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A.M. Gorky Institute
of World Literature
of the Russian Academy of Sciences

IWL RAS Publishing

A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
of the Russian Academy of Sciences

 IWL RAS

Povarskaya 25a, 121069 Moscow, Russia

8-495-690-05-61

edition@imli.ru

iwl.ras.publishing@gmail.com

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Deconstruction of the Myth of Big Brother in the Novels of Thomas Brussig

  • Classification – name: Literary studies
  • Author: Galina V. Kuchumova
  • Pages: 109–120
  • Publisher: A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IWL RAS Publ.)
  • Rights – description: Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 (СС BY-ND)
  • Rights – URL: Visit Website
  • Language of the publication: Russian
  • Type of document: Research Article
  • Collection: Russia – Germany: Literary Encounters (after 1945)
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/978-5-9208-0683-3-109-120
  • EDN:

    https://elibrary.ru/ESOJXN
  • Year of publication: 2022
  • Place of publication: Moscow

  • PDF
  • Kuchumova, G.V. “Deconstruction of the Big Brother (Soviet Union) Myth in the German Novels of Thomas Brussig.” Russia — Germany: Literary Encounters (after 1945). Мoscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2022, pp. 109–120. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/978-5-9208-0683-3-109-120

Information about the author:

Galina V. Kuchumova, DSc in Philology, Professor of the Department of German Philology, Faculty of Philology and Journalism, Social und Humanitarian Institute, Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe shosse 34, 443086 Samara, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8699-0484

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Abstract:

The article studies the process of deconstruction of the image-myth “Big Brother” in the German novels by Thomas Brussig Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee, Helden wie wir. Important forms of dealing with traumatic experience in the life of East Germans under socialism are irony, humor, laughter, parody, grotesque. Anecdotal and humorous components in the novels by Brussig are bidirectional. The author’s laugh destroys the ideological structures and the omnipotence of the “Big Brother” and at the same time expresses sincere nostalgia for the good old days.

  • Keywords: socialism, deconstruction, the image-myth “Big Brother”, anecdote, irony, grotesque, Thomas Brussig, Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee, Helden wie wir.

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