Rachel J. Halverson Libros

"Despite cuts in the past decade, enrollments in US German programs have increased modestly, a fact that surely has to do with the importance of Germany and its language on the world stage. The contributors to this volume examine the factors shaping German-language study in the new millennium, highlighting how creative, innovative, inspired approaches have allowed German to weather many of its challenges. The volume will be of interest to scholars, teachers, and students of German who are committed to invigorating its study in the United States." --

This book examines Siegfried Lenz' Deutschstunde (1968), Das Vorbild (1973) and Heimatmuseum (1978) and the «Historikerstreit» in West Germany. The analysis of retrospective narratives in Lenz' novels, a definitive literary statement on how a personal history is created, and the dialogue between the participants in the «Historikerstreit» links individual history with the public debate. Thus, parallels between retrospective narratives in fiction and narrative strategies in a professional exchange are exposed. Ultimately, this correlation establishes a powerful link between narrative structure, historical consciousness and ideology.