Description
Book SynopsisExplores how contemporary German-language literary, dramatic, filmic, musical, and street artists are grappling in their works with social-justice issues that affect Germany and the wider world. Social-injustice dilemmas such as poverty, unemployment, and racism are subjects of continuing debate in European societies and in Germany in particular, as solutions are difficult and progress often comes slowly. Such discussionsare not limited to opposing newspaper editorials, position papers, or legislative forums, however; creative works expound on these topics as well, but their contributions to the debate are often marginalized. This collectionof new essays explores how contemporary German-language literary, dramatic, filmic, musical, and street artists are grappling with social-justice issues that affect Germany and the wider world, surveying more than a decade's worth of works of German literature and art in light of the recent paradigm shift in cultural criticism called the "ethical turn." Central themes include the legacy of the politically engaged 1968 generation, eastern Germany and the process of unification, widening economic disparity as a result of political policies and recession, and problems of integration and inclusivity for ethnic and religious minorities as migration to Germany has increased. Contributors: Monika Albrecht, Olaf Berwald, Robert Blankenship, Laurel Cohen-Pfister, Jack Davis, Bastian Heinsohn, Axel Hildebrandt, Deborah Janson, Karolin Machtans, Ralf Remshardt, Alexandra Simon-López, Patricia Anne Simpson,Maria Stehle, Jill E. Twark. Jill E. Twark is Associate Professor of German at East Carolina University. Axel Hildebrandt is Associate Professor of German at Moravian College.
Trade Review[N]eatly edited and deftly introduced . . . . [A]n innovative contribution to contemporary German Studies which invites emulation from others. It is not all about literature any more, that is for sure. And there is a sense of ethics at the heart of the state and society at large which is certainly worth studying. -- Julian Preece * JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES *
[P]resents detailed and thought-provoking close readings . . . . The discussed works of German-speaking authors, artists and scholars show the . . . social problems that linger in post-wall Germany, notwithstanding its recovered economy. The book reveals these unresolved problems to a wider global audience and will undoubtedly stimulate further investigations in that direction. -- Angela Vaupel * JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN STUDIES *
Ambitious in scope, this innovative interdisciplinary book provides a valuable resource for scholars and students of German studies and a timely contribution to discussions of ethics and social justice. It intervenes in signiificant ways in current debates on immigration, integration, and the rise of Islamophobia in Germany and Europe. -- Valentina Glajar * MONATSHEFTE *
Table of ContentsIntroduction - Jill Twark and Axel Hildebrandt On Potatoes, Forgeries, Mistaken Identities, and Cultural Revolution in Uwe Timm's Postwall Novel Johannisnacht - Deborah Janson "Maybe the Genuine Utopia": Uwe Timm's Vision of a "Postsocialist" Society in the Novel Rot - Monika Albrecht Social Injustice in the German Tatort Television Series - Alexandra Simon López Die Toten Hosen, Rammstein, Azad, and Massiv: German Rock and Rap Go Global for Social Justice - Jill Twark Die Toten Hosen, Rammstein, Azad, and Massiv: German Rock and Rap Go Global for Social Justice - Patricia Anne Simpson Critical Voices from the Underground: Street Art and Urban Transformation in Berlin - Bastian Heinsohn Politics and Prekariat in Christoph Hein's Novels Frau Paula Trousseau and Weiskerns Nachlass - Axel Hildebrandt "Erzählt ist erzählt": The Ethics of Narration in Christa Wolf's Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr. Freud - Robert Blankenship Social Consciousness in the Bionade-Biedermeier: An Interview with Filmmakers Marc Bauder and Dörte Franke - Laurel Cohen Pfister Through Performance to Social Justice: Schlingensief's Narcissistic Sociality - Jack Davis The Postdramatic Paradox: Theater as an Interventionist Medium in Falk Richter's Das System - Ralf Remshardt Settling in Mobility: Socioeconomic Justice and European Borderlands in Hans-Christian Schmid's Films Lichter and Die wundersame Welt der Waschkraft - Maria Stehle The Ethics of Listening in Dana Ranga's Wasserbuch and Terézia Mora's Das Ungeheuer - Olaf Berwald Navid Kermani: Advocate for an Antipatriotic Patriotism and a Multireligious, Multicultural Europe - Karolin Machtans
