Renegotiating history: representations of the family in post-1989 German literature

Scholars emphasize concepts of trauma and loss to describe literary responses to the collapse of socialism in 1989. In contrast, focusing on literary representations of family, this project reveals productive coping mechanisms developed in German literature after 1989. In artistic representation, family marks the site where the GDR’s dissolution and new post-1989 beginnings are negotiated. I draw on the concepts of agency, memory, and space to show how the historical transformation in 1989 affected existing family structures and how narrative family representations negotiate the historical meaning of 1989. Situated at the intersection of literature, cultural studies, and history, this project shows how family representations constitute a privileged site of post-socialist renewals.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

German

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Criser, Regine

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pinkert, Anke
• Fritzsche, Peter A.
• Johnson, Laurie R.
• Niekerk, Carl
• Yildiz, Yasemin

• Family
• Space
• Agency
• Memory
• Post-Socialist Germany
• Post-1989 German Literature
• Contemporary German Literature

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2013 Regine Criser

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45312

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/45312