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Author:

Youngman, Paul A.

Title:

We are the machine : the computer, the Internet, and information in contemporary German literature / Paul A. Youngman.

Publisher:

Camden House,

Copyright Date:

2009

Description:

xiii, 171 p. ; 24 cm.

Subject:

Information technology in literature.
German fiction--20th century--History and criticism.
German fiction--21st century--History and criticism.
German fiction--Europe, German-speaking--History and criticism.
Computers in literature
Internet in literature.
Literature and technology--Germany.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [158]-166) and index. "Despite our embrace of the sheer utility and productivity it has made possible, the revolution in Information Technology has led to unease about its possible misuse, abuse, and even its eventual domination of humankind. That German culture is not immune to this sense of disquiet is reflected in a broad variety of German-language fiction since the 1940s. This first study of the literary reception of IT in German-speaking lands begins with an analysis of a seminal novel from the beginning of the computer age, Heinrich Hauser's Gigant Hirn (1948), then moves to its primary focus, the literature of the past two decades, ranging from Gerd Heidenreich's Die Nacht der H©Þndler (1995) to Daniel Glattauer's novel Gut gegen Nordwind (2006). Along the way, it analyzes eleven works, including Barbara Frischmuth's novel Die Schrift des Freundes (1998), Ren©♭ Pollesch's drama world wide web-slums (2001), and G©ơnter Grass's novella Im Krebsgang (2003). As wildly different in approach as these works are, each has much to offer this investigation of the imaginary border dividing the human from the technological, a lingering, centuries-old construct created to ease the anxiety that technology has given rise to throughout the ages"--Publisher's website.

Contents:

Losing ground to the machine: electronic brains in the works of Heinrich Hauser and Friedrich D©ơrrenmatt -- Fearing the machine: two nightmares in the 1990s: Gerd Heindenreich's new riddle of the sphinx and Barbara Frischmuth's hidden meaning -- Becoming the machine: G©ơnther Grass's and Erich Loest's virtual history, Ren©♭ Pollesch's postdramatic imaginings, and "real" cyber-relationships according to Christine Eichel and Daniel Glattauer.

Series:

Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture

ISBN:

1571133925 (alk. paper)
9781571133922 (alk. paper)

OCLC:

(OCoLC)303086543

LCCN:

2009010751

Locations:

USUX851 -- Iowa State University - Parks Library (Ames)

OVUX522 -- University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City)