The True Life in the False One (Das wahre Leben im falschen): Suicide Attempts of Literary Heroes in Eastern German Literature

Authors

Angelika Potempa, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

Among others, the difficult topic of suicide was utilized by GDR authors to demonstrate how the political had become part of their literary heroes’ everyday life difficulties and joys, valuations, and life plans. Although literary quality and approaches of the selected texts by Plenzdorf (1972), Braun (1977), Görlitz (1978), Wolf (1979), Zinna (Katja. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a.M., 1981), Hein (1982), and Muthesius (Flucht in die Wolken. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a.M., 1982) differ, they provide a mirror image of GDR (German Democratic Republic) life of people who had “settled in” and those who did not fit in, an image, that was in many points distressing. Thereby, these writers invited their readers to participate in the precarious conversations on the guiding principles of their personal lives and whether they could live these out in real socialism, something neither official propaganda nor philosophy offered. That, and, partially, why the literary heroes were not able to live authentically, that is, neither live out their emotions nor their dreams of a happy, satisfying life, personally and professionally, is a common motif. Intended or not, the texts show that the affective structures of GDR society, provided by past and present power relations, were a big part of the problem. The literary suicides or attempts reflected also the normal in the unnormal: Although the political had seeped into the private, they were triggered by deeply personal events. With it, literature anticipated what data now show. This discussion utilizes a conglomeration of Žižek’s ideology analysis and a Dilthey informed approach to literature.

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Potempa, A. (2022). The True Life in the False One (Das wahre Leben im falschen): Suicide Attempts of Literary Heroes in Eastern German Literature. In Suicide in Modern Literature: Social Causes, Existential Reasons, and Prevention Strategies (pp. 119-132). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69392-3_8

Publication Title

Suicide in Modern Literature

DOI

10.1007/978-3-030-69392-3_8