Berlin in Focus: Cultural Transformations in Germany - Hardcover

by Barbara Becker-Cantarino (Author)

This collection of essays breaks new ground in looking at Berlin after the fall of the Wall as the city struggles to re-establish itself as the cultural and political capital of Germany. The essays offer insightful readings of the metropolis, its people and institutions, as a paradigm for modern Germany. They focus on important cultural developments and changes as they occurred especially, but not exclusively, in Berlin. Issues explored include women's role in the restructuring of higher education in Berlin, the impact of State Security at Humboldt University, problems of a growing immigrant population, and the innovative counter-culture ventures in the Prenzlauer Berg district. Other chapters address major cinematic responses to the city by reknowned filmmakers Wim Wenders, Walter Ruttman, and Helke Sander; and the representation of Berlin and the Berlin Wall in modern fiction. This volume makes an important contribution to the discourse on German identity.

Author Biography

BARBARA BECKER-CANTARINO is Research Professor at Ohio State University. She has held Visiting Professorships at the Free University of Berlin and has published studies on Berlin authors and German culture, among them The Enlightenment and Its Legacy (1992) and Literary Discourses on Friendship (1993).