Analysis of the impact of the Second World War on the ideal of the family in the autobiography Am Beispiel meines Bruders by Uwe Timm

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of German Languages and Literatures, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jor.2024.370478.2492

Abstract

Abstract

Contemporary German literature is significantly tied to the Second World War and its consequences, a war that many Germans initially showed great enthusiasm for and considered it "pure Aryan nationalism", but once the war ended, called it a great historical mistake. The subject of the Second World War has been one of the most important pillars of contemporary literature for many years: some prominent writers were eyewitnesses of the war and its devastations. Among these writers we aimed to study Uwe Timm and his work Am Beispiel meines Bruders that challenged the life of his family which was directly affected by the Second World War and its consequences. The book with a frank and at the same time satirical language depicts the destructive effect of the war on family relationships as a devastating phenomenon. In this work, Uwe Timm's brother, is the main personage of the story, but the story of his parents and his sister is also intertwined with his fate. Even though Uwe was three years old when his brother died, leaving only a vague image in his mind, Uwe tried to create his work by using the photos and letters that his brother communicated with his family from the battlefield. The following article, based on the image of a German family's vision of the Second World War, in Am Beispiel meines Bruders, examines the impact of the war which leads to discrimination between children by their parents on the family relationships between Tim's family members.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Assmann, Aleida, Ute Frevert. Geschichtsvergessenheit – Geschichtsversessenheit. Vom Umgang mit deutschen Vergangenheiten nach 1945. Stuttgart, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt GmbH, 1999.
Fuchs, Anne. The Tinderbox of Memory: Generation and Masculinity in Väterliteratur. by Christoph Meckel, Uwe Timm, Ulla Hahn, and Dagmar Leupold, Edited by Anne Fuchs and Mary Cosgrove.. 2006.
Grote, Georg. “Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture”. German Memory Contests: The Quest for Identity in Literature, Film, And Discourse Since 1990. New York, Camden House, 2006. 41-66.
Gülcher, Nina. Zwischen Kontinuität und Bruch. Generationenverhältnisse in der deutschsprachigen Literatur nach 1945. Freie Universität Berlin. 2017. Dissertation.
Haddadi, Mohammad Hossein. “Ernst Junger and his withdrawal from war literature.” In: Pazhuhesh-e Zabanha-ye Khareji. Vol. 1. No. 18. Tehran. 2004. 17-26.
---. “Role of World Literature and Comparative Literature in the Cultural Interaction of Nations”. Research in Contemmporary World Literature (Pazhuhesh-e Zabanha-ye Kharji). voll 26. no 2. Tehran. 2021. 576-591.
Hielscher, Martin. Uwe Timm. München, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2007.
Hory, Abolfazl. “Modes of Representing Narrative Discourse: Stream of Consciousness versus Interior Monologue”. In: Research in Contemmporary World Literature [Pazhuhesh-e Zabanha-ye Kharji]. voll 16. no 61. Tehran. 2011. 25-40.
Köhler, Lotte. ed. Hannah Arendt and Heinrich Blücher: Briefe 1936- 1968. 2. Auflage. München, Piper Verlag. 1996.
Radebold, Hartmut, Abwesende Väter und Kriegskindheit. Fortbestehende Folgen und in Psychoanalysen. 3. aktualisierte Auflage. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 2004.
Schmück, Jochen et al. Anarchie ist Gesetz und Freiheit ohne Gewalt, Uwe Timm zum 60. Geburtstag. Berlin, Oppo Verlag, 1993.
Timm, Uwe. Am Beispiel meines Bruders. Translated by Mahmood Hosseinizad, Teheran, 2019.
Welzer, Harald. Opa war kein Nazi. Nationalsozialismus und Holocaust im Familiengedächtnis. Frankfurt am Main, Fischer Verlag, 2008.
Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 30, Issue 1
March 2025
Pages 49-66

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics