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The Politics of Memory: Looking for Germany in the New Germany
In this illuminating, beautifully written collection of essays, the acclaimed New Yorker writer reports on the zeitgeist of reunified Germany. Jane Kramer surveys the fraught moral and political landscape of today's Germany, where the reunification of East and West has brought into conflict two vastly different memories of what it means to "be German."
- GenresGermanyNonfictionHistory
293 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1996
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About the author
Jane Kramer
33 books16 followers Jane Kramer has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1964 and has written the Letter from Europe since 1981.
Before joining the magazine, Kramer was a staff writer for the Village Voice; her first book, “Off Washington Square,” is a collection of her articles from that paper. She has published two collections of essays from The New Yorker, “Allen Ginsberg in America,” (1969) and “Honor to the Bride,” (1970), which was based on her experiences in Morocco in the late nineteen-sixties.
Since 1970, most of Kramer’s work for the magazine has covered various aspects of European culture, politics, and social history. Many of these articles have been collected in three books: “Unsettling Europe,” (1980); “Europeans,” (1988), which won the Prix Européen de l’Essai “Charles Veillon” and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle award for nonfiction; and “The Politics of Memory: Looking for Germany in the New Germany,” (1996).
A notable exception to Kramer’s European reporting was her 1977 Profile of the pseudonymous Texan Henry Blanton. It was later published as a book, “The Last Cowboy,” (1977), which won the American Book Award for nonfiction. Parts of her book “Lone Patriot,” (2002), on the right-wing American militia leader John Pitner, also first appeared in the magazine. Her article on multiculturalism and political correctness, “Whose Art Is It?,” won the 1993 National Magazine Award for feature writing and was published as a book in 1994.
Jane Kramer lives in Paris, New York, and Umbria, Italy.
Before joining the magazine, Kramer was a staff writer for the Village Voice; her first book, “Off Washington Square,” is a collection of her articles from that paper. She has published two collections of essays from The New Yorker, “Allen Ginsberg in America,” (1969) and “Honor to the Bride,” (1970), which was based on her experiences in Morocco in the late nineteen-sixties.
Since 1970, most of Kramer’s work for the magazine has covered various aspects of European culture, politics, and social history. Many of these articles have been collected in three books: “Unsettling Europe,” (1980); “Europeans,” (1988), which won the Prix Européen de l’Essai “Charles Veillon” and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle award for nonfiction; and “The Politics of Memory: Looking for Germany in the New Germany,” (1996).
A notable exception to Kramer’s European reporting was her 1977 Profile of the pseudonymous Texan Henry Blanton. It was later published as a book, “The Last Cowboy,” (1977), which won the American Book Award for nonfiction. Parts of her book “Lone Patriot,” (2002), on the right-wing American militia leader John Pitner, also first appeared in the magazine. Her article on multiculturalism and political correctness, “Whose Art Is It?,” won the 1993 National Magazine Award for feature writing and was published as a book in 1994.
Jane Kramer lives in Paris, New York, and Umbria, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 28, 2022
Helped me think more about Germany for my essay
July 21, 2015
This book was written by a New Yorker writer and published in 1996, but completed in 1991.I picked this book up at my local library in my ongoing attempt to familiarize myself with Germany, its geography and its culture. I definitely learned the difference between the Kreutzberg and Prenzlauer berg neighborhoods in Berlin. I also was fascinated by Hartmut Bitomsky.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews