The study is in two parts. The first part examines the representation of the academic institute and the figure of the academic in GDR literature in the latter half of the GDR state’s existence. Specifically, it explores the interface between realist critiques of science and/or GDR academia and metaphorically coded critiques of the GDR state in a selection of texts by Christa Wolf, Helga Königsdorf and Günter de Bruyn. In this focus on the relationship between the realist and the metaphorical dimensions of the texts, my study differs from previous scholarship which has tended to foreground one or other aspect. A particular focus of this study are the ways in which these writers model the academic institute as a microcosm of the GDR state, with academic research projects standing for the GDR socialist project, and institutional dynamics representing social relations in the GDR. Having explored the relationship between the representation of the academic institute, the academic world and GDR society, I conclude the first part of this study by arguing that, perhaps surprisingly, there are similarities between these GDR ‘academia tales’ and the Anglo-American campus novel. Part Two of the study begins by examining the post-Wende representation of the restructuring, or Abwicklung, of the GDR academic establishment in texts by Helga Königsdorf and John Erpenbeck. This is followed by an overview of a series of texts in which the post-Wende experiences of east German academics, while treated more peripherally, nevertheless generate interesting readings. While there have been many historical and sociological analyses of academic Abwicklung, this is the first to examine literary treatments of the phenomenon. It explores the representation of academic Abwicklung both as a social issue in its own right, and as a starting point for broader political commentaries. Furthermore, by exploring the continued use of the academic institute as a metaphor for the GDR state, even after the latter’s collapse, this study supports the view that the Wende did not lead to an immediate reconceptualisation of political and aesthetic approaches in the literature produced by east German writers.

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This thesis is concerned with a comparison of works written by GDR authors Hanns Cibulka, Waldtraut Lewin a Christine Wolter which deal with the motif of the journey to Italy. The analysis is based on spatial and intercultural theories, which are presented in the first part of the thesis. The genre of travelogue, the motif of the Italian journey in the German-language literature and political conditions for the creation and publication of travelogues in the GDR are also introduced. The core of the thesis is the comparison of eleven texts, especially travelogues, regarding the spatial and social dimension of travelling. The first aspect covers reflections of Goethe's Italian journey and the function of travelling, as well as the depiction of nature, urban space and architecture and the treatment of the garden motif. Regarding the second aspect, the author follows the narrative technics used in portraying the mediators between the travelling writers and the Italian culture, as well as in the depiction of tourists or strangers. An additional question of the study is whether (and possibly how) the writers reflect on the GDR regime against the background of the Italian scenery.

Em uma conversa com Hans Kaufmann, publicada sob o título de Subjektive Authentizität (1973), Christa Wolf afirma a necessidade de se encontrar um tipo de escrita que alcance um alto grau de realismo na apresentação de temas relevantes, mas polêmicos para o indivíduo e seu grupo. Na ocasião da entrevista a autora já trabalhava em Kindheitsmuster, publicado pouco depois (1976). Este trabalho parte da hipótese de que as novas técnicas narrativas exigidas pela autora, a qual se posiciona na ocasião contra a política cultural da RDA e o realismo socialista, seriam visíveis não apenas no romance mencionado, mas em toda sua trajetória a partir de então, e mais decididamente retomadas em Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr.Freud (2010), o qual se aproxima muito do livro da década de setenta tanto por sua estrutura e recursos narrativos adotados, quanto por tratar-se novamente da narração de experiências autobiográficas cruciais em sua trajetória. Por meio da comparação dos livros citados procura-se analisar alguns dos recursos estilísticos e estratégias literárias utilizados para configurar a experiência em dois momentos temporais bastante distintos, bem como o modo pelo qual acontecimentos pessoais e da história contemporânea são apresentados em estreita ligação. Por meio de diversas técnicas literárias e de uma determinada posição diante de si e do público, a autora cultiva uma escrita ao mesmo tempo objetiva e subjetiva, a qual traria o indivíduo para o centro do texto e produziria um tipo especial de realismo e de autenticidade por ela almejados, devendo-se, contudo, atentar para as especificidades de cada contexto. Do jogo entre subjetividade e objetividade presente nos dois textos deriva-se ainda um outro, entre a factualidade e ficcionalidade, de modo que os textos da autora se aproximam de uma tendência surgida nos anos setenta: a da autoficção. Trata-se de um conceito bastante versátil e polêmico da teoria literária, o qual deve ser primeiramente definido, para assim ver como se configura no caso específico de Wolf, cujos textos são declarados pela autora como ficcionais, mas recebidos por público e crítica como autobiográficos. O caráter ficcional de seus textos estaria antes no emprego de técnicas metaficcionais, de encenação de processos de escrita e de rememoração na obra, que na ficcionalidade dos episódios. / During conversation with Haus Kaufmann published under the title Subjektive Authentizität (1973), Christa Wolf affirms the necessity of establishing a mode of writing with the purpose of reaching a high degree of Realism and combining social polemic with thematic literary presentation. At that moment, Wolfs Kindheitsmuster was already in progress; it would be published three years later, in 1976. This dissertation has as its claim that Wolfs new narrative techniques, vindicated at the same time of the authors rupture with Socialist Realism and GDR cultural politics, are visible not only in Kindheitsmuster, but also through her entire career thereafter. In order to demonstrate that, we propose the evaluation of Kindheitsmuster in comparison with Wolfs 2010 novel Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr. Freud. In this novel, Wolf recovers some of the narrative techniques first developed in the 1970s, and, following the example of Kindheitsmuster, plunges herself into important autobiographic material. By the way of this comparison, our aim is to analyze some of Wolfs stylistic devices and strategies put in use so as to present close interconnection between historical moment and personal experience in two quite different moments. Through those devices and strategies, combined with Wolfs own public position, the author blurs the traditional boundaries between fictionality and factuality, subjectivity and objectivity, by bringing into attention her concept of subjective authenticity and a new idea of Realism as well. Behind Wolfs achievement, there is a quite specific understanding of autofictionality, based upon metafictional techniques and the mingling of literary representation and recollection processes, and which is our task to interpret.

This thesis sets out to analyze the work of Helga Schubert, Helga Königsdorf and Monika Maron. It concentrates on their neglected short prose, undertaking an in-depth analysis of the authors’ themes as well as examining their responses to reality. The overwhelming sense of entrapment in a ‘stagnant’ society is the primary pre-occupation of all three authors; yet they each communicate this in different ways. Schubert endeavours to remain apolitical, although her criticism is aimed increasingly directly at the GDR. Königsdorf is party-loyal and sees society’s ills as a product of a distortion in values linked to industrialization. Maron, the dissident, consciously attacks the regime in her writing, using literature itself as means to expose the corruption of the state. By focusing on women, this study intends to further the establishment of female writers in mainstream academic discourse. The thesis reflects not just the political concerns of GDR writers, but also their philosophical and social approaches to life. An analysis of their short fiction provides a more complete overview of the authors’ development, thereby complementing studies of their novels. These women’s writings have become valuable documents of an era which is irrevocably past. Such studies as mine, therefore, provide a useful key to understanding post-Wende literature.

Em uma conversa com Hans Kaufmann, publicada sob o título de Subjektive Authentizität (1973), Christa Wolf afirma a necessidade de se encontrar um tipo de escrita que alcance um alto grau de realismo na apresentação de temas relevantes, mas polêmicos para o indivíduo e seu grupo. Na ocasião da entrevista a autora já trabalhava em Kindheitsmuster, publicado pouco depois (1976). Este trabalho parte da hipótese de que as novas técnicas narrativas exigidas pela autora, a qual se posiciona na ocasião contra a política cultural da RDA e o realismo socialista, seriam visíveis não apenas no romance mencionado, mas em toda sua trajetória a partir de então, e mais decididamente retomadas em Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr.Freud (2010), o qual se aproxima muito do livro da década de setenta tanto por sua estrutura e recursos narrativos adotados, quanto por tratar-se novamente da narração de experiências autobiográficas cruciais em sua trajetória. Por meio da comparação dos livros citados procura-se analisar alguns dos recursos estilísticos e estratégias literárias utilizados para configurar a experiência em dois momentos temporais bastante distintos, bem como o modo pelo qual acontecimentos pessoais e da história contemporânea são apresentados em estreita ligação. Por meio de diversas técnicas literárias e de uma determinada posição diante de si e do público, a autora cultiva uma escrita ao mesmo tempo objetiva e subjetiva, a qual traria o indivíduo para o centro do texto e produziria um tipo especial de realismo e de autenticidade por ela almejados, devendo-se, contudo, atentar para as especificidades de cada contexto. Do jogo entre subjetividade e objetividade presente nos dois textos deriva-se ainda um outro, entre a factualidade e ficcionalidade, de modo que os textos da autora se aproximam de uma tendência surgida nos anos setenta: a da autoficção. Trata-se de um conceito bastante versátil e polêmico da teoria literária, o qual deve ser primeiramente definido, para assim ver como se configura no caso específico de Wolf, cujos textos são declarados pela autora como ficcionais, mas recebidos por público e crítica como autobiográficos. O caráter ficcional de seus textos estaria antes no emprego de técnicas metaficcionais, de encenação de processos de escrita e de rememoração na obra, que na ficcionalidade dos episódios. / During conversation with Haus Kaufmann published under the title Subjektive Authentizität (1973), Christa Wolf affirms the necessity of establishing a mode of writing with the purpose of reaching a high degree of Realism and combining social polemic with thematic literary presentation. At that moment, Wolfs Kindheitsmuster was already in progress; it would be published three years later, in 1976. This dissertation has as its claim that Wolfs new narrative techniques, vindicated at the same time of the authors rupture with Socialist Realism and GDR cultural politics, are visible not only in Kindheitsmuster, but also through her entire career thereafter. In order to demonstrate that, we propose the evaluation of Kindheitsmuster in comparison with Wolfs 2010 novel Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr. Freud. In this novel, Wolf recovers some of the narrative techniques first developed in the 1970s, and, following the example of Kindheitsmuster, plunges herself into important autobiographic material. By the way of this comparison, our aim is to analyze some of Wolfs stylistic devices and strategies put in use so as to present close interconnection between historical moment and personal experience in two quite different moments. Through those devices and strategies, combined with Wolfs own public position, the author blurs the traditional boundaries between fictionality and factuality, subjectivity and objectivity, by bringing into attention her concept of subjective authenticity and a new idea of Realism as well. Behind Wolfs achievement, there is a quite specific understanding of autofictionality, based upon metafictional techniques and the mingling of literary representation and recollection processes, and which is our task to interpret.

Keywords: GDR literature, historical drama, postdramatic theatre, history, memory, Heiner Müller, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Lehrstück Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to analyse the representation of the German history and its relation with the reality of the GDR in selected dramas by Heiner Müller (1929-1995): Germania Death in Berlin, Germania 3 Ghosts at Dead Man, Life of Gundling Frederick of Prussia Lessing's Dream Sleep Scream, The Battle, The Horatian and The Hamletmachine. The main focus of interest is also the approach of the playwright to selected literary and theatrical genres as historical drama, Lehrstück and postdramatic theatre. The philosophical background of the analysis is based mainly on Walter Benjamin's essay On the Concept of History and his description of the painting Angelus Novus by Paul Klee. Furthermore, the thesis examines the methods of dramatization in Heiner Müller's plays.

This diploma thesis focuses on the personality, life and work of German author Helga Königsdorf and the analysis of selected prosaic works. The aim of the first part is to provide a well-arranged and comprehensive set of biographical information about this author with an emphasis on her literary career, work and socio-political context. The second part is devoted to the study of selected prosaic texts with an emphasis on providing the detailed analysis of female characters. The aim of this part is to provide an overview of topics and standpoints related to the status of women in the society at that time. The analysed female characters deal with topics such as women's position in science at that time or problems in partner, family or professional relationships related to women's emancipation. The conclusion of the thesis offers a brief summary and comparison of differences and similarities considering the personalities, opinions and priorities of these female characters. KEY WORDS German literature, GDR literature, Helga Königsdorf, literary analysis, female characters' analysis

This diploma thesis focuses on the personality, life and work of German author Helga Königsdorf and the analysis of selected prosaic works. The aim of the first part is to provide a well-arranged and comprehensive set of biographical information about this author with an emphasis on her literary career, work and socio-political context. The second part is devoted to the study of selected prosaic texts with an emphasis on providing the detailed analysis of female characters. The aim of this part is to provide an overview of topics and standpoints related to the status of women in the society at that time. The analysed female characters deal with topics such as women's position in science at that time or problems in partner, family or professional relationships related to women's emancipation. The conclusion of the thesis offers a brief summary and comparison of differences and similarities considering the personalities, opinions and priorities of these female characters. KEY WORDS German literature, GDR literature, Helga Königsdorf, literary analysis, female characters' analysis