| Memory Traces: 1989 and the Question of German Cultural Identity Contributor(s): Arnold-De Simine, Silke (Author), Simine, Silke Arnold-De (Editor), Emden, Christian (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0820472239 ISBN-13: 9780820472232 Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing OUR PRICE: $64.55 Product Type: Paperback Published: January 2005 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Germany |
| Dewey: 943.088 |
| LCCN: 2005051157 |
| Series: Cultural History and Literary Imagination |
| Physical Information: 343 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Germany |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This essay collection examines the dynamics of memory organization and the way it varies among different media and modes of discourse in post-unification Germany. German unification has put the post-war period into a historical perspective. Such a rupture raises questions concerning the appropriate commemoration, preservation and reinterpretation of the past. The processes of reorientation after unification influenced the self-perception of literary authors as well as the social role, position and status of German literature. They also affected the way writers viewed the competition in which they found themselves pitted against visual and electronic media as rival windows on the past. In the context of several debates on German literature during the 1990s the discussion revolved not only around the adequate aesthetic representation of the historical and cultural heritage but even more so around the role of literature itself in that process. The contributions look at different discourses that were and still are concerned with reinterpreting and creating new collective symbols and narrative patterns in relation to Germany's past. The volume focuses on the effects of the characteristic discourses of the press, literature and its different genres, film, the internet and memorials on the depiction and performance of memories. |