Adolescence in the 'Ostalgie' Generation

Reading Jakob Hein's Mein Erstes T-Shirt against Sonnenallee, Zonenkinder, and Good Bye, Lenin!

Author: Thesz, Nicole

Source: Oxford German Studies, Volume 37, Number 1, 2008 , pp. 107-123(17)

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Abstract:

Jakob Hein's collection of vignettes, Mein erstes T-Shirt, has been read as part of the post-Wall vogue of Ostalgie that included the films Good Bye, Lenin! and Sonnenallee as well as Jana Hensel's Zonenkinder. While all of these works to a certain extent examine youth in the GDR, this paper argues that Hein's stories differ significantly. Ostalgie reconstructs memories of GDR objects and identity, whereas Hein primarily analyses images of adolescence in the 1970s and 1980s. Hein, who is a youth psychiatrist, conveys a dual perspective, using an adult's irony to criticize the effect of educational practices on children. He diverges from the nostalgic tendencies of popular post-wall works, and instead explores the nature of maturation, memory, and the awareness of passing time.

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/174592108x334472

Publication date: 2008-05-01

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