Literature as a place to remember : memory of the GDR in Thomas Brussig’s Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee

This dissertation is concerned with the relationship between cultural memory and literature. Focussing on the memory of the Cold War-period, the present work examines a piece of contemporary German literature, namely Thomas Brussig’s 1999 novel Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee, and analyzes it according to three central research questions: First, how is life in the GDR represented in Brussig’s novel? Second, what are the narrative, stylistic and linguistic tools, motifs and themes through which this very representation is achieved? And finally, how does the novel and its representation of the GDR contribute to the cultural/collective memory of this specific moment in time and space? In order to be able to conduct a well-grounded analysis of the literary object, a thorough theoretical and methodological framework has to be established. Following Mieke Bal’s approach on cultural analysis, the cultural memory concept is discussed by taking into consideration different perspectives and conceptualizations surrounding it, including early theoretical approaches on collective memory as well as contemporary insights. After taking into consideration the most important theoretical aspects of the cultural memory concept, the interlink between memory and literature is further explored. Literature, and fictional literature in particular, is examined as a medium of memory, and the essential characteristics of the literary representation of memory contents are pinpointed. Finally, the question of how literature impacts contemporary memory culture will be at the center of interest, for these theoretical reflections guide the following literary analysis. The second part of the dissertation is dedicated to the analysis of the literary object. In order to be able to evaluate the novel’s contribution to memory culture, a structural analysis as well as an analysis of the novel’s content are conducted, taking into consideration the central plotlines, motifs and narrative techniques the novel’s representation of the GDR is based on. The outcomes of the analysis are then brought together with the memory concepts established in the theoretical section of the work in order to be able to assess the interplay between cultural memory dynamics and the novel’s characteristics. Finally, the results of the literary analysis are summarized and final conclusions regarding the novel’s impact on memory culture are drawn