Writers and Politics in Germany 1945–2008 (review)

Stuart Parkes's study is an eloquent homage to the quintessentially German culture of debate that has developed out of the particular social and political circumstances of postwar Europe. He not only summarizes German writers' contributions to political and public discourse from the restoration period to the present, but also, following a linear narrative, traces the parallels between political and literary developments. As Parkes's main concern is the importance of heightened politicization of German writers, he discusses the resulting intellectual conflicts. His book provides an excellent review of German postwar history and culture for readers who will greatly appreciate the objective tone of this remarkable contribution to German culture studies.

Parkes's work on the FRG's development of its specific political and economic identity as well as literature's role in creating its intellectual identity in a democracy is particularly noteworthy. He shows how authors helped to create "the democracy of the Federal Republic and sought to make improvements on the political system established in the GDR" (196). German writers, Parkes claims in the concluding chapter, have set an example of a culture of debate that demonstrates the result of a passionate, prolonged interaction between intellectuals, the public, and politicians on German national identity; a debate that is very much concerned with social justice and freedom of speech.

The author's particular achievement lies undoubtedly in the thorough treatment of the increasing cultural and ideological division of FRG and GDR perspectives, developments, and interactions, while effectively sounding out the role of writers in a political and public discourse in which the idea of a reunified Germany was never abandoned. He pays great attention to writers and the student movement of the 1960s and 70s, and examines their literary and political rhetoric found in other media in which authors chose to express their political opinions, such as daily press and independent journals. Parkes's thorough and balanced discussion of the domestic reactions to RAF terrorism during the German Autumn in 1977 is especially successful.

At the heart of the author's focus lies the very important question of "how writers fulfilled the social role of intellectuals" and what such a role might be (195). Although Parkes cannot answer these questions, he nevertheless successfully portrays the widely accepted critical stance that German writers as intellectuals deemed appropriate, which they indeed largely saw as their duty. Parkes draws a most interesting conclusion: German authors, in particular those of the postwar generation, have often criticized political power as such, and they "appear to exclude the possibility of the benign use of power" (196). Parkes study shows the very involved debates of writers who saw it as their duty to speak up against ideologically tainted policies. In his final chapter, he draws attention to a changing relationship to the Nazi past, and asks if the intellectual climate has swung to the right. With that, he underlines an important concern: To what extent, especially in the German case, is political involvement a generational project?