Literatur in der Moderne

Ralf Rothmann is one of the most outstanding storytellers of the present day. The portrayals of the Ruhr region and Berlin in his novels and prose work have advanced to become a major literary archive for the development of the Federal Republic. Rothmann’s sensitive scrutiny of the lifeworld of the proletarians and petty bourgeois in the Ruhr valley mining district and in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall thrives on the precise, witty language rich with dialogue. In 2010 he was awarded the Hasenclever Prize. This volume contains Rothmann’s address of thanks, as well as literary essays dealing with general themes (aesthetics, religion, animal figures) as well as detailed studies (for example on the novel “Milch und Kohle” – “Milk and Coal”).The volume also includes annotated first prints of a poem and a letter by Hasenclever as well as two essays on the production of his plays in Meiningen and his play “Der Sohn” (“The Son”). A general section comprises essays on the early writing of Heinrich Böll, on Johannes Bobrowski, Arnold Ulitz, and on the essays of Werner Riegel.