Ricordi di un paese scomparso. Il Wenderoman fra genere letterario e testimonianza culturale

This essay constitutes an attempt to define the so-called Wenderoman, that’s to say that particular kind of novel that deals with the fall of the Berlin wall and the German reunification, as a literary genre. First of all it will be seen how it is possible to consider it as a genre mainly because of its pragmatic value. Furthermore, its primary characteristics, such as its role in the history (re)writing process, its autobiographical inclination and its cultural value as a part of the German Vergangenheitsbewältigung, will be outlined. Moreover three Wenderomane (Der Turm by Uwe Tellkamp, Helden wie wir by Thomas Brussig and Neue Leben by Ingo Schulze) will be analyzed in order to better explain the nature of this genre and to give a pratical example of how the constant qualities of the genre actually find expression in novels: for every text we’ll point out the themes that better correspond to the essential characteristics of the Wenderoman as a literary genre, without forgetting its cultural and pragmatic value.