The Politics of Remembrance in the Novels of Günter Grass

This manuscript argues for the importance of Günter Grass as a political thinker in addition to his status as a novelist and public intellectual, capable of forming ethical responses to contemporary issues like neoliberalism and place of the petit bourgeoisie in social life. I define Grass’s trajectory as a thinker through his novels and speeches. Primarily, I draw attention to the role memory plays in Grass’s thought: that his work represented an intellectual and aesthetic response to the role Nazism continued to play in West German politics in the post war era. To Grass, Nazism represented a resurgent threat unaddressed following the end of World War II. Later, Grass amended his concept of memory politics to address neoliberal capitalism, reiterating his radicalism and affirming the need for German society to resist the rise of extreme ideologies. I argue for the importance of Gnter Grass as a political thinker in addition to his status as a novelist and public intellectual, capable of forming ethical responses to issues like neoliberalism and place of the petit bourgeoisie in politics. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgments 9 Chapter 1 Introduction: Class, Politics, and Memory 10 Chapter 2 The Petite Bourgeoisie in the Danzig Trilogy, 1959–1965 30 Chapter 3 “A Literary Concept”: The Kulturnation in Divided Germany, 1965–1979 60 Chapter 4 “Distant but Not Foreign”: Memory Politics and the Future of Remembrance, 1980–2006 94 Chapter 5 Conclusion: Penelope and Sisyphus 125 Full Reference List 138 Index 145 Class;,Politics;,memory;,Petit,Bourgeoisie;,Germany;,German,literature;,Foreign;,European,history;,European,literature Class,Politics,memory,Petit Bourgeoisie,Germany,German literature,Foreign,European history,European literature "This manuscript argues for the importance of Günter Grass as a political thinker in addition to his status as a novelist and public intellectual, capable of forming ethical responses to contemporary issues like neoliberalism and place of the petit bourgeoisie in social life. I define Grass's trajectory as a thinker through his novels and speeches. Primarily, I draw attention to the role memory plays in Grass's thought: that his work represented an intellectual and aesthetic response to the role Nazism continued to play in West German politics in the post war era. To Grass, Nazism represented a resurgent threat unaddressed following the end of World War II. Later, Grass amended his concept of memory politics to address neoliberal capitalism, reiterating his radicalism and affirming the need for German society to resist the rise of extreme ideologies"-- Provided by publisher. I argue for the importance of Günter Grass as a political thinker in addition to his status as a novelist and public intellectual, capable of forming ethical responses to issues like neoliberalism and place of the petit bourgeoisie in politics. I define Grass's political trajectory through his novels and speeches.