Abstract
The article aims to determine the place of Bernhard Schlink in the modern German literature. Despite the worldwide success of his novel The Reader, many of the writer’s subsequent writings were heavily criticized. The main objects of negative reviews were stylistic features of the narrative and insufficient depth of the characters’ psychology. However, perception of the writer as the author of ideological novels allows us to understand the real significance of his artistic experiments. Schlink takes a position of the intellectual writer who carefully analyzes trivial judgments about the past and the present. In his work, he touches upon different key points of the modern German concept sphere. The field of fiction, to which Schlink covertly appeals in his thoughts, provides his fiction with the presence of reference points shared by most readers. In this regard, relying on recognizable stories and images, intellectual communication with an educated reader capable of recognizing widely discussed and important topics that Schlink picks up — all this allows the writer to systematize many separate judgments about history and society.
References
1 Akademicheskie shkoly v russkom literaturovedenii [Academic schools in Russian literary criticism]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1975. 515 p. (In Russ.)
2 Bell’ G. O sebe samom. Gde ty byl, Adam? Rasskazy. Bil’iard v polovine desiatogo. Glazami klouna. Pis’mo moim synov’iam, ili Chetyre velosipeda [About myself. Where have you been, Adam? Stories. Billiards at half past nine. Through the eyes of a clown. Letter to my sons, or four bicycles]. Moscow, NF “Pushkinskaia biblioteka” Publ., OOO “Izdatel’stvo AST” Publ., 2004. 728 p. (In Russ.)
3 Grass G. Prodolzhenie sleduet… [To be continued]. Moe stoletie [My century]. Moscow, OOO “Izdatel’stvo AST” Publ., 2001, pp. 320–333. (In Russ.)
4 Karel’skii A.V. Metamorfozy Orfeia: Besedy po istorii zapadnykh literatur. Vyp. 3: Nemetskii Orfei [Metamorphoses of Orpheus: Conversations on the history of Western Literature. Issue 3: German Orpheus]. Moscow, Russian State University for the Humanities Publ., 2007. 608 p. (In Russ.)
5 Mirimov A. A byl li spor? [Was there a dispute?]. Citycat, 2002. Available at: http:// telegraf.citycat.ru/Politic/91859622379060.html (Accessed 10 August 2002). (In Russ.)
6 Schlink B. Ol’ga [Ol’ga]. Moscow, Inostranka Publ., Azbuka-Attikus Publ., 2018. 304 p. (In Russ.)
7 Schlink B. Pravosudie Zel’ba [Justice of Zelb]. St. Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., 2010. 320 p. (In Russ.)
8 Schlink B. Chtets [Reader]. Moscow, AST Publ., 2004. 251 p. (In Russ.)
9 Bernhard Schlink. Diogenes Verlag. Available at: https://www.diogenes.ch/leser/ autoren/s/bernhard-schlink.html (Accessed 20 October 2019). (In German)
10 Cavelty G. Die Odyssee als Obsession. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 2006. 22. April. Available at: https://www.nzz.ch/articleDLKTE-1.26954 (Accessed 20 September 2019). (In German)
11 Connolly K. Bernhard Schlink: Deutschsein ist ‘eine riesige Belastung’. The Guardian. 2012. 17 September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/17/ interview-mit-bernhard-schlink (Accessed 17 April 2019). (In German)
12 Deißner D., Lindemann, Th. Ist “Der Vorleser” ein großer Roman? Die Welt. 2010. 17. Oktober. Available at: https://www.welt.de/kultur/article1241861/Ist-Der-Vorleserein- grosser-Roman.html (Accessed 20 September 2019). (In German)
13 Dörting Th. Wochenend’ und Bullenschwein. Spiegel Online. 2008. 28. Februar. Available at: https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/schlinks-raf-roman-wochenendund- bullenschwein-a-537727.html (Accessed 22 October 2018). (In German)
14 Erfahrungen beim Verfassen einer Sonntagsrede: Friedenspreis des deutschen Buchhandels, Martin Walser. Laudatio: Sein Anteil, Frank Schirrmacher. Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp, 1998. 50 S. (In German)
15 Forever in the shadow of Hitler? Original documents of Historikerstreit. New Jersey, Humanities Press, 1993. 286 p. (In German)
16 Greiner U. Einer, der etwas riskiert. Die Zeit. 2014. 11. September. Available at: https:// www.zeit.de/2014/35/bernhard-schlink-roman (Accessed 21 September 2019). (In German)
17 Güntner. Fabulierender Jurist mit klarer Prosa — Bernhard Schlink wird 70. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 2014. 07 July. Available at: http://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/buecher/ fabulierender-jurist-mit-klarer-prosa-1.18336895 (Accessed 22 Oktober 2019). (In German)
18 Heidemann B. Bernhard Schlink erzält vom Drama eines Jahrhunderts. Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung. 2018. 10. Jan. Available at: https://www.waz.de/kultur/bernhardschlink- erzaehlt-vom-drama-eines-jahrhunderts-id213072235.html (Accessed 30 April 2019). (In German)
19 Kürten J. Ein deutsches Jahrhundert: Bernhard Schlinks neuer Roman “Olga”. Deutsche Welle. 2018. 12 Jan. Available at: https://www.dw.com/de/ein-deutsches-jahrhundertbernhard- schlinks-neuer-roman-olga/a-42114066 (Accessed 24 Juny 2019). (In German)
20 Leopold A. Alles und nichts. Die Tageszeitung. 2006. 4 March. P. 1006. (In German)
21 Morat D. Intellektuelle und Intellektuellengeschichte. Docupedia-Zeitgeschichte: Begriffe, Methoden und Debatten der zeithistorischen Forschung. 2011. 20 November. Available at: https://docupedia.de/zg/Intellektuelle_und_ Intellektuellengeschichte#Der_Begriff_des_Intellektuellen (Accessed 12 August 2019). (In German)
22 Moritz R. Sinnliche Gewichtigkeit. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 2014. 7 Oktober. Available at: https://www.nzz.ch/sinnliche-gewichtigkeit-1.18398317 (Accessed 12 November 2014). (In German)
23 Schlink B. Vergangenheitsschuld und gegenwärtiges Recht. Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp Taschenbuch, 2002. 156 p. (In German)
24 Schlink B. Gedanken über das Schreiben. Heidelberger Poetikvorlesungen. Zürich, Diogenes Publ., 2011. 87 p. (In German)
25 Schmitz M. Heimkehr als Utopie. Deutschlandfunk. 2006. 9. April. Available at: https:// www.deutschlandfunk.de/heimkehr-als-utopie.700.de.html?dram:article_id=82670 (Accessed 20 September 2019). (In German)
26 Schriftsteller Schlink von 19. Jahrhundert fasziniert. t-online.de. 2018. 15 March. Available at: https://www.t-online.de/region/id_83397582/schriftsteller-schlink-von- 19-jahrhundert-fasziniert.html (Accessed 26 September 2019). (In German)
27 Schulte Th. Oberlehrerhaft vorgetragene Trivialitäten. Bernhard Schlinks neuer Roman “Die Frau auf der Treppe” enttäuscht. Literaturkritik.de. 2014. 1 September. Available at: https://literaturkritik.de/id/19526 (Accessed 21 September 2019). (In German)
28 Wirtz Th. Immer nur lebenslänglich. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 2000. 12 Februar. Available at: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/rezensionen/belletristik/ rezension-belletristik-immer-nur-lebenslaenglich-110380.html?printPagedArticle=true #pageIndex_2 (Accessed 17 March 2017). (In German)
