Literary Production : Germany

Whereas the 1960s were still full of beginnings, ideas and endeavors to break new ground, the subsequent years appeared to be increasingly marked by exhaustion of artistic devices and potential. The later novels and short stories of the successful authors of the early 1950s and 1960s (Heinrich Boll, Gunter Grass, Martin Walser and the Swiss native Max Frisch, to name but a few) frequently lacked the originality and cutting edge characteristic of earlier works; the generation of the 68ers very soon became silent or chose to express themselves in other artistic media (performances, music, film).

The best-selling novels of the day (Johannes Mario Simmel, Heinz Konsalik, Utta Danella) are of literary interest only from a sociological standpoint. In their structure, language and contemporary themes they are clearly inferior to Anglo-Saxon light literature, for example.A well-known and controversial figure is the literary pundit Marcel Reich-Ranicki, whose reviews and televised discussions have contributed to the positive or negative reception of many contemporary authors. In the process of distributing literature today, reviews of books - often written by authors reviewing the works of colleagues - are still an important factor influencing literary success, although they are increasingly losing ground due to the financial power of the major publishing companies as reflected in the latter’s massive advertising of current books in the media.