviations viii Preface xiii 1: Literary Debates since Unification: “European” Modernism or “American” Pop? 1 2: Literature in the East 33 3: Literature in the West 68 4: Confronting the Nazi Past I: “Political Correctness” 106 5: Confronting the Nazi Past II: German Perpetrators or German Victims? 134 6: A German-Jewish Symbiosis? 165 7: From the Province to Berlin 199 Concluding Remarks 230 Bibliography 233 Index 273 Illustrations 1. The Reichstag xii 2. The Hotel Adon xv 3. Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg Gate xvi 4. The Holocaust Memorial under construction, with the new Potsdamer Platz in the background xvii 5. Potsdamer Platz xix 6. Potsdamer Platz — Entrance to the Sony Center xx 7. The Jewish Museum xxiii 8. The Jewish Museum, vertical detail xxiv 9. Entrance to the Hackesche Höfe xxv 10. “Jiddische Musik am historischen Ort” in the Hackesches Theater, Hackesche Höfe All photographs by the author. xxvi Acknowledgments W of a number of institutions this book would not have been possible. I would like to thank the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung for its award of a fellowship to spend a year at the University of Konstanz in 1999 and for its subsequent assistance, the British Academy for a number of grants which enabled me to travel to Germany for research purposes, the Arts and Humanities Research Board for making it possible for me to take a sabbatical to complete this volume, and to the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Leeds, in particular the German Department, for time away from teaching and various travel grants. I am also indebted to the staff of the Literary Archive in Marbach for their help during my m