Thomas C. Fox Border Crossings. An Introduction to East German Prose.

     Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. 335pp.

In this new book, Thomas C. Fox succeeds in a delicate and timely venture—to introduce a substantial segment of important East German prose to "an interdisciplinary readership" (viii). For that reason, he limits himself to prose texts that are available in English translations. Fox's title—Border Crossings—bears multiple meanings which are relevant to both his purpose and his premises. It refers to "the former German-German border" (viii); the transgressions of internal and external censorship; the bridging effect of literature; and the language barrier between German and English. His self-imposed limitation to texts translated into English adds another dimension to his title: the crossings of the border first of all by those books which were to be read or could be read in critique of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Fox is entirely aware of this fact and makes it clear to his readers by regularly summarizing the history of each text's publication and its reception in East and West Germany. As an expert on the subject of GDR literature, Fox crosses this "East-West" border himself in various ways, the most obvious of which is his decision to include Seven Seas publications, i.e. GDR literature translated into English and edited in East Germany. Furthermore, he apparently "learned" from his analyses the art of East German "writing and reading between the lines" (vii). Not only does he abstain from personal comment on the battle between East and West German reviewers (he allows readers to draw their own conclusion by presenting them with the facts supplemented by the increasingly more objective review praxis in the United States, where the tendency to review literature as literature instead of first-hand political statements is surprisingly refreshing), Fox also subtly manipulates the irony of certain contradictory phenomena. There are, for example, many references to reviews written by Marcel Reich-Ranicki (West German "cultural pope"), but near the beginning of the book, readers learn that Reich-Ranicki wrote "an extremely dubious interpretation" (33) of Bruno Apitz's concentration camp novel Naked Among Wolves (1958) and that he declared the "story not at all true to life (apparently he did not know Apitz based it on actual events)" (33). Fox also shows the paradox of the idea of the writer as a nation's conscience insofar as both the GDR and West German critics demanded that the same writers fulfill this function in contradictory ways. Such cautions urge readers to read for themselves and to be careful with statements from the Cold War "West-East-intellectual" battle grounds. It is one of the great merits of Fox's book that it does not allow the prejudice from either German side to take over.
      In its introduction, Border Crossings supplies a short but necessary description of the political and economic circumstances in the territority which became the GDR and in the East German state until 1990. This allows readers unfamiliar with the situation of the "co-existence" of the two German states to acquire enough knowledge to follow the development of East German prose in its national and international context. A "Chronology of Cultural/Political Events" (305–309) completes this helpful overview. Fox thus provides the basis for the understanding of his book, but not for that of GDR prose per se as he points out: "A reader of GDR texts must be especially equipped with a knowledge of history and of the GDR context; otherwise, a story may appear meaningless" (167). Only one important element is missing from Fox's account of the founding of the two German states (3), an element that is almost universally neglected. While East Germans were tempted to disregard the actual reasons for the decision of the Allied Forces to pursue the separate rebuilding of West Germany, formally concluded with the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany before the founding of the GDR, they never forgot their intense feeling of abandonment by the Western forces and the other part of Germany. Any analysis of pro-GDR literature must also take this significant psychological component into account.
      In the first four chapters, Fox introduces: 1) the writers of "the first hour" who continued in the anti-fascist tradition which had become vital to them during the II World War and in exile (e.g. Anna Seghers); 2) those who engaged actively in the building of the "first socialist state on German soil" but with the critique of bureaucratic Marxism (e.g. Erwin Strittmatter); 3) the various authors of "The Literature of Reform"; 4) the writers whose literature amounts to "Forms of Protest" and those of "The Literature of Dissent." Altogether, these chapters introduce and reintroduce many important writers and works.
      The fifth chapter on "Socialist Feminism: The Example of Christa Wolf" provides complex insight into her work and the significance of the independent feminist approach to the GDR and to international problems. A short but precise overview of the development of the conditions of women in the GDR is helpful for an understanding of GDR writing and, beyond that, of the current situation of former East German women in West German society. Fox concludes this chapter with Angelika Bammer's analysis of a complex network of influence: "during the 1970s GDR women writers affected American feminist Germanists, who then engaged in dialogue with American Marxist scholars of GDR literature, who in turn influenced GDR women writers and feminists" (225–6). Moreover, he underscores the American achievement of perceiving Wolf as "today's most prominent all-German author" (226; emphasis added). Implied in this judgement is the insight elaborated in the seventh chapter in which Fox returns to his title about the border(s) – "Erasing Borders: The Literature of Convergence." Practically all highly-industrialized countries have started to develop similar problems with regard to personal relationships, the environment, international responsibility for peace, and other crucial issues. Literature reflects upon these aspects across all borders, including the border between the former two German states. Consequently, Fox stresses the convergence, although his prophecy regarding the opportunities for former East German authors may be a trifle optimistic.
      "The Artist as Hero: The German-American Writer Stefan Heym" goes beyond the scope of the other chapters since it directly involves the United States. Heym's story is not just East German but American as well. The author here is to be seen in the company of American authors such as Alvah Bessie or Haakon Chevalier or the Hollywood Ten. In the GDR, Heym's name was most closely connected to the independent peace movement and the events leading to the immediate "Wende" (political changes) of 1989. The chapter subtly affords readers the opportunity of reexamining the conditions that obtain in the American world of writing and publication.
      Fox's book is extremely informative and can only be recommended to anybody working in the field of GDR studies or simply interested in learning more about this period in German history. There are only minor aspects that warrant clarification. Fox characterizes the novel Naked Among Wolves by Bruno Apitz as "a best-seller with numerous printings" (32), but fails to note the relevant material fact that it was required reading at every school in the GDR for decades. And, since he mentions the movie director Konrad Wolf (the brother of Markus Wolf, former head of the Stasi) with regard to "one of his finest films" (235), it would have been useful to know its title. In the Preface, Fox mentions various GDR authors who could not be included in his book as there are no translations, or not yet. I agree with him that it is important to close those gaps since a picture of GDR literature can be deluding if it leaves out writers such as Hermann Kant, Gunther Gorlich, Dieter Noll or Brigitte Reimann who were of interest and significance to East German readers and society. A book introducing those authors would be desirable. Fox's Border Crossings should be its measure.

E. C. Muller