From Lower Saxony to Leipzig, the carwash to the planetarium, the
special Deutschland issue of Granta comprises the most promising
developments of contemporary German literature. In Leif Randt's "Allegro
Pastel," the smooth consciousness of a Merkel-era young professional's flight
into a lifestyle is examined with a clinical scalpel. The issue includes
stories by Yoko Tawada, Judith Hermann, Shida Bayzar, and Clemens Meyer. The issue features bursts of fiction and reflection from Alexander
Kluge, an essay by Fredric Jameson on Neo Rauch, Jürgen Habermas on
the future of Europe, Peter Richter on the murder that explains the
horror-architecture of Potsdamer Platz, Adrian Daub on the dark history of
German car culture, Ryan Ruby on Berlin's last utopian moment, Michael Hofmann
on the Germany he never wished to return to, Nell Zink on the Germany she
cannot quit, Peter Kuras on German humor, Lutz Seiler on serving in the
People's Army, Lauren Oyler on the projections of generations of Americans
who have come to Germany with an idea of culture in their heads that they only
subsequently learned had reached them like the light of a distant star that
long ago collapsed, and a conversation about anti-anti-Semitism between
George Prochnik, Emily Dische-Becker and Eyal Weizman. Also included: Peter Handke's notebooks. Poetry from Elfriede
Czurda and Frederik Seidel. Photography by Martin Roemers (with an introduction by the poet
Durs Grünbein); Ilyes Griyeb (with an introduction by Imogen West-Knights) and
Elena Helfrecht (with an introduction by Hanna Engelmeier). Cover by Muhammad Salah.