Generational Shifts in Contemporary German Culture

In the debates on German history and culture that have been going on since 1945, the concept of generations has become ever more prominent. Recent and ongoing shifts in how the various generations are seen -- and see themselves -- in relation to history and to each other have taken on key importance in contemporary German cultural studies. Events such as the Second World War and the Holocaust, the expulsions of ethnic Germans from Central and Eastern Europe, the immigration of laborers...
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In the debates on German history and culture that have been going on since 1945, the concept of generations has become ever more prominent. Recent and ongoing shifts in how the various generations are seen -- and see themselves -- in relation to history and to each other have taken on key importance in contemporary German cultural studies. Events such as the Second World War and the Holocaust, the expulsions of ethnic Germans from Central and Eastern Europe, the immigration of laborers and asylum seekers, the student movement, even reunification have now evolved from solely first-generational lived experiences to historical moments now seen also through the eyes of successor generations. The concept of the generation, seen as a category of memory, thus holds a key to comprehending major transitions in German collective, national, and cultural identity. The changing generational perspectives of German writers and filmmakers not only reflect but also influence these trends, exposing the differences one would anticipate between generational views, as well as conscious and unconscious continuities. Moreover, as younger artists reframe established interpretations of recent history, older generations, most notably the 1968ers, are also contributing to these shifts by reassessing their own experiences and cultural contributions. This volume of essays by German Studies scholars from the US and Germany applies current discussions surrounding the concept of generations in German culture to contemporary works dealing with major sociohistorical events since the Nazi period. It reveals how theories of generation, when applied to the analysis of the representation of these events, help explain major transitions in German identity today. Laurel Cohen-Pfister is Associate Professor in the German Department at Gettysburg College, and Susanne Vees-Gulani is Assistant Professor of German and Comparative Literature in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Case Western Reserve University.