"Die geschriebene Version wollte geschrieben werden, die vielen anderen wollten es nicht": The portrayal of Nazi perpetrators in German novels since 1990 and the role of historiographic metafiction

Abstract

This thesis examines the way in which Nazi perpetrators have been portrayed in German novels since 1990 by means of a close textual analysis of four novels from this period: "Der Vorleser" by Bernhard Schlink, "Unscharfe Bilder" by Ulla Hahn, "Himmelskörper" by Tanja Dückers, and "Flughunde" by Marcel Beyer. Through an analysis of these texts, the thesis aims to answer the following questions: 1. Is there a discernible tendency in the way in which the literature of the post-1990 period portrays Germans involved in the Third Reich? Are they predominantly portrayed as perpetrators, victims, or some combination of the two? 2. Is this portrayal a significant departure from the way in which they were previously depicted in German literature? 3. Does the portrayal of Germans of the Nazi period as perpetrators or victims in literature of the post-1990 period mirror the memory contests played out in the public discourse of that period? 4. Are there any differences in the ways in which authors of different generations approach the perpetrator/victim dichotomy in their writing? The thesis also considers the impact a reading of the texts as historiographic metafiction has on the portrayals of Germans as perpetrators/victims in the novels