Poets and writers in the 20th
and 21st Centuries in Germany
Literature in Germany is composed of
written works of German speaking citizens of central Europe. The literature has
shared concepts from the history to the politics of Germany. These aspects are
discontinuity and fragmentation (Gerstenberger 20).
In the last decades, especially the 20th
century, literature was predominantly influenced by international postmodernism
(Gerstenberger 24). It was a movement that
brought together heterogeneous elements for the purposes of appealing to a more
sophisticated, as well as a popular readership.
Pastiche, parody and multiple allusions amongst other cultural productions signify
postmodern literature. Factors in poetry such as narratives, recipes for
favourite and common German dishes, interludes, fairy tales, contemporary
feminism were at first misunderstood since they were judged in accordance to the
standards that had been set to define canonical modern novels. After being
viewed in the perspective of postmodernism, the next stage was critical
analysis and re-evaluation (Gerstenberger 30).
After the fall of the Berlin wall, which
happened in 1989, writers got a chance to explore and understand the tensions
that existed between East and West Germany. An intense debate that touched on
East Germany’s experience, which was under communism, arose. The main concern
was to establish whether the mental need to unite with the experience would be
compared to the act of soul-searching that happened subsequently after the
Second World War. Monika Maron, a renowned poet, addressed this issue in her
novel, Stille Zeile (Gerstenberger 40).
Finally, a new generation emerged in the
21st century that provided a reunification in their style of writing and
critics (Gerstenberger 43). Poets like Helden
Wie came up with interesting novels that debated on subjects like the role of the
secret police in Germany and the importance of peace amongst other captivating
subjects. The Nazi also continued to engage in German mode of writing (Gerstenberger 56). The panache of writing and the complexity
of the information that is put into writing today are different from that which
was done five decades ago (Gerstenberger 67).
Works Cited
Gerstenberger, Katharina. German Literature in a New Century:
Trends, Traditions, Transitions, Transformations. New York: Berghahn, 2008.
Print.
are you doing your own seperate presentation since you already did research on the project topics, or where you planning on still doing it with the rest of the group?
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