Description
Book SynopsisThe first broad treatment of German genre fiction, containing innovative new essays on a variety of genres and foregrounding concerns of gender, environmentalism, and memory. Some of the most exciting research and teaching in the field of German Studies is being done on "genre fiction," including detective fiction, science fiction, and what is often called "poplit," to name but a few. Such non-canonical literature has long been marginalized by the German tradition of Bildung and the disciplinary practice of German literary studies (Germanistik). Even today, when the examination of non-canonical texts is well established and uncontroversial in other academic contexts, such texts remain understudied in German. And yet, the trend toward "German Studies" and "cultural studies" approaches within the field has raised considerable interest in theanalysis of genre fiction, resulting in both a great deal of new scholarship and a range of new courses. This first broad treatment of German genre fiction brings together innovative new scholarship, foregrounding themes of gender, environmentalism, and memory. It is an ideal companion to research and teaching. Written in accessible English, it speaks to a wide variety of disciplines beyond German Studies. Contributors: Bruce B. Campbell, Ray Canoy, Kerry Dunne, Sonja Fritzsche, Maureen O. Gallagher, Adam R. King, Molly Knight, Vibeke Rützou Petersen, Evan Torner, and Ailsa Wallace. Bruce B. Campbell is Associate Professor of German Studies at the College ofWilliam and Mary. Alison Guenther-Pal is Assistant Professor of German and Film Studies at Lawrence University. Vibeke Rützou Petersen is Professor Emerita of Women's Studies at Drake University.
Trade Review[T]his anthology capably argues for the inclusion of non-canonical texts in contemporary German Studies scholarship. [It] open[s] the door for future scholarly investigation of these primary texts and many others that have traditionally belonged to categories of Trivialliteratur or pulp ?ction. The editors and contributors succeeded in their aim to break with that tradition and to inaugurate a new one. * MONATSHEFT *
[R]ich and diverse . . . highly recommended for researchers of genre ?ction, whether working in German Studies or beyond: quotations are provided in German and English, and [an] extensive bibliography[y] direct[s] readers to resources in both languages. Detectives, Dystopias and Poplit invites researchers in one area of genre ?ction to enrich their understanding of the ?eld by learning about others. Seeing how the di?erent genres of crime, science ?ction, and poplit have addressed shared themes such as history, identity, and politics proves to be highly illuminating. -- Katharina Hall * MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Closing a Bildungslücke - Genre Fiction and Why It Is Important German Science Fiction: Its Formative Works and Its Postwar Uses of the Holocaust A Future History Out of Time: The Historical Context of Döblin's Expressionist Dystopian Experiment, Berge Meere und Giganten Eco-Eschbach: Sustainability in the Science Fiction of Andreas Eschbach Murder in the Weimar Republic: Prejudice, Politics, and the Popular in the Socialist Crime Fiction of Hermynia Zur Mühlen The Imaginary FBI: Jerry Cotton, the Nazi Roots of the Bundeskriminalamt, and the Cultural Politics of Detective Fiction in West Germany Justice and Genre: The Krimi as a Site of Memory in Contemporary Germany Detecting Identity: Reading the Clues in German-Language Crime Fiction by Klüpfel and Kobr and Steinfest The Pedagogy of Pulp: Liberated Sexuality and Its Consequences Through the Eyes of Vicki Baum's stud. chem. Helene Willfüer The Kränzchen Library and the Creation of Teenage Identity Close the Border, Mind the Gap: Pop Misogyny and Social Critique in Christian Kracht's Faserland Bibliography Notes on the Contributors Index
