Heinrich Böll, Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa… [Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We. . .]

Hannelore G. Mundt (University of Wyoming)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1950

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story Collection

Resources

Introductions to works by German authors who first published after World War II invariably include two terms closely associated with the beginnings of post-war West Germany. The first of these, the so-called “Stunde Null” [Zero Hour], is a reference to a perceived cultural and literary discontinuity when the reign of National Socialism ended on 8 May 1945, and a new political world emerged that would divide Germany for nearly half a century. The second term is “Kahlschlag” [clearing of the thickets], describing an attempt to write literature deliberately free of National Socialist rhetoric and ideology. Both terms reveal how essential it was for Germans to distance themselves and post-…

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2789 words

Citation: Mundt, Hannelore G.. "Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa…". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 October 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16214, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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