Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76dd75c94c-7vt9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T08:33:45.739Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Literary reflections on '68

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Ingo Cornils
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Stuart Taberner
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Get access

Summary

One of the constituent debates of the post-unification period has centred on the impact of the generation of '68 – those in their late fifties and sixties at the end of the 1990s who had been active in the student movement of the 1960s – on the culture, politics and society of both the ‘old’ West Germany and the ‘new’, post-1990 Federal Republic. While some observers continue to see '68 as a ‘watershed’ that embedded West German democracy and as a ‘cultural revolution’ that negated the nation's authoritarian past, others believe it has led to a loss of traditional values and German identity. Equally significant, the discussion has centred on the 68ers' role in shaping West Germany's open and democratic Streitkultur (culture of public debate). Above all, the legacy of ‘critical engagement’ with the Nazi past, arguably the 68ers' most outstanding contribution to the self-understanding of modern-day Germany, has been challenged, as has the continuing dominance in the media, politics and the cultural sphere of a left-liberal elite drawn largely from the ranks of the former student protesters. This chapter examines the debate on '68 and, specifically, the recent explosion of literary texts reflecting on '68 as myth and cultural memory. These texts not only interrogate the values, aspirations and aesthetics of the generation most closely connected with the dramatic events of that period but also endeavour to define its significance for the Berlin Republic.

Type
Chapter
Information
Contemporary German Fiction
Writing in the Berlin Republic
, pp. 91 - 107
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×