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The Poet’s Role:
Lyric Responses to German Unification by Poets from the GDR.
OWEN, Ruth J.
Amsterdam/Atlanta, GA, 2001, XI, 366 pp.
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Series:
Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur 147
“...it is important that Rodopi have now published Owen’s extremely detailed and meticulously researched thesis….”
Modern Language Review, 98.1, 2003, pp.248-249
“Owen has performed an outstanding service in tracing the manner in which these figures recorded the deep social, psychological and emotional issues raised by events, and although more specific analyses of individual poets will certainly follow, it seems unlikely her general analysis can be superseded.”
Journal of European Studies, vol. XXXIII, 2003
This study of contemporary German poetry represents the first attempt to examine comprehensively and at some length the lyric response to the unification period. It sets out to investigate, by means of close textual analysis, whether the German ‘Wende’ was also a turning-point for poetry, exploring how GDR poets responded both to the revolutionary events of 1989 and subsequently to the new, united Germany. An introductory chapter considers what is distinct about poetry as a genre, especially under censorship or amid historic change, as well as outlining the post-unification ‘Literaturstreit’. The following chapter offers a survey of the poet’s role in the GDR from 1949 until 1989. Two central chapters then gather the poetry of the ‘Wende’ and unification as a corpus of work and characterize it, through the elucidation of recurring themes, motifs and techniques. The volume strikes a balance between giving a general overview of poetry written in 1989-1996 and focusing on individual poets whose work is particularly compelling. After identifying broad trends across a wide range of individual poems, collections and anthologies, single chapters therefore examine in greater depth the work of Volker Braun and Durs Grünbein. The concluding chapter addresses the issue of a separate GDR literature. Finally, an extensive, structured bibliography is provided, covering the poetry, literary criticism and cultural history of the period.
List of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1: Introduction
2: The Poet’s Role in the GDR 1949-1989
3: History and Poetry: ‘Wende-Zeitgedichte’
4: ‘Die Stimmen der Verlierer’: Post-Unification Poetry by ex-GDR Poets
5: The End of a Role: Volker Braun’s Post-‘Wende’ Poetry
6: The Beginning of a Role: Durs Grünbein’s Post-‘Wende’ Poetry
7: Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Subjects
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