German history and German identity

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Uwe Johnson's major novel, Jahrestage , is recognized as one of the most important and ambitious works of post-war German literature. The core to this novel is remembrance, and Jahrestage is a stunning requiem for the victims of twentieth-century German history. D.G. Bond concentrates on the text, analysing the novel and the calendar form of this work, and paying particular attention to the ways in which even the minutest details of Johnson's narrative reveal its historical themes. The author discusses Johnson's poetics, offers readings of his other major works, and considers the most recent trends in Johnson reception. He shows how an uncompromising view of German identity after the crimes of the Third Reich constitutes the very heart of Johnson's work.