Birgit Haas (Bristol) p.62-79
2003 Issue 1
Abstract
Against the backdrop of the East-West stereotypes that emerged shortly after 1989, this essay analyzes three plays written during the early years of reunification, illuminating differences and similarities in form and content in Manfred Karge’s Mauer-Stücke (1990), Elfriede Müller’s Goldener Oktober (1990) and Rolf Hochhuth’s Wessis in Weimar (1993). As immediate responses to the ‘Wende’, these plays demonstrate the speed with which the culture clash between East and West found its way into contemporary drama. This essay argues that the playwrights, in addressing the economic, psychological, and sociological consequences of reunification, involuntarily contributed to the formation of a set of clichés, ranging from the ‘raping’ of the East to the wrecked ‘marriage’ of the two German states and to the ‘looting’ of the former GDR. Although the plays discussed can be regarded as typical examples of the way in which the consequences of the ‘Wende’ have been depicted, they particularly have in common their use of the setting of the former ‘death strip’ in Berlin to emphasize the strong emotional undercurrents of the post-1989 debates.