Speaking the Taboo

• Acknowledgements. List of Abbreviations for Works by Hilbig. Introduction. 1 Countering ‘Realitätsverlust': The Role of the Writer and the Use of the Unsägliche in Hilbig's Critical Writing. 2 The ‘Taboo' of Modernism in Hilbig's Poetry. 3 Literary Tradition in Hilbig's Prose: the Problem of ‘Objectivity' in ‘Der Brief'. 4 The Pornographer as Historian: Sexual Repression and Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Die Weiber. 5 The Krimi and the Criminal State in Eine Übertragung. 6 No More Taboos? the Stasi, Beckett and the Continuing Search for Identity in »Ich«. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

"He [Cooke] shows an exemplary knowledge, not only of Hilbig’s work, but also of the relevant secondary literature. … an authoritative piece of scholarship which will undoubtedly be required reading for anyone interested in one of the most original writers to emerge from the GDR." - in: MLR, 97.4 (2002), pp. 1040-1041"Commendable throughout is the accuracy and sophistication of the textual analysis…" - in: Seminar, Vol. XL, No. 2 (May 2004), pp.184-186