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From 'Vergangenheitsbewaltigung' to generational memory contests in Gunter Grass, Monika Maron and Uwe Timm
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Fuchs, Anne (2006) From 'Vergangenheitsbewaltigung' to generational memory contests in Gunter Grass, Monika Maron and Uwe Timm. German Life and Letters, Vol.59 (No.2). pp. 169-186. doi:10.1111/j.0016-8777.2006.00343.x ISSN 0016-8777.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0016-8777.2006.00343.x
Abstract
Against the backdrop of the proliferation of trauma theory in public and academic debates, the paper argues that in spite of a recent trend to question the canonised discourse of contrition, German discussions about the legacy of the Nazi past are still largely dominated by the following two paradigms: a first psychoanalytic narrative tells a drama of repression, acting out and repetition compulsion, and a second narrative then restores the Enlightenment paradigm through its story of critical engagement with the past. In order to avoid the pitfall of an unhelpful demonisation of forgetting on the one hand, and the danger of a displaced sacralisation of the Holocaust on the other, the paper introduces the notion of memory contests into the debate. Provisionally defined as retrospective imaginings that simultaneously articulate, question and investigate the normative self-image of previous generations, this notion accounts for the intergenerational dynamic of recent German identity debates. The dynamic of post-‘Wende’ memory contests is explored with reference to recent works by Grass, Maron and Timm.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > German Studies | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | German Life and Letters | ||||
Publisher: | Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. | ||||
ISSN: | 0016-8777 | ||||
Official Date: | April 2006 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.59 | ||||
Number: | No.2 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 169-186 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1111/j.0016-8777.2006.00343.x | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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