Literary Presentations of Divided Germany

This 1977 book was the first full-length of East German fiction to appear in English. It takes as its subject the political division of Germany into two increasingly incompatible states, and it concentrates on East German fiction for the simple reason that West German writers are ignorant of one of the most significant events of modern history. After dealing with various historical, bibliographical and cultural problems, Dr Hutchinson isolates three narrative devices of particular value to East German writers: creating a discriminating East German visitor to the West who reinforces the standard image of the capitalist world; introducing figures who are representative of each German state; and examining the two states in terms of their relationship with the Third Reich. A conclusion surveys changes in the literary image of Germany's division between 1945 and 1970, and compares East German works on the subject with the few written in the West.