“The wild east” in contemporary German poetry: Gerald Zschorsch, Kurt Drawert, Brigitte Oleschinski

Abstract

This article discusses images of a “European” or “Wild” East in German poetry after 1989, specifically the work of Gerald Zschorsch, Kurt Drawert and Brigitte Oleschinski. Do their texts confirm or challenge a dichotomy with a long tradition in German and Western European thought, by juxtaposing “Germany” or “Europe” and this “East”, or by aesthetically transcending such a dichotomy? How do their aesthetics open perspectives on inter- or transcultural movement beyond existing ideas of regional, national and European identities in an increasingly globalized world? Focusing on place, space and movement, the article addresses Centre-Periphery dynamics from a new angle. While there has been a growing body of research on narrative texts in contemporary German “migrant literature” offering transcultural perspectives on ideas of “East” and “West”, poetry – particularly of non-migrant writers – has been largely overlooked here, despite its potential for transcending boundaries through language because of its complex aesthetics.