Valediction of 68ers' Generation to Berlin in Uwe Timm's Novel "Rot"

Öz

Literary motifs in fiction illustrate the subject matter and aestheticize the spirit and mindset of the time described. This study examined the historical and political motifs of the 68ers' generation within the framework of memory literature in the novel "Rot" (2001) by Uwe Timm, one of the most influential second-generation writers of German literature after World War II. The historical and political motifs in the novel reflect the struggle of the youth and student movements of 1968 in particular. In addition, the motifs in the work point to the cultural background of the worldviews of the 68ers' generation, which did not experience the Second World War and its aftermaths like the previous generation. The novel focuses on the journey of Thomas Linde, a jazz commentator and funeral orator, to the past. The main character, is preparing the funeral speech of his friend with whom he protested together in 1968. The novel describes Linde's process of writing this speech and the 68ers' generation's reckoning and farewell to the past they had internalized. The novel uses modern and post-modern narrative techniques to describe the past memories of 1968 with semi-autobiographical, half-fictional elements. This study examines in the context of memory theories how and why Uwe Timm constructed the political and historical motifs of the 1968 period based on his life story as a representative of the 68ers' generation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• German Literature
• Memory
• 68ers
• Uwe Timm

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