Overview

Arguably the most important—and influential—German woman writer of the last century, Christa Wolf was long heralded as ""die gesamtdeutsche Autorin,"" an author for all of Germany; but, after 1989 in unified Germany, Wolf found herself suddenly embroiled in controversies that challenged her integrity and consigned her to an ideologically suspect identity as ""DDR Schriftstellerin” (GDR writer) or “Staatsdichterin” (state poet). What Remains: Responses to the Legacy of Christa Wolf asks the question of what truly remains of her legacy in the annals of contemporary German culture and history. Unlike most of what appeared in the wake of Wolf’s death, however, the contributions to this international volume seek neither to monumentalize her nor to dismantle her stature, but to employ a range of methodologies—comparative, intertextual, psychoanalytic, historical, transcultural—to offer sensitive assessments of Wolf’s major literary texts, as well as of her lesser known work in genres such as film and essay.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gerald Fetz ,  Patricia Herminghouse
Publisher:   Berghahn Books
Imprint:   Berghahn Books
ISBN:  

9781836953678

ISBN 10:   1836953674
Pages:   292
Publication Date:   01 November 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Introduction Gerald Fetz and Patricia Herminghouse Part I: Patterns of Memory: The Trauma of the Forgotten Chapter 1. “Faraway So Close”: Transcultural Memory as Christa Wolf ’s “Last Word” Silke von der Emde Chapter 2. Who’s Afraid of Christa Wolf or The Overcoat of Dr. Freud: Memory and Its Discontents Martina Kolb Chapter 3. Fetishism or Working Through? Concerning the Role of Dr. Freud in City of Angels or, The Overcoat of Dr. Freud David Bathrick Part II: Christa Wolf as a Writer of Time and Her Times Chapter 4. The Notion of Heimat in Christa Wolf ’s Patterns of Childhood Marijke Mulder Chapter 5. Writing the Self: Literary Vergegenwärtigung in Christa Wolf ’s Patterns of Childhood and City of Angels or, The Overcoat of Dr. Freud Mark Lauer Chapter 6. The Heterochronic Narrative of Christa Wolf Heike Polster Chapter 7. Subjective Authenticity as Realism: Christa Wolf and Georg Lukács Robert Blankenship Part III: Christa Wolf in the Public Sphere Chapter 8. To Be Recognized Again: Memory, Amnesia, and Sincerity in Christa Wolf Christine Kanz Chapter 9. “Was bleibt aber, stiften die Dichter”: Christa Wolf ’s Contested Role as Spokesperson for Generations of Readers and Women Writers Janine Ludwig Chapter 10. “This Is No Longer My World”: The Multiple Alienations of Christa Wolf Daniela Colombo Part IV: Illness, Anxiety, and Trauma Chapter 11. “To Follow the Trail of Pain”: Coming to Terms with the Past in Christa Wolf ’s In the Flesh Deborah Janson Chapter 12. Deliberating the “ängstliche Margarete”: Coping with Anxiety in Christa Wolf ’s City of Angels or, the Overcoat of Dr. Freud Ivett Rita Guntersdorfer Chapter 13. Coming Full Circle: Trauma, Empathy, and Writing in “Change of Perspective” (“Blickwechsel,” 1970) and “August” (2011) Friederike Eigler Part V: Christa Wolf and the Visual Arts Chapter 14. A Woman’s Voice on Screen: Christa Wolf and the Cinema Barton Byg Chapter 15. Women at the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown: The Berlin Wall and the Collapse of Female Consciousness in Divided Heaven and Good Bye, Lenin! Susanne Rinner Chapter 16. The Impact of Christa Wolf ’s Cassandra on Women Artists in East Germany April A. Eisman Index

Reviews

“Overall, the volume is carefully edited and presents a range of interesting angles on Wolf’s work… no doubt it will serve as a useful resource for researchers and students of Wolf’s work and GDR culture more broadly.” • The German Quarterly

Author Information

Gerald Fetz is Dean and Professor Emeritus, University of Montana. He has published books and articles on several German-Language writers, including Martin Walser, Thomas Bernhard, Lilian Faschinger, Franz Innerhofer, Franz Kakfa, W.G. Sebald, as well as on German historical drama and literature of the Wende. He currently serves on the Board of the German Studies Association and is the chief editor at the University of Montana Press.

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