German-Language Literature Today: International and Popular?

Changes discernible in German-language literature in the late 1990s are examined with particular emphasis on its international profile and the emergence of popular forms. Unification has not led to a homogeneous ‘German’ literature. ‘German-language’ literature, a more appropriate term, can be seen to explore and to adapt to international and multicultural influences. While the catalogues of foreign publishers of German-language literature and some translation practices still tend to nurture stubborn ‘German’ cliches and stereotypes, these nineteen essays provide ample evidence of a vibrant literature in transition from provincial introversion to a growing flexibility in both genre and perspective. A significant renegotiation of boundaries, texts and perceptions is evinced by analyses of writing from the east (Brumme, Brussig, Fries, Hensel, Krauss, Liebmann, Rosenloecher, Schulze), from Austria (Scharang), from Switzerland (Baer, Graf, Heimann, Knellwolf, Richle) and from the west, where the freshness of an intercultural Jugendliteratur complements, on the one hand, a deliberately exotic Grenzgaengerliteratur (Alafenisch, Schami) and calculated fable-spinning (Pirincci) and, on the other, the critical and best-selling successes of authors as different as Grass, Schlink, Sebald, Sueskind, Timm, Wilkomirski and Woelk.