Generation of “Fathers” vs Generation of “Children” in Modern German Literature (Using the Example of B. Schlink’s Novel “The Weekend”)

Aim. To analyze the artistic reflection of the activities of the political movement “Red Army Faction” (RAF) in the work of the modern German prose writer B. Schlink using the example of the novel “The Weekend” and identify the main reasons for its appearance in the 1960s in Germany.
Methodology. Analytical, cultural-historical, comparative-historical, descriptive and psychological methods of studying the artistic text are used to reveal the theme. The author of the research gives an analysis of public life in Germany after the Second World War. The article indicates that the topic of the formation of a new, economically strong, modern German state was reflected not only in public life, but also in art as well as in literature. At the same time, as part of the study of practical material, the reasons that led to the emergence of a radical movement in the country were identified, the “shadow” sides of the economically successful Federal Republic of Germany were revealed. The relevance of the problem indicated in the article is due to the reflection and representation of the activities of RAF in the modern German literature on the example of B. Schlink's novel “The Weekend”. The main content of the study is a contextual analysis of the novel on a given theme, in addition, an interpretation of the “generational conflict” problem and a comparison of this topic with the works of the German classics are briefly given.
Results. According to the results of the study, it was concluded that in the novel “The Weekend” Schlink managed to show a complex collision between the “acceptance” and the “understanding” of German history by different generations, the writer psychologically subtly noticed the inability to objectively analyze the same historical event through the eyes of “fathers'” and “children”. In addition, it was revealed that in the novel the writer subtly leads the reader to the awareness of the senselessness of the armed war against the “former” Nazis and neo-Nazis in the same ways that they had previously used.
Research implications. The study confirms the problem of generations is relevant for modern Germany and occupies one of the main places in the works of B. Schlink. The theme of “fathers” and “children” is also present in Schlink’s works out of connection with the Nazism theme and is psychological in nature. It should be noted that in domestic literary criticism the topic of Nazism is widely analyzed on the example of the novel “Reader”, however, other novels devoted to the problem of generations have not been sufficiently analyzed. The results of the study can be used in the further study of Schlink’s works, in teaching the course on history of foreign literature of the XX–XXI centuries.

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