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The wall was still coming down when critics began to call for the great Berlin novel that could explain what was happening to Germany and the Germans. Such a novel never appeared. Instead, writers have created a patchwork imaginary - in the form of about 300 works of fiction set in Berlin - of a city and a nation whose identity collapsed virtually overnight. Contributors to this literary collage include established writers like Peter Schneider and Christa Wolf, young authors like Tanja Dückers and Ingo Schramm, German-Turkish authors Zafer Senocak and Yadé Kara, and the Austrians Kathrin Röggla and Marlene Streeruwitz. The non-arrival of the great Berlin novel marks the reorientation in German culture and literature that is the focus of this study: the experience of unification was too diverse, too postmodern, too influenced by global developments to be captured by one novel. Berlin literature of the postunification decade is marked by ambiguity: change is linked to questions of historical continuity; postmodern simulation finds its counterpart in a quest for authenticity; and the assimilation of Germanness into European and global contexts is both liberation and loss. This book pursues a nuanced understanding of the search for new ways to tell the story of Germany's past and of its importance for the formation of a new German identity. Katharina Gerstenberger is associate professor of German at the University of Cincinnati.

German literature --- Literature and society --- National characteristics, German. --- Social change --- History and criticism. --- History --- National characteristics, German, in literature. --- Berlin (Germany) --- In literature. --- Change, Social --- Cultural change --- Cultural transformation --- Societal change --- Socio-cultural change --- Social history --- Social evolution --- Literature --- Literature and sociology --- Society and literature --- Sociology and literature --- Sociolinguistics --- Social aspects --- Baralīna (Germany) --- Berlijn (Germany) --- Berlim (Germany) --- Berlin (Germany : State) --- Berlin State (Germany) --- Berlino (Germany) --- Berlinum (Germany) --- Berolinum (Germany) --- Land Berlin (Germany) --- Stadt Berlin (Germany) --- Verolino (Germany) --- Berlin (Germany : East) --- Berlin (Germany : West) --- Berlin. --- Cultural discourses. --- Germany. --- Globalization. --- Identity. --- Literature. --- Polarization. --- Post-Wall.

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Social change --- Thematology --- Literature --- German literature --- Germany

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While the first decade after the fall of the Berlin wall was marked by the challenges of unification and the often difficult process of reconciling East and West German experiences, many Germans expected that the "new century" would achieve "normalization." The essays in this volume take a closer look at Germany's new normalcy and argue for a more nuanced picture that considers the ruptures as well as the continuities. Germany's new generation of writers is more diverse than ever before, and their texts often not only speak of a Germany that is multicultural but also take a more playful attitude toward notions of identity. Written with an eye toward similar and dissimilar developments and traditions on both sides of the Atlantic, this volume balances overviews of significant trends in present-day cultural life with illustrative analyses of individual writers and texts.

German literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism. --- German literature -- 21st century -- History and criticism. --- German literature -- Europe, German-speaking -- History and criticism. --- German literature -- Appreciation -- Europe, German-speaking. --- Europe, German-speaking -- Intellectual life -- 20th century. --- Europe, German-speaking -- Intellectual life -- 21st century. --- United States -- Intellectual life -- 20th century. --- German literature --- History and criticism. --- Appreciation --- Europe, German-speaking --- United States --- Intellectual life --- German-speaking Europe --- Germanophone Europe --- German literature - 20th century - History and criticism --- German literature - 21st century - History and criticism --- German literature - Europe, German-speaking - History and criticism --- German literature - Appreciation - Europe, German-speaking --- Europe, German-speaking - Intellectual life - 20th century --- Europe, German-speaking - Intellectual life - 21st century --- United States - Intellectual life - 20th century --- United States - Intellectual life - 21st century

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