This volume features sixteen thought-provoking essays by renowned international experts on German society, culture, and politics that, together, provide a comprehensive study of Germany's postunification process of "normalization." Essays ranging across a variety of disciplines including politics, foreign policy, economics, literature, architecture, and film examine how since 1990 the often contested concept of normalization has become crucial to Germany's self-understanding. Despite the apparent emergence of a "new" Germany, the essays demonstrate that normalization is still in question, and that perennial concerns -- notably the Nazi past and the legacy of the GDR -- remain central to political and cultural discourses and affect the country's efforts to deal with the new challenges of globalization and the instability and polarization it brings. This is the first major study in English or German of the impact of the normalization debate across the range of cultural, political, economic, intellectual, and historical discourses.
CONTRIBUTORS: STEPHEN BROCKMANN, JEREMY LEAMAN, SEBASTIAN HARNISCH AND KERRY LONGHURST, LOTHAR PROBST, SIMON WARD, ANNA SAUNDERS, ANNETTE SEIDEL ARPACI, CHRIS HOMEWOOD, ANDREW PLOWMAN, HELMUT SCHMITZ, KAROLINE VON OPPEN, WILLIAM COLLINS DONAHUE, KATHRIN SCHÖDEL, STUART TABERNER, PAUL COOKE
Stuart Taberner is Professor of Contemporary German Literature, Culture, and Society and Paul Cooke is Senior Lecturer in German Studies, both at the University of Leeds.
Reviews
Whether the Berlin Republic has achieved some form of "normality" comparable to other European nation states or whether Germany's singularity, the "abnormality" of its Holocaust past will persist ... is the focus of the volume's 15 chapters. ... The breadth of viewpoints can be regarded as a model of successful cultural studies.... A first-rate volume. GERMAN STUDIES REVIEWWith its cross-disciplinary approach, the book provides a good overview of the discursive shifts that have accompanied German identity debates since the 1990s. MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW
Students will appreciate the clarity of the writing and the information on quite recent developments in Germany.... MONATSHEFTE
