German literature

page of The Song of the Nibelunges

German literature or German-language literature comprises the original texts of the German-speaking peoples of central Europe. His development, which transcends such fickle political borders, includes not only the writings of today's reunified Germany, but also those of Austria and Switzerland.

German literature also includes non-poetic works or works without particular literary requirements: that is, works on historiography, history of literature, social sciences, philosophy, and others. Also, diaries or epistles.

German literature through its great periods and movements

It has its beginnings around the year 750, although until 1500 the language used is considered to be Old High German. The period of greatest interest is between 1170 and 1230, in which Minnesang, courtly love songs and epic poems flourished, whose most important representative is Walther von der Vogelweide. The Renaissance and the Baroque will be of little interest, although it is at this time that Martin Luther creates, with his translation of the Bible, the standard language we know today. It will be the Sturm und Drang and Weimar Classicism movements that give rise to universal authors such as Goethe, whose Faust undoubtedly belongs to the Western literary canon, Schiller and Hölderlin. Romanticism was also very important, giving authors such as Heinrich Heine and the Grimm brothers, but it is from the 20th century that universal figures such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse and Bertolt Brecht will appear again.

Late Middle Ages (circa 750-1100)

Poem in ancient German high scored on a edge of a Latin codex: the Muspilli, centuryIX.

Although Gothic was the earliest Germanic language on historical record and the only East Germanic language for which there is attested information, only a sample of it—a translation of the Bible by Gothic bishop Ulfilas dating from the fourth century—has survived in fragments.

The poetry of the High Middle Ages was only transmitted orally, which is why it has been practically lost in its entirety. Writing the knowledge was almost always equivalent to its translation into Latin (such as German Law). It can be deduced the existence of transmission of aristocratic history (Heldenlied, Erzähllied, Fürstenpreis) and lyrical «folklore» (dances, love songs, planctus, magical rituals). Only isolated examples have been preserved thanks to chance in convents and monasteries. Examples are the Merseburg Charms, two Germanic magic formulas that at the same time are the only witnesses of pagan religiosity in the German-speaking area. As an example of a saga or epic song, the Song of Hildebrando is important.

The oldest testimonies written in Old High German date from the 8th century and are found in a completely different cultural context: in its use of the vernacular by the Church for its missions and to aid the understanding of Latin texts (for example in glosses). A vernacular literary consciousness appeared in monastic literature thanks to the foundation provided by epic poetry in Latin, as for example in the two great Biblical epics of the IX, the Heliand, written in Old Saxon alliterative verse, and Otfrid von Weißenburg's Evangelienbuch, with the promising new rhyme al end of verse Around the year 1000, the monk Notker Labeo of the Abbey of Saint Gall translated and commented on philosophical texts from Classical Antiquity, at a high philological level, into Old High German. He is considered the first great German prose writer.

In the XI century, mostly religious moralizing texts in Middle High German appeared, written in the form of couplets. Hagiographies, such as the Song of Ezzo (circa 1065), legends, such as the Song of Anno (circa 1077), biblical epic from the New and Old Testaments (Genesis, Exodus, Life of Jesus), dogmatic texts, eschatological and Marian poetry characterized this first phase of religious literature, which was intended to influence the secular nobility.

Late Middle Ages (circa 1100-1500)

Wolfram von Eschenbach, portrait of the author in the Codex Manesse.

In the middle of the XII century, a great transformation took place in every way. The themes and forms of literature became much more varied; subjects were fixed in writing that had previously been considered unworthy of being collected (courteous lyric, entertaining stories). Religious literature also developed a new interest in the individual and his biography (legends, such as Alber von Windberg's Tundalus or Heinrich von Veldeke's Servatius ).

Also in the middle of the 12th century, the historical epic, as a secular-oriented poetic genre, first achieved rank poetic. His main work, the Kaiserchronik with some 17,000 lines, tells the story of the Roman emperors from the founding of Rome to Conrad III in episodes. The Cantar de Roldán by Konrad der Pfaffe recounts the fight of Charlemagne and his champions against the Saracens in Spain, as well as Roldán's death after a betrayal. With the Song of Roland and Alexander by Lamprecht der Pfaffe, the influence of French themes and forms is noted for the first time, which would mark German literature in the following decades and centuries..

The decades after 1150 resulted in a flourishing of literature in German. In different courts of the feudal nobility, a literary practice of height was developed in imitation of the models of Romance languages: the so-called courtly literature. In the lyric the Minnesang (hohe Minne) and the Sangspruchdichtung developed, with their main representatives Heinrich von Morungen, Reinmar von Hagenau and Walther von der Vogelweide. Heinrich von Veldeke's Romance of Aeneas was even for contemporaries the work that marked the creation of courtly epic. The author had moved from the lower Rhine to the court of the count of Thuringia and finished the work there around 1185. Subsequently, innumerable courtly epics appeared in Middle High German after French models (Chrétien de Troyes). The best known were Erec and Iwein (Hartmann von Aue), Tristan and Isolde (Gottfried von Straßburg) and Parzival (Wolfram von Eschenbach). Apart from this "modern" form of story, the feat The Song of the Nibelungs should be mentioned.

In this transition to the Modern Period appears the Der Ackermann aus Böhmen («The Bohemian Farmer») by Johannes von Tepl.

At the end of the Middle Ages, the movable type printing press appeared, which turned out to be revolutionary. Finally the parchment could be replaced by paper, much cheaper.

Humanism and the Protestant Reformation (circa 1450-1600)

Hans Sachs.

From Italy, humanism spread through Germany, a current of Renaissance thought that was based on the thought of classical Antiquity. Known representatives of it were Erasmus of Rotterdam, active in Basel, and Johannes Reuchlin, although both wrote most of their works in Latin and had little influence outside scholarly circles. Unlike Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523), with his rebellious poems, or Sebastian Brant (1458-1521), who wrote his Narrenschiff with great success in German.

The most successful movement was the Protestant Reformation introduced by Martin Luther (1483-1546). Luther spread his ideas in German, closer to the people. The most outstanding event on the German book market in the 16th century was undoubtedly the publication of Luther's Bible in the 1980s. 1522 and 1534. The event had a decisive influence on the development of modern German.

Apart from Humanism and the Reformation, the master singers, the Schwank and the Fastnachtsspiel, representations of the burlesque genre, especially in the form of their representatives, also deserve a mention. most prominent Hans Sachs (1494-1576) and Jörg Wickram (circa 1505-before 1562). Another notable author of the 16th century was Johann Fischart (1546-1590), a native of Strasbourg, whose best-known work is the Affentheurlich Naupengeheurliche Geschichtklitterung.

A widespread genre at the time was the Volksbuch, a type of pamphlet that was published anonymously and dealt with popular topics. Examples are the History of D. Johann Fausten and the stories about Till Eulenspiegel.

Baroque (circa 1600-1720)

Andreas Gryphius.

During the Baroque there was an important shift towards literature in German. Politically, the time was marked by the division of confessions and the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The great breadth of Baroque literature includes everything from courtly poetry to the popular novel, from the imitation of models of Antiquity, to the lyrics about personal experiences and the celebration of life, to the motif of vanity. Casual lyrics appear.

During the Baroque, countless literary and language societies were founded, the best known being the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft. Martin Opitz (1597-1639) recommended in his book Buch von der deutschen Poeterey (Book of German Poetry, 1624) the use of Alexandrian verse for German-language lyrics, which remained the most important verse form for a long time. With some delay Petrarchism and pastoral bucolicism arrived in German literature, mentioning here the followers of Opitz Paul Fleming (1609-1640) and Simon Dach (1605-1659). The main representatives of pastoral poetry were the poets of the Societas Florigerae ad Pegnensum of Nuremberg Georg Philipp Harsdörffer, Johann Klaj and Sigmund von Birken.

Lyrical forms of importance at the time were the sonnet, the ode and the epigram; poetry can be divided mainly into religious, almost always evangelical, and mundane. Religious lyric was written by Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld (1591-1635), Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676), Johann Rist (1607-1667), Angelus Silesius (1624-1677) and the mystic Jakob Böhme (1575-1624). Among the more mundane poets, the sonnets of Andreas Gryphius (1616-1664), as well as Christian Hofmann von Hofmannswaldau (1617-1679), are especially interesting.

Baroque theater is very varied. On the one hand, there was a Jesuit theater, especially in the Catholic south, which used to be performed in Latin. Because the public did not understand the language, they tried to enhance the visual effects. In a similar way it happened with foreign traveling theater companies. The baroque opera and the theater of the courts were designed for another public. Baroque opera was highly appreciated as a work of art. The theater of the courts was dominated by the so-called Ständeklausel, whereby the destinies of kings and nobles should only be represented in the form of tragedy and the way of life of the people should be represented in comedies. Its main authors are Daniel Casper von Lohenstein (1635-1683) (Cleopatra, Sophonisbe) and Gryphius, with three comedies and five tragedies (Chatharina von Armenien, Leo Armenius, Carolus Stuardus).

The baroque novel consists mainly of the pastoral novel, the state novel, the gallant courtly novel, and the most influential: the picaresque novel, originally from Spain. In this last genre, Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (circa 1625-1676) stands out above all with his Simplicissimus, as well as the Simplicianischen Schriften. Simplicissimus's adventures during the Thirty Years' War are the most important picaresque novel outside the Iberian Peninsula. The most important representative of the state novel is Birken's disciple Anton Ulrich von Braunschweig und Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel.

Enlightenment (circa 1720-1780)

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.

As early as 1687 Christian Thomasius, the "father of the German Enlightenment," taught his classes in German instead of Latin. Known philosophers of this time, the beginning of the Enlightenment, were Christian Wolff and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The most important literary author was surely Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715-1769) with his fables. The most important figure within the literary world was however Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-1766). His theoretical texts indicated the direction to follow, especially his Versuch einer critischen Dichtkunst ( Essay on a critical literature , 1730), his literary work is instead second order. In Dichtkunst , a normative poetics, he draws on classical French theater and upholds the Ständeklausel . Against were the Swiss Johann Jakob Bodmer and the philologist Johann Jakob Breitinger, who saw the rational moment as overvalued.

Authors from the early Enlightenment can also be included in the late Baroque, an example of how dubious era divisions are. The most important poets were Johann Christian Günther (1695-1723), as well as Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680-1747), who can be included in both periods.

Apart from the Enlightenment, other currents appeared that put feelings in the foreground. They may include the Rococo of Friedrich Hagedorns, Ewald Christian von Kleist, Salomon Gessner and others.

An example for a whole generation was Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803) with his epic Der Messias (The Messiah, 1748-1773), which revels in emotions and moods. Klopstock is considered to belong to Sentimentalism.

In prose it was Christoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813) who broke the mold. He was the creator of one of the first Bildungsroman , Geschichte des Agathon ( History of Aragton , 1766/67), and mixed elements of the Rococo with enlightened thought.

The final period of the German Enlightenment is unthinkable without Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781). His work includes major theoretical works (Laokoon, 1766), literary criticism (with Friedrich Nicolai and Moses Mendelssohn), and a number of significant plays. The work that shows the greatest Enlightenment spirit is Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise, 1779), in which it is shown in an exemplary way that the values of man cannot be derived from casual labels such as religion or nationality.

Sturm und Drang (circa 1767-1785)

Friedrich Schiller.

A youthful reaction to the Enlightenment, which was seen as limiting and lacking in sentiment, was the short period of Sturm und Drang. Most of the young men, who were against tyranny of any kind, also did not want imposed rules in artistic matters. A "genius", so the idea, should not abide by rules. They wrote about the problems that occupied them and privileged the "here and now" to Antiquity.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe shows in the epistolary novel The Troubles of Young Werther a man who dies due to excess of feeling and unhappy love. In Friedrich Schiller's (1759-1805) play The Bandits, a young man rebels against his father and his superiors. The plays of Jakob Lenz (1751-92) had as their theme the oppressive situation of young intellectuals, for example in Der Hofmeister. In addition to plays, poetry was also important, since emotion and pathos could be expressed in it.

The Sturm und Drang movement did not last long, as most of its protagonists continued to develop in other directions. Schiller and Goethe founded German Classicism. Lenz, on the other hand, could not come to terms with his surroundings and died alone.

Weimar Classicism (circa 1786-1805)

Goethe in Italy.

The beginning of Weimar Classicism is often placed in 1786, coinciding with Goethe's trip to Italy. Characteristic is his close collaboration with Friedrich Schiller, who died in 1805 in Weimar. Both authors, after the Sturm und Drang phase, oriented themselves towards humanist ideals, partly through the classicist use of ancient themes and models.

Goethe's play Iphigenia in Tauride dealt with overcoming prejudices and thus became an example for the classicist humanist ideal. His most important work is the tragedy Faust (1808), which was followed by a second part, Faust II, in 1832. Goethe's work is extensive and his last phase It is not usually included in Classicism.

The second great author of Weimar Classicism was Friedrich Schiller. He wrote theoretical works ( Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung , “On innocent and sentimental poetry” ). He also dealt with philosophical issues in the lyrics (as in his Spaziergang , "Walk" ). Schiller wrote countless ballads (Die Bürgschaft, "The Guarantee/The Guarantee") and a number of historical dramas (Wallenstein).

Other authors who are occasionally included in Classicism are Karl Philipp Moritz (1757-1793), considered a precursor, and Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), who already shows a tendency towards Romanticism. Moritz's autobiographical novel Anton Reiser is considered the first psychological novel in the German language.

In a looser sense, one can include in Classicism Jean Paul (1763-1825), who wrote mostly satirical novels, and Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811), whose subject is often the individual struggling with social obligations or breaks in it, as in the novel Michael Kohlhaas.

Romanticism (circa 1799-1835)

Bettina von Arnim.

Romanticism is usually divided into four eras: initial, full, late and later; In specific cases it is not easy to make divisions of authors and periods.

Early Romanticism can be considered from a literary theoretical point of view the most interesting phase. A group of authors who worked in Jena and cultivated a good friendship, such as the brothers August Wilhelm (1767-1845) and Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder (1773-1798), Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853) and Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772-1801), who published under the pseudonym Novalis, broke with many conventions: for example, they mixed poems and ballads, short stories, etc. into their novels; for this they often made reference to the work of Goethe (Werther, The apprenticeship years of Wilhelm Meister). The fact corresponds to the concept of "progressive universal poetry" of Friedrich Schlegel, which not only brings together the most diverse genres and knowledge, but also reflects on itself and contains his own criticism. One of the most important instruments of this "poetry of reflection" is irony, which brings out that the ideal state, which according to classical theory must be reflected by art, escapes the imagination of the human being and that the images through which this state is tried to be represented, are not reliable. On the other hand, we can never be sure of the multiple meanings and creations of literary works, so it is best to let yourself be carried away by the daring of the lie that art represents. The literary fragment is another of the instruments appreciated by the romantics, in which art reflects on its own "failure" and separates itself from the "classical" concept of the harmonious work closed in on itself, which represented an ideal state.

Achim von Arnim (1781-1831) and Clemens Brentano (1778-1842) are considered representatives of full Romanticism. They released under the name Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Boy's Magic Horn) a collection of popular songs. It was his sister and wife respectively, Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859), who with her work Goethes Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde (Letter exchange between Goethe and a child, 1935) who contributed considerably to Goethe's popularity in Germany, but also repeatedly described the social and political inequalities in Germany in his work (Armenbuch, “Book of the Poor” ; Dies Buch gehört dem König, “This book belongs to the king”, especially its appendix, as well as Polenbroschüre, "Polish Brochure").

The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm also belong to this period with their collection of folk tales. Tieck's adult work can also be included at this time.

The best-known author of late Romanticism is E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), who in stories such as Kater Murr (Cat Murr) and The Man from arena used romantic irony in a psychological way, extending a modern poetics that was no longer based on idealism. Late Romanticism also includes the poet Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857).

Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) often takes an ironic attitude towards Romanticism and its subjects, and should possibly be included in early Realism.

Biedermeier (circa 1830-1850) and Vormärz (circa 1830-1850)

Georg Büchner.

The literary currents between Classicism and Romanticism on the one hand and bourgeois Realism on the other cannot be classified under a single denomination. For this, the names Biedermeier and Vormärz are used.

The authors included within the Vormärz were heavily involved in politics and led the political poem to its blossoming. Many of them belonged to the informal grouping Junges Deutschland (Young Germany), as was the case with Georg Herwegh (1817-1875), Heinrich Laube (1806-1884), Karl Gutzkow (1811-1878) and Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-1876). Imbued with a similar spirit were Heinrich Heine (Die Harzreise, "The Journey through the Harz"; Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen, « Germany A Winter's Tale»), Ludwig Börne (1786-1837) and Georg Büchner (1813-1837) (Woyzeck), died young.

Other authors, when they are not included in Realism, are included in Biedermeier. Known above all for their poetry are Nikolaus Lenau (1802-1850), Eduard Mörike (1804-1875), Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) and August von Platen (1796-1835). In prose, mention should be made of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848) (Die Judenbuche,“The Beech of the Jews”), Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868), Jeremias Gotthelf (1797-1854) and the storyteller Wilhelm Hauff (1802-1827).

Among the playwrights who belong more or less to the Biedermeier are Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872), Johann Nepomuk Nestroy (1801-1862) and Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836). Grillparzer wrote tragedies similar to those of Weimar Classicism, while Nestroy and Raimund are representatives of the Viennese Volksstück.

Poetic realism (1848-1890)

Theodor Fontane.

In bourgeois or poetic realism, the authors avoided major social and political problems and focused on their homeland, with its landscapes and its characters. At the center of all novels, plays, and poems is the individual. A stylistic characteristic of many of his works is humor, which manages to distance himself from the unbearable and horrible reality. However, he directs his complaint towards the singular error and the weaknesses of society, and not towards the system itself.

The preferred genre was initially the short story. Examples are Das Amulett (The Amulet) by the Swiss Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898) and Der Schimmelreiter (The Rider on the Horse white) by Theodor Storm (1817-1888). In the theater, Friedrich Hebbel (1813-1863) with Maria Magdalena remains in the memory. Later, in addition to the novella, the novel appeared, in which Gustav Freytag (1816-1895) and Wilhelm Raabe (1831-1910) can be mentioned.

The most important authors of this current are the Swiss Gottfried Keller (1819-1890), who had an important correspondence with Theodor Storm, and Theodor Fontane (1819-1898). Keller wrote the Bildungsroman Der grüne Heinrich (Heinrich the Green), as well as the cycle of short novels Züricher Novellen (Zurich Novels) and Die Leute von Seldwyla (The People of Seldwyla), to which Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe belongs (Romeo and Juliet in the town). Fontane, who had started out as a journalist, wrote novels like Frau Jenny Treibel or Effi Briest. He broadened the point of view of him more and more, from a central figure to the social novel.

In Austria rural themes are found in Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916), Ludwig Anzengruber (1839-1889) and, already at the end of the movement, Peter Rosegger (1843-1918).

Naturalism (1880-1900)

Gerhart Hauptmann.

Naturalism was a new artistic and literary trend that ruthlessly wanted to reveal the circumstances of all parts of society. What had been frowned upon by realists in the mid-century became the main theme of this literary current. Without taking into account the traditional borders of the so-called good taste, nor the bourgeois artistic sensibility, the truth had to be expressed in equal parts between reality and reproduction. A stylistic novelty was the use of common language, slang and dialect. The individual hero, who can decide freely, is no longer at the center of stories and plays, but rather the man determined by a group, its origin, environment or time.

Unlike Russian or French literature, there are hardly any major naturalistic novels in German. Arno Holz (1863-1929) and Johannes Schlaf (1862-1941) wrote poetry and short prose (Papa Hamlet). Known is the work of Holz Kunst = Natur - x (Art = nature - x), where x must tend to zero, so art should be nothing more than the reproduction of reality. The contribution of Gerhart Hauptmann (1862-1946) was more important, with plays such as Die Weber (The Weavers), which gained international recognition.

On the edge of naturalism is Frank Wedekind (1864-1918). His play Frühlings Erwachen , with its erotic pubescent theme, already shows snippets of Fin de siècle .

From the turn of the century to 1933

With Naturalism and Symbolism begins what are often called the modern classics. This period is marked by stylistic pluralism, the parallel appearance of various currents. Most of the authors can be included in at least one of these currents.

Symbolism

For the modern classics the term «avant-garde» came to have a special importance. The literary stream began at the end of the 19th century with the French Symbolists, with poets such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. The most important representatives of German Symbolism were Stefan George (1868-1933), Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874-1929) and Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). Symbolism follows a completely different program than Naturalism, described above, which was running at about the same time. The symbolist lyric is elitist and gives the highest value to beauty and form. A similar artistic style is the Jugendstil, the era is often referred to as Fin de siècle.

Centres of German literature were Berlin and Vienna, which is why we often talk about the Berliner Moderne and the Wiener Moderne. The movement came to an abrupt end with the start of World War I.

Modern epic

Franz Kafka.

In parallel to these currents focused programmatically against tradition, prose works appeared that took up traditional forms and perfected them; Rainer Maria Rilke should be named with his novel Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge (1910; The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge), Heinrich Mann (1871-1950) (whose first period can be considered a precursor of Expressionism), Thomas Mann (1875-1955) (with great artificial novels and stories transfixed by a theme), Hermann Broch (1886-1951), Robert Musil (1880-1942), Franz Kafka (1883- 1924) and Hermann Hesse (1877-1962).

Heimatkunst

The Heimatkunst is a literary current in the German language that spread approximately between 1890 and 1910. It appeared immediately after Naturalism. The main promoter of the movement was the writer and historian of literature Adolf Bartels, who used the expression “Heimatkunst” for the first time in an 1898 article in the magazine Der Kunstwart.. Together with Friedrich Lienhard, he spread the new concept through the short-lived, Berlin-edited Heimat magazine.

The new movement was to move away from the subject of the big city and towards the homeland (Heimat) and the people. In a broader concept, Heimat not only refers to life in the countryside, but also the city can be homeland. Like Naturalism, from which it takes its techniques, not only should love for the homeland be expressed, but also criticism, which they did not achieve in a coherent way. In recent studies it has been discovered that this movement already presented some thoughts of the later environmental movement.

With its basic conservative and anti-modern attitude, it was a precedent of the Nazi literature of blood and soil, the Blut- und Boden .

Expressionism (circa 1910-1920) and Avant-garde

Bertolt Brecht

Expressionism is considered the last great literary trend in Germany. Like Symbolism, it belongs to the literary currents of the Vanguard. The avant-garde are literatures that emphasize novelty and theory, and appear with an anti-bourgeois gesture, which reached its peak in Dadaism, which educated classes disqualified as Nonsense-Literatur, absurd literature. He also received influences from Surrealism and Futurism. These currents were interrupted in Germany by the coming to power of Nazism, in Europe by the Second World War, and to some extent even an end forced by external circumstances.

The poem Weltende (End of the World) by Jakob van Hoddis, written in 1911, whose few lines «seem to turn us into other people”, as Johannes R. Becher put it. Gottfried Benn (1886-1956), who had just finished his medical training, caused a lot to talk about with his little book Morgue, which included poems with verses in prose, which until now had not been, or had barely been used (for example Leichenbeschauhaus, “Morgue”; Geburt im Kreißsaal, “Birth in the ward childbirth», and Prostitution).

Other important authors of Expressionism were Alfred Döblin (1878-1957), Albert Ehrenstein, Carl Einstein, Salomo Friedlaender, Walter Hasenclever, Georg Heym, Heinrich Eduard Jacob (1889-1967), Ludwig Rubiner, Else Lasker-Schüler (1869 -1945), August Stramm, Ernst Toller (1893-1939), Georg Trakl (1887-1914) and Alfred Wolfenstein.

New Sachlichkeit

Following Expressionism came an increasingly sober, realistic attitude, often referred to as Neue Sachlichkeit, New Objectivity. In the theater, mention should be made of Ödön von Horvath (1901-1938), Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) and the director Erwin Piscator; in the epic, among others, Erich Kästner (1899-1974), Anna Seghers (1900-1983), Erich Maria Remarque and Arnold Zweig, as well as Marieluise Fleißer, Irmgard Keun or Gabriele Tergit.

National Socialism and exile

Students from the University of Berlin at the Opernplatz, Unter den Linden, in Berlin, on May 11, 1933, burning books.

On January 30, 1933, power in the German Reich was handed over to the National Socialists. That same year there were public burnings of books. Independent literature and literary criticism ceased to be possible. The same thing happened in Austria after the annexation in 1938; books were also burned there. The Regime fostered a literature called blood and soil, Blut- und Boden , alongside which survived a literature more or less without ideology dedicated to entertainment. Prominent opponents of the Regime were threatened with death if they did not go into exile; this is how Jakob van Hoddis and Carl von Ossietzky were killed. Some authors remained in the country, even though they were opponents of the Nazis, forming part of the so-called Innere Emigration, the «internal emigration». They were condemned to silence and wrote for the personal archive or on apolitical subjects, but the distinction with specifically apolitical authors is often difficult. Well-known names who stayed in the country included Gottfried Benn, Ernst Jünger, Erich Kästner, Ehm Welk, Gerhart Hauptmann, Heimito von Doderer, Wolfgang Koeppen, Josef Weinheber, Mirko Jelusich, Franz Koch and Robert Hohlbaum. In addition, the following members of the Dichterakademie: Will Vesper, Börries Freiherr von Münchhausen, Hans Grimm, Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer, Wilhelm Schäfer, Werner Beumelburg, Hans Friedrich Blunck, Agnes Miegel, Hanns Johst, Emil Strauß, as well as Rudolf G. Binding.

1,500 authors known by name went into exile, often by devious paths; many committed suicide (Stefan Zweig, Kurt Tucholsky). Centers of the Exilliteratur, the literature of exile, arose in many countries of the world, among others, also in Switzerland, which was especially important for playwrights. In view of the number of authors, almost all those with a certain renown went into exile, one can hardly speak of a thematically or stylistically unified literature in exile. Authors who remained productive in exile included Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Anna Seghers, Franz Werfel, and Hermann Broch. Others, like Alfred Döblin, Heinrich Eduard Jacob and Joseph Roth, did not adapt.

After the war, many authors stayed abroad, some returned. After his flight from Vienna to London after the Anschluss, Elias Canetti was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature as a British citizen. It is noteworthy that many could no longer connect with their successes before the War and exile.

Literature after 1945

After the end of World War II, there was talk of the literary zero point. The Trümmerliteratur, the literature of rubble, described a world in pieces. Soon it was tried to recover the literary development; only now, twenty years after his death, was the work of Franz Kafka discovered. The Wiener Gruppe employed new forms of lyric; in West Germany the informal group Gruppe 47 was formed, whose members set the tone in Postwar literature.

With the creation of the new German states, different conditions were created for literature. The literatures of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Austria and Switzerland are explained below separately, but the differences should not be overestimated: it is a single language and, with the exception of the GDR, a common market.

Federal Republic of Germany

Günter Grass (dcha.).

Immediately after 1945 the horror of the war and the situation of those who returned home were expressed. A new way of doing it was the short story, for example those of Heinrich Böll (1917-1985). After the appearance of the German Economic Miracle, literature focused on the present, novels by Wolfgang Koeppen (1906-1996), Siegfried Lenz (1926-2014), Christine Brückner (1921-1996) and Martin Walser (1927) deal with the subject. Günter Grass (1927-2015), Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999, wrote Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum), a picaresque novel, which dealt with recent German history and which also got very good reviews abroad. Important poets of the time were Günter Eich (1907-1972), who also wrote works for the radio, a very popular genre at the time. Among others, Helmut Heißenbüttel (1921-1996) wrote calligrams.

Authors who can be classified with difficulty are Uwe Johnson (1934-1984), Ror Wolf (1932), influenced by the Nouveau roman, and Arno Schmidt (1914-1979), a friend of making experiments. Wolfgang Hildesheimer (1916-1991) wrote absurd plays at a time when the theater was still marked by Bertolt Brecht.

With the Vietnam War and May 1968, political poetry increased (Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929), Erich Fried (1921-1988)) and political theater (Peter Weiss (1916-1982), Rolf Hochhuth (1931)). A contrary current was the New subjectivity, which dealt with private issues (among others Jürgen Theobaldy). A prominent pop and underground poet of the 1970s was Rolf Dieter Brinkmann (1940-1975).

In the 1980s Botho Strauß (*1944) (theater) and Ulla Hahn (*1946) and later Durs Grünbein (*1962) (poetry) stood out.

German Democratic Republic

1902 Theodor Mommsen (DE)
1908 Rudolf Eucken (DE)
1910 Paul Heyse (DE)
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann (DE)
1919 Carl Spitteler (CH)
1929 Thomas Mann (DE)
1946 Hermann Hesse (CH/DE)
1966 Nelly Sachs (DE)
1972 Heinrich Böll (DE)
1981 Elias Canetti (UK)
1999 Günter Grass (DE)
2004 Elfriede Jelinek (AT)
2009 Herta Müller (RU/DE)
2019 Peter Handke (AT)

The GDR defined itself as Literaturgesellschaft ("literature society", the expression is from Johannes R. Becher), fought against Poesiefeindlichkeit (" enmity to poetry") of the West and the transformation into a ghetto of high culture. A democratization had to be carried out at the level of production, distribution and criticism. However, censorship led democratization to the absurd, since the state tried to instrumentalize literature for its purposes, that of real socialism.

The Regime promoted a literature based on socialist realism and a plan on that basis was released under the name Bitterfelder Weg ("Bitterfeld Road"). Among the authors sympathetic to the government, Hermann Kant (1926) should be mentioned above all. Johannes Bobrowski (1917-1965) wrote the most important prose of the time. In the 1970s there is a trend towards a new subjectivity, just like in West Germany. Many authors had to or could leave the GDR, such as Wolf Biermann (1936), Sarah Kirsch (1935) and before Uwe Johnson (1934-1984).

Important authors were among others: Christa Wolf (1929-2012), Heiner Müller (1929-1995), Irmtraud Morgner (1933-1990), Stephan Hermlin (1915-1997), Stefan Heym (1913-2001), Jurek Becker (1937-1997).

Austria

After the Second World War some authors tried to link up with the modern tradition interrupted by Austrofascism and Nazism, they were above all the Wiener Gruppe ("Vienna Group") around Gerhard Rühm (*1930) and H. C. Artmann (1921-2000), as well as Albert Paris Gütersloh (1887-1973) and Heimito von Doderer (1896-1966). The affinity for puns is a constant in Austrian literature, to which well-known authors such as Ernst Jandl (1925-2000) and Franzobel (1967) belong. The most important poets were Friederike Mayröcker (1924) and Christine Lavant (1915-1973). Erich Fried emigrated to Great Britain.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Austrian literature flourished, when authors such as Peter Handke (1942), Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-1973), and Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989) permanently changed German-language literature. Important contemporaries such as Norbert Gstrein, Elfriede Jelinek (1946), O. P. Zier, Sabine Gruber and Ruth Aspöck also worked in this tradition.

Switzerland

Paul Celan.

Unlike in Germany or Austria, in Switzerland there was no radical change in German-language literature in 1945. The most important Swiss authors were Max Frisch (1911-1991) and Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990). Both wrote novels and plays, Frisch rather intellectual, Dürrenmatt rather witty/macabre. Other Swiss authors, often in the shadow of the two giants, are Adolf Muschg (1934), Peter Bichsel (1935), Urs Widmer (1938).

The most important association of authors in Switzerland was Gruppe Olten, which disappeared in 2002.

Romania

The most widely read contemporary German-language Romanian author is Eginald Schlattner, who continues to work in Romania. The author of Banat, Herta Müller, 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature, currently lives in Germany.

Above all, mention should be made of Adolf Meschendörfer, in the first half of the XX century, in Kronstadt. But undoubtedly the most important author was Paul Celan, who lived in Vienna for a few months between 1947 and 1948 and finally settled in Paris.

Although most German-speaking Romanians have emigrated, a new literary group, Die Stafette, has formed in the Banat, from which new authors could emerge who could continue the literary tradition.

Contemporary German-language literature

Elfriede Jelinek.

Current, partly already disappearing trends in German-language literature are for example the so-called pop literature and an explosion of newcomers and young authors. These appearances are partly driven by the book market, which has grown enormously since 1945 and in which, at least since the 1990s, even good literature has difficulty gaining public attention.

Today's German-language literature is often blamed for its political indifference, as well as an obsession with autobiographical themes from childhood. A counterpoint is the delivery of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004 to Elfriede Jelinek, who writes feminist and politically engaged literature.

A phenomenon that is already losing its brilliance is centered in southern Germany and Austria. It is about Postmodernism and even more about the literary phenomenon of the postmodern novel. Important authors are Oswald Wiener, Hans Wollschläger, Christoph Ransmayr, Walter Moers and Marlene Streeruwitz.

The best-known German science fiction authors are Andreas Eschbach and Frank Schätzing. The most important black novel writer is Peter Schmidt. Among pop literature, mention should be made of Christian Kracht (Faserland), Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre (Soloalbum) and Rainald Goetz (Irre).

Since the 1990s, multicultural literatures have grown in importance in the German-language area; For example, Turkish-German literature has reached the highest levels, the roots of which lie in the migration literature of the 1960s. An author of Turkish origin like Feridun Zaimoglu belongs to the group of most important young contemporary authors in the German language.. Also representatives of multicultural literatures are Wladimir Kaminer or Rafik Schami, considered important within contemporary German literature.

One of the most important poets since the late 1980s is undoubtedly Thomas Kling (1957-2005), who with his often phonetic style has been able to give poetry in German a revitalizing accent. Marcel Beyer, Durs Grünbein and Uwe Kolbe should also be mentioned among the prominent poets of the late 20th century and early 20th centuries. XXI.

Important contemporary authors of novels include Thomas Brussig, Dietmar Dath, Daniel Kehlmann, Martin Mosebach, Ulrich Peltzer, Ingo Schulze, Uwe Tellkamp and Juli Zeh; among the playwrights Albert Ostermaier, Moritz Rinke or Roland Schimmelpfennig.