Literary Intellectuals and the Dissolution of the State

Language: English

Published by The University of Chicago Press, US, 1996

0226864979 / 9780226864976

  • Hardcover
  • New
See all details

Seller: Rarewaves.com USA, London, London, United KingdomRarewaves.com USA

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since June 11, 2025

Hardcover

Condition: New

£ 133.36

 Free Shipping 
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

For two generations, writers in the German Democratic Republic enjoyed a massive audience in their own country, a readership dependent on their works for a measure of utopian solace amid the grimness of life under communism. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall, these writers were abandoned by their readers and stripped of the professional structures that had supported them. What drove leading thinkers, including those of the avant-garde who publicly embraced intellectual freedom, to serve as government informants? Why were they content to work within a repressive system rather than challenging it outright? This collection of interviews with more than two dozen writers and literary scholars, including several Stasi informants, provides a survey of the motivations, compromises and illusions of East German intellectual life.In conversations with Robert von Hallberg, writers such as novelist Hermann Kant, playwright Christoph Hein, and avant-garde poet-publisher Sascha Anderson talk about their lives and work before the fall of the Wall in 1989 - about the constraints and privileges of Communist Party membership, experiences of government censorship and self-censorship, and relations with their readers. They reflect on why the possibilities of opposition to the State seemed so limited, and on how they might have found ways to resist more aggressively. Turning to the controversies that have emerged since reunification, including the Stasi scandals involving Anderson and Christa Wolf, they discuss their feelings of complicity and the need for further self-examination. Two interviews with Anderson - one conducted before he was exposed as a Stasi collaborator and one afterwards - offer insight into the double life led by many writers and scholars in the German Democratic Republic.…

Seller Inventory # LU-9780226864976

Title
Literary Intellectuals and the Dissolution of the State
Author
Robert von Hallberg
Publisher
The University of Chicago Press, US
Publication year
1996
Condition
New
Binding
Hardback
Language
English
ISBN 10
0226864979
ISBN 13
9780226864976
Item weight
595 grams

Rarewaves.com USA

London, London, United Kingdom

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since June 11, 2025

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Item7 to 12 business days7 to 12 business days
First item£ 0.00£ 0.00
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay

Seller's business information

RAREWAVES.COM LIMITED

Elsley Court, 20-22 Great Titchfield Street
London, United Kingdom W1W 8BE