Anglo-German Entanglements in English Fiction - (New Critical Humanities) by Daniela Keller (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Through a diffractive reading of seven English novels, Daniela Keller redefines the deeply intertwined and continuously developing relationship between England and Germany.
The relationship between England and Germany has fluctuated between friendship and animosity on both sides throughout the centuries and Brexit has driven another wedge between the two countries. This study shows how writers have employed physical phenomena, such as quantum entanglement, to move beyond an alleged fixed binary opposition between the nations. In novels, such as John le Carré's The Spy Who Came In from the Cold or Alison Moore's The Lighthouse, our understandings of nation and national identity emerge as more flexible and inextricable from their opponent Others. The physical phenomena and optical metaphors of reflection, refraction, and diffraction are applied to hone the differences between various kinds of binary relations, such as England and Germany or physics and fiction. Diffraction and diffractive reading, inspired by Karen Barad, deliver the most accurate and progressive methods of reading literature because they best capture and acknowledge the complexity of stubbornly dualistic mindsets. They also draw attention to the responsibility of readers and their role in constructing Anglo-German identities through every act of reading.

Review Quotes

"Daniela Keller's study on Anglo-German Entanglements in English Fiction offers a much-needed exploration of an undervalued literary space. As a shining example of advanced literary scholarship, it presents this exploration in the shape of an ingenious masterstroke by drawing on optics as a provider of analytical concepts to shed light on the very characteristics of these literary 'entanglements'. The result is a convincingly 'diffractive' (as opposed to deconstructive) reading of comprehensively chosen examples of English authors' engagements with German motifs since the Cold War until the political and psychological watershed of Brexit. Keller's study is indispensable reading for anyone interested in this field of intercultural research." --Rüdiger Görner, Emeritus Professor, Queen Mary University of London, England

"This book is timely and refreshing. It offers a valuable antidote to stereotypical thinking in national opposites and instead conceives English and German cultures as entangled in complex and fascinating ways. And it expands the usual canon of English fiction set in Germany, introducing its readers to some intriguing 21st-century works." --Astrid Köhler, Professor of German Literature and Comparative Cultural Studies, Queen Mary University of London, England

About the Author