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In the Shadow of the Holocaust
Jewish-Communist Writers in East Germany
Sprache:
Englisch
Veröffentlicht/Copyright:
2022
Über dieses Buch
This study investigates six German Jewish writers' negotiation of Jewish-German-Communist identity in post-Holocaust East Germany.
This study investigates the negotiation of Jewish-German-Communist identity in post-Holocaust Germany, specifically East Germany. After an introduction to the political-historical context, it highlights the conflicted writings of six East German Jewish writers: Anna Seghers (1900-1983), Stefan Heym (1913-2001), Stephan Hermlin (1915-1997), Jurek Becker (1937-1997), Peter Edel (1921-1983), and Fred Wander (1917-2006). All were Holocaust survivors. All lost family members in the Holocaust. All were important writers who played a leading role in East German cultural life, and all were loyal citizens and committed socialists, although their definitions of and maneuvers regarding Party loyalty differed greatly. Good soldiers, they viewed their writing as contributing to the social-political revolution taking place in East Germany. Informed by Holocaust and trauma studies, as well as psychology and deconstruction, this study looks for moments when Party discipline falters and other, repressed, thoughts and emotions surface, decentering the works. Some recurring questions addressed include: What is the image of Germans? Do the works evidence revenge fantasies? How does the negotiation of ostensibly mutually exclusive identities play out? Is there acknowledgment of the insufficiency of Communist theory to explain antisemitism, as well as recognition of Stalinist or other forms of Communist antisemitism? Although these writers ultimately established themselves in East Germany, attaining positions of privilege and even power, their best works nonetheless evince an acute sense of endangerment and vulnerability; they are documents both created and marked by trauma.
This study investigates the negotiation of Jewish-German-Communist identity in post-Holocaust Germany, specifically East Germany. After an introduction to the political-historical context, it highlights the conflicted writings of six East German Jewish writers: Anna Seghers (1900-1983), Stefan Heym (1913-2001), Stephan Hermlin (1915-1997), Jurek Becker (1937-1997), Peter Edel (1921-1983), and Fred Wander (1917-2006). All were Holocaust survivors. All lost family members in the Holocaust. All were important writers who played a leading role in East German cultural life, and all were loyal citizens and committed socialists, although their definitions of and maneuvers regarding Party loyalty differed greatly. Good soldiers, they viewed their writing as contributing to the social-political revolution taking place in East Germany. Informed by Holocaust and trauma studies, as well as psychology and deconstruction, this study looks for moments when Party discipline falters and other, repressed, thoughts and emotions surface, decentering the works. Some recurring questions addressed include: What is the image of Germans? Do the works evidence revenge fantasies? How does the negotiation of ostensibly mutually exclusive identities play out? Is there acknowledgment of the insufficiency of Communist theory to explain antisemitism, as well as recognition of Stalinist or other forms of Communist antisemitism? Although these writers ultimately established themselves in East Germany, attaining positions of privilege and even power, their best works nonetheless evince an acute sense of endangerment and vulnerability; they are documents both created and marked by trauma.
Information zu Autoren / Herausgebern
Contributor: Thomas C. Fox
THOMAS C. FOX is Professor of German at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Stated Memory: East Germany and the Holocaust (Camden House, 1999) and co-editor of Companion to the Works of Lessing (Camden House, 2005).
Rezensionen
Fox puts together a quite impressive collection of authors who were persecuted as Jews and wrote about this experience in one way or another.
Fox stellt doch ein rechtbeeindruckendes Panorama von Autor_innen zusammen, die als Juden verfolgt wurden und auf die eine oder andere Weise über diese Erfahrung schrieben. --- [I]nsightful analyses of some 20 significant texts by six deeply conflicted German Jewish authors who worked successfully under the East German communist regime. [...] Highly recommended.
Fox stellt doch ein rechtbeeindruckendes Panorama von Autor_innen zusammen, die als Juden verfolgt wurden und auf die eine oder andere Weise über diese Erfahrung schrieben. --- [I]nsightful analyses of some 20 significant texts by six deeply conflicted German Jewish authors who worked successfully under the East German communist regime. [...] Highly recommended.
Fachgebiete
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Frontmatter
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CONTENTS
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Preface
vii -
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Introduction: In the House of the Hangman
1 -
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1: The Dead Mother: Anna Seghers
27 -
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2: Stefan Heym’s Negotiation of Communist-Jewish Identity
65 -
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3: The Dead Wife: Stephan Hermlin
88 -
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4: Expanding East German Holocaust Discourse: Peter Edel and Fred Wander
117 -
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5: The Dead Father: Jurek Becker
150 -
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Conclusion: “Let Us Speak German for an Hour.”
176 -
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Works Cited
187 -
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Index
197
Informationen zur Veröffentlichung
Seiten und Bilder/Illustrationen im Buch
eBook veröffentlicht am:
11. Januar 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781787448087
Ursprünglicher Verlag:
Camden House
Seiten und Bilder/Illustrationen im Buch
eBook ISBN:
9781787448087
Zielgruppe(n) für dieses Buch
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
