School of
Modern Languages

GN3123/GN3124 Dissent in the GDR: The Case of Christa Wolf

Module Title: Dissent in the GDR: The Case of Christa Wolf
Module Code: GN3123/GN3124
Module Definition: Level: 3, Credits: 20, Semester: 1 & 2
Module Leader(s): Mr. P.J. Graves

Module overview

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was a dictatorship with a difference. It was originally established, of course, not through a popular revolution but by force of arms, the occupation of eastern Germany by the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, as a state it enjoyed considerable support from some writers and intellectuals who, after the terrible Hitler years, saw in the ideals of communism the chance of creating a just society on German soil. These hopes, as we know, were not fulfilled, and the state which was supposed to embody them was swept away in 1990. But during the years of its existence those who had originally supported it, yet could see its failings, faced a dilemma: they could either turn their back on the whole project and leave for the West, a course taken by many from the mid-1970s onwards, or they could remain and work for change in the hope that the system could yet be reformed to reflect the humane values it proclaimed.

This latter course was the one taken by Christa Wolf, the leading writer of the GDR and one of the most widely translated of post-war German writers. After a childhood in Nazi Germany she came to Marxism in the late 1940s and committed herself to the new East German state. Her writing is highly autobiographical, and through it one can trace her original hopes, her progressive disillusionment, and the conflicts, political, moral, emotional, that resulted. We shall read a selection of her major works, including probably her greatest novel, Nachdenken über Christa T. (1968), also Kassandra (1983), a narrative and four lectures (published in the GDR at first only with cuts), and Sommerstück (1989), a novel conjuring up the image of a rural retreat away from political pressures, but marked by deep self-doubt and an ever more desperate endeavour to sustain hope. These texts will be interspersed with some of her essays, written both before and after the Wende and examining the social role of intellectuals. The final fictional work will be Was bleibt (1990), a short story which generated a bitter literary dispute at the time of unification and extended into an attempt, by some critics in the West, at wholesale demolition of her work. Just as the dust was beginning to settle, it was revealed that, from 1959-62, she had been a low-grade informer for the Stasi, and she once again became the target of virulent criticism. We shall consider the issues raised by these controversies and look at Wolf’s own reactions both to them and to the experience of unification generally.

Christa Wolf writes in a reflective style which acknowledges both the reality of the external world and the uniqueness of individual subjectivity. At the same time, whilst not aligning herself with radical feminism she examines, especially in her later work, what she sees as certain peculiarly female attitudes and speculates on the course human history might have taken if such qualities had prevailed. In a patriarchal state like the GDR such reflections were also seen as potentially subversive. Christa Wolf is a demanding writer, but the rewards of reading her can be very considerable.

Teaching and learning methods

After an introductory session the course will be conducted on the basis of seminar papers presented by students. These are a requirement for credit but are not part of the assessment, which is on the basis of two essays, one due towards the end of each semester.

Assessment

Three-hour written exam at the end of Semester 2.