Historiography, Memory and Identity in German Children and Youth Literature: The GDR and FRG in Klaus Kordon’s "Auf der Sonnenseite" (2009)

Abstract

35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the GDR and FRG, processing and addressing the (shared) history of the two countries remains an ongoing responsibility of the contemporary society. The analysis of the youth novel Auf der Sonnenenseite (2009) by Klaus Kordon,  a well-known author of German Children- and Youth Literature, examines from a multidimensional perspective the literary memory that emerges from autobiographic memories and translates into an auto fictional novel. Besides a reflection on the political system of the GDR, by sharing his individual memories, the author permits his readers to gain an insight from a double and emotional perspective into sociopolitical aspects and everyday life in the two German states. In consequence this article starts from the assumption that reading of Kordon may contribute to complementing current historical discourses and to avoiding stereotypes.