Politics in German Literature

The essays presented here invite reflection on a considerable sweep of German literature, with representation from the medieval period to the present day. A common focus on politics (appropriately a subject of deep concern to Professor Ryder) unites the articles, written from the perspective of American Germanists. European wars and revolutions, political divisions and attempts at unification, and periods of emancipation or persecution are viewed through the illuminating lens of literature; the tension between aesthetic and ideological goals, between the aims of literature and politics, informs the works chosen for analysis, and the conflict between the certainties of politics and the ambiguities of literature becomes evident in these new readings of both familiary and less well-known works.BETH BJORKLAND is Professor of German at the University of Virginia; MARK E. COREY is Professor of German at the University of Arkansas.Contributors: HORST LANGE, PAUL MICHAEL LUETZELER, RICHARD T. GRAY, MARGARET E. WARD, RONALD HORWEGE, BETH BJORKLUND, DAVID CHISHOLM, MICHAEL W. JENNINGS, DAVID SCRASE, RAY WAKEFIELD, MARK E. CORY, MICHAEL MORTON