The Novel in German since 1990

Explores the diversity of the post-1990 novel in German through readings of international bestsellers and less familiar texts.

Stuart Taberner (Edited by)

9781107449305, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 June 2014

318 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.43 kg

'… a volume for which one would wish a readership as attentive as its contributors are perspicacious.' David Midgley, Modern Language Review

Diversity is one of the defining characteristics of contemporary German-language literature, not just in terms of the variety of authors writing in German today, but also in relation to theme, form, technique and style. However, common themes emerge: the Nazi past, transnationalism, globalisation, migration, religion and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and identity. This book presents the novel in German since 1990 through a set of close readings both of international bestsellers (including Daniel Kehlmann's Measuring the World and W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz) and of less familiar, but important texts (such as Yadé Kara's Selam Berlin). Each novel discussed in the volume has been chosen on account of its aesthetic quality, its impact and its representativeness; the authors featured, among them Nobel Prize winners Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek and Herta Müller demonstrate the energy and quality of contemporary writing in German.

1. Introduction: the novel in German since 1990 Stuart Taberner
2. Robert Schindel's Gebürtig (Born-Where) Helmut Schmitz
3. Günter Grass's Ein weites Feld (Too Far Afield) Rebecca Braun
4. Thomas Brussig's Helden wie wir (Heroes Like Us) Anna Saunders
5. Christa Wolf's Medea: Stimmen (Medea: A Modern Retelling) Georgina Paul
6. Zafer ?enocak's Gefährliche Verwandschaft (Perilous Kinship) Moray McGowan
7. Monika Maron's Endmoränen (End Moraines) Katharina Gerstenberger
8. Martin Walser's Ein springender Brunnen (A Gushing Fountain) Kathrin Schödel
9. Michael Kleeberg's Ein Garten im Norden (A Garden in the North) Stephen Brockmann
10. Christian Kracht's Faserland (Frayed-Land) Julian Preece
11. Elfriede Jelinek's Gier (Greed) Helen Finch
12. Karen Duve's Dies ist kein Liebeslied (This is Not a Love-Song) Alison Lewis
13. Herta Müller's Herztier (The Land of Green Plums) Lyn Marven
14. W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz Mary Cosgove
15. Walter Kempowski's Alles umsonst (All for Nothing) Karina Berger
16. F. C. Delius's Mein Jahr als Mörder (My Year as a Murderer) Anne Fuchs
17. Yadé Kara's Selam Berlin Petra Fachinger
18. Daniel Kehlmann's Die Vermessung der Welt (Measuring the World) Stuart Taberner
19. Günter Grass's Beim Häuten der Zwiebel (Peeling the Onion) Monika Shafi
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]