THE “OSSI-VESSI” PROBLEM IN GERMAN LITERATURE AFTER THE
REUNIFICATION OF GERMANY (POETRY IN 1990s–2000s)

Kudryavtseva Tamara Viktorovna, Doctor of philological sciences, leading researcher, Institute of world literature named after A. M. Gorky of RAS (25a Povarskaya street, Moscow, Russia), muchina@yandex.ru
Sharypina Tatiana Aleksandrovna, Doctor of philological sciences, professor, head of sub-department of foreign literature, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod (37 Bolshaya Pokrovskaya street, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia), swawa@yandex.ru

316.1

10.21685/2072-3024-2016-2-10

Background. The purpose of the article is to show the differences in evaluation of the event known as “reunification” (Wiedervereinigung) of Germany by poets of different generations from Eastern and Western Germany. A comparative analysis of poetic texts devoted to this problem allows to reveal the peculiarities of the Eastern and Western perception of the integration process at various stages of its deployment.
Materials and methods. The research tasks were implemented on the one hand on the basis of consideration and critical analysis of the concepts of well-known domestic and foreign researchers, on the other hand – by means of analysis of many poetic texts both by West German and East German authors. The methodological foundation is based on the historical and literary, comparative-typological research technique.
Results. The reaction of rejection of the Western way of life by many poets from the former GDR may be considered as a result of lost illusions on the subject of the capitalist paradise and consumer society. In this sense, they joined social and critical poets of Germany, continuing the tradition of West German foreign poetry at the turn of the fifties and the sixties.
Conclusions. A conclusion is drawn about an ambiguous, overwhelmingly nega-tive or skeptical attitude to this political act that was reflected in the collective con-sciousness of different generations and social groups living in the West and East of the country. The ambivalent nature of the reception of this phenomenon is explained by psychological, social, cultural, political and ideological reasons.

German literature, cultural politics, reunification, identification, mentality.

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