This master’s thesis deals with the reception of Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader (1997, original Der Vorleser 1995) in North America and its role in the North American Holocaust discourse. Two questions dominate the investigation: How does The Reader reflect elements of the North American Holocaust discourse, and how does the novel contribute to this discourse? Two focal points govern this investigation. First, the North American Holocaust discourse is portrayed by means of a historical-cultural analysis of relevant literature, cinema and public events in order to understand the 'Americanization of the Holocaust,' that is how the Holocaust became an important part of American public intellectual discourse. Especially important here are The Diary of Anne Frank, the Eichmann trial and Hannah Arendt’s reportage of it, the TV-miniseries Holocaust, Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and Norman Finkelstein’s treatise Holocaust Industry. Second, the reception of Schlink’s The Reader in North American newspapers and magazines as well as in academic reviews and articles is discussed in order to show that this German novel is part of the discussion in North America. In the general public discourse the novel received mostly positive reviews, whereas in the academic discourse more critical observations were made. The resulting difference in reception stems from perspective, that is whether the novel is understood as a story about human fate or as a story about Germany’s past. The thesis concludes by synthesizing these two parts to demonstrate the interaction between Bernhard Schlink’s novel and the North American Holocaust discourse. It is shown that The Reader reflects elements of the North American Holocaust discourse, like Hannah Arendt’s thesis on the “banality of evil,” the question of how to deal with the Holocaust (film versus literature), and whether the Holocaust is part of the American discourse. Furthermore, the novel also contributes to the North American Holocaust discourse: on the one hand, The Reader follows the American discourse by giving another story and leading to a further popularisation of the Holocaust; on the other hand, the novel adds something new to the discourse, namely an individual view of perpetrators and a differentiated way of dealing with them.

This master’s thesis deals with the reception of Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader (1997, original Der Vorleser 1995) in North America and its role in the North American Holocaust discourse. Two questions dominate the investigation: How does The Reader reflect elements of the North American Holocaust discourse, and how does the novel contribute to this discourse? Two focal points govern this investigation. First, the North American Holocaust discourse is portrayed by means of a historical-cultural analysis of relevant literature, cinema and public events in order to understand the 'Americanization of the Holocaust,' that is how the Holocaust became an important part of American public intellectual discourse. Especially important here are The Diary of Anne Frank, the Eichmann trial and Hannah Arendt’s reportage of it, the TV-miniseries Holocaust, Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and Norman Finkelstein’s treatise Holocaust Industry. Second, the reception of Schlink’s The Reader in North American newspapers and magazines as well as in academic reviews and articles is discussed in order to show that this German novel is part of the discussion in North America. In the general public discourse the novel received mostly positive reviews, whereas in the academic discourse more critical observations were made. The resulting difference in reception stems from perspective, that is whether the novel is understood as a story about human fate or as a story about Germany’s past. The thesis concludes by synthesizing these two parts to demonstrate the interaction between Bernhard Schlink’s novel and the North American Holocaust discourse. It is shown that The Reader reflects elements of the North American Holocaust discourse, like Hannah Arendt’s thesis on the “banality of evil,” the question of how to deal with the Holocaust (film versus literature), and whether the Holocaust is part of the American discourse. Furthermore, the novel also contributes to the North American Holocaust discourse: on the one hand, The Reader follows the American discourse by giving another story and leading to a further popularisation of the Holocaust; on the other hand, the novel adds something new to the discourse, namely an individual view of perpetrators and a differentiated way of dealing with them.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (master's)--Ruhr-Universität, Bochum. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-143).

This thesis discusses the question of guilt, as it appears on a variety of levels in Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader (1995) and its film adaptation by Stephen Daldry (2009). In general, a review of the question of the collective guilt of the parent- and child-generation will be argued. Several levels of guilt entanglement are witnessed in the main characters Hanna and Michael, from individual guilt towards the other to collective guilt, as it is known from the conflict of the '68 generation with the parental generation. Expressed in the novel mainly by Michael’s reflections, it is brought by audio-visual means into the film. An overview of the debt debate in the legal sense shows to what extent law and justice or moral and legal guilt can be apart. / Diese Arbeit handelt von Bernhard Schlinks 1995 erschienen Roman Der Vorleser und dessen Verfilmung durch Stephen Daldry im Jahre 2009. Untersuchungsgegenstand ist hierbei die Schuldfrage, welche sich vielschichtig im Werk verdeutlicht. Im Allgemeinen wird ein Überblick über die Frage nach der kollektiven Schuld der Eltern- und Kindergeneration gegeben. Übertragen auf die Hauptcharaktere Hanna und Michael lassen sich mehrere Ebenen der Schuldverstrickung feststellen, hin von individueller Schuld dem anderen gegenüber bis zur kollektiven Schuld, wie sie aus dem Konflikt der 68er Generation mit der Elterngeneration bekannt ist. Was sich im Buch vor allem durch die Reflexionen Michaels ausdrückt, wird im Film durch audiovisuelle Mittel zum Ausdruck gebracht. Eine Übersicht über den Schulddiskurs im rechtlichen Sinne zeigt, wie weit Recht und Gerechtigkeit, bzw. moralische und juristische Schuld auseinander liegen können.

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This thesis examines the novels Die Entdeckung der Currywurst, written by the German author Uwe Timm in 1993 and Der Vorleser, written by the German author Bernhard Schlink in 1995. In each story the main protagonist is a woman. Incorporating the ideas of the feminist movement, the thesis focuses on the notion that the literary role of women does not coincide with realistic representations of women rather it derives from traditionally stereotypical images of a femme fatale or a femme fragile. The goal is to analyse the depiction of women as literary protagonists in both novels. Do they truly comply with the traditional images of feminism or are there certain traits that deviate?