This is an outdated version published on 2024-10-30. Read the most recent version.

Antifascist Conversations

On Literary Political Geography

Authors

  • Felicitas Kuebler Institute of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt
  • Matthias Naumann Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Keywords:

political geography, Far Right, transformation, memory, East German #baseballschlägerjahre

Abstract

The hashtag baseballschlägerjahre (years of the baseball bat) recently ignited a public debate concerning the ubiquity of far-right violence in post-reunification East Germany. Numerous adolescents of the 1990s and early 2000s shared their experiences with far-right violence at that time. In recent years, a notable number of books by young East German authors have been published that address this experience. We argue in this essay that these books can provide pathways for three major conversations: 1) between the political and literary geographies of far-right violence, 2) about the legacies of historical far-right violence and how they continue to unfold in the region, and 3) between literature, academia, and activism.

References

Bangel, C. (2017) Oder Florida. München: Piper.

Begrich, D. (2023) ‘Östliche Versprechen. Warum die alte DDR den Rechten zum Experimentieren taugt.’ In Botsch, G., Burschel, F., Kopke, C., and Korsch, F. (eds) Rechte Ränder: Faschismus, Gesellschaft und Staat. Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, pp. 277–296.

Bolz, H. (2022) Nullerjahre. Jugend in blühenden Landschaften. Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch.

Irmschler, P. (2020) Superbusen. Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag.

Kubiczek, A. (2014) Das fabelhafte Jahr der Anarchie. Berlin: Rowohlt.

Lemke, G. (2021) Kinder von Hoy: Freiheit, Glück und Terror. Berlin: Suhrkamp.

McRae Andrew, L. (2018) ‘Towards a Political Literary Geography.’ Literary Geographies, 4(1), pp. 34–37.

Meyer, C. (2006) Als wir träumten. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

Müllensiefen, D. (2023) Aus unseren Feuern. Berlin: Kanon.

Präkels, M. (2017) Als ich mit Hitler Schnapskirschen aß. Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag.

Rabe, A. (2023) Eine Möglichkeit von Glück. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.

Rbb 24 (2024). ‘Ostbeauftragter lobt Mut von Protestierenden in ostdeutschen Kleinstädten.’ [Online] [Accessed 8 March 2024] https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2024/02/ostbeauftragter-der-bundesregierung-carsten-schneider-demosntrationen-in-kleinstaedten.html

Richter, P. (2015) 89/90. München: Luchterhand.

Rietzschel, L. (2018) Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen. Berlin: Ullstein.

Schulz, D. (2022) Wir waren wie Brüder. Berlin: Hanser.

Werrner, L. (2023). Zwischen den Dörfern auf Hundert. Berlin: Albino.

Witte, G. (2008) Metzgers Meisterstück. Kükenshagen: Scheunen-Verlag.

Downloads

Published

2024-10-30

Versions

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2024)

Section

Thinking Space

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).