Buttermilk and Liverwurst
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Losing Irina
Aria Aber
‘I did sometimes fantasize about her Ur-wound, the traumatic memory image from which her asceticism sprung.’
Fiction from Aria Aber.
Don’t Wake Me Up Too Soon
Daniel Kehlmann
‘Satire only comes into its own against the powerful; against the powerless it is cheap mockery from above.’
Daniel Kehlmann on writing, translated from the German by Ross Benjamin
In the Unlikely Event of a Loss of Cabin Pressure
Juan S. Guse
‘News of the second contact sent the whole camp into turmoil. After long weeks spent searching in vain, a new vitality returned.’
Fiction from Juan S. Guse, translated by Gwen Clayton.
Evaporation in the Boundary Zone
Ilija Matusko
‘From a dish washer to an author who writes about washing dishes.’
Memoir by Ilija Matusko, translated by Jen Calleja.
He Cleans
Valeria Gordeev
‘He cleans. Cleans the sink, cleans the plughole, takes out the sink strainer and cleans the underside.’
Fiction by Valeria Gordeev, translated by Imogen Taylor.
Lentille
Urs Mannhart
‘I can’t help Lentille. Even though she roars. As long as she roars, I won’t be able to work.’
An essay from Urs Mannhart, translated by Christine Müller
The Blind
Ewan Gass
‘People, he thought, swinging his legs, were only who they were in relation to other people.’
Fiction by Ewan Gass.
Haruspex
Rebecca May Johnson
‘How can I accept a trauma or a loss that I cannot define?’
Rebecca May Johnson on pregnancy and divining the future.
The Invisible Harbour
Deniz Utlu
‘Only from a distance does the observer understand the object that remained an enigma from close up.’
Fiction by Deniz Utlu, translated by Jackie Smith.
Once Again, Germany Defines Who Is a Jew | Part II
George Prochnik, Emily Dische-Becker & Eyal Weizman
‘Turning to Germany, it seems that Jews are the only ones entitled to historical context, to history, and also to trauma. Palestinian history is denied.’
George Prochnik in conversation with Emily Dische-Becker and Eyal Weizman, after 7 October 2023.
Beginning and End
Lukas Maisel
‘If she really knew how beautiful she was, she would hardly have met up with him, so it was best not to tell her.’
Fiction by Lukas Maisel, translated by Ruth Martin.
Hades Baedeker
Ken Chen
‘You may need to gaze at death indirectly, through a mirror crafted into a shield.’
Poetry by Ken Chen.
Introduction
Thomas Meaney
‘This issue of Granta collects writing headed full tilt in the opposite direction from the literary lassitude of the land.’
The editor introduces the issue.
Today We Just Say Germany
Alexander Kluge
‘A philosopher will reflect on the world from any place.’
Alexander Kluge on Germany, translated by Peter Kuras.
Auto Mind
Adrian Daub
‘Today, Germany knows it’s supposed to talk about cars.’
Adrian Daub on car-washing the past.
Living with Germanness
Nell Zink
‘It sounds like a stand-up comedy routine, but it’s true: I moved to Germany to get away from attractive men.’
Nell Zink on German men.
We Would Have Told Each Other Everything
Judith Hermann
‘The story distracts the readers from the heart of the matter; it distracts them from me.’
Fiction by Judith Hermann, translated by Katy Derbyshire.
mutiliation with a goal
Elfriede Czurda
‘the density in the brain telescoped and collapsed with a scream’
Poetry by Elfriede Czurda, translated by Rosmarie Waldrop.
Once Again, Germany Defines Who Is a Jew | Part I
George Prochnik, Eyal Weizman & Emily Dische-Becker
‘We just do not think that it’s for the Germans to say to us what kind of Jews we should be, what kind of project we should be part of.’
George Prochnik in conversation with Emily Dische-Becker and Eyal Weizman, before 7 October 2023.
FC St Pauli
Ilyes Griyeb & Imogen West-Knights
‘If a bar has a St Pauli flag, they know they will find reliably leftish people inside.’
Imogen West-Knights introduces Ilyes Griyeb’s photographs.
Allegro Pastell
Leif Randt
‘It was fantastic to own a phone, it was fantastic to have people you loved in your life.’
Fiction by Leif Randt, translated by Ruth Martin.
Last Week at Marienbad
Lauren Oyler
‘The only thing on the schedule was spa.’
Lauren Oyler on her trip to Marienbad.
The Texture of Angel Matter
Yoko Tawada
‘When human beings fall silent, a music can be heard.’
Fiction by Yoko Tawada, translated by Susan Bernofsky.
From the Planetarium
Ryan Ruby
‘For some it is an endpoint, for others a tear in the very fabric of time.’
Ryan Ruby on the fall of the Berlin wall and the Zeiss-Großplanetarium.
Europe’s Mistake
Jürgen Habermas
‘Today, I no longer believe that the EU will play a globally influential role in the future.’
Granta’s editor interviews Jürgen Habermas.
The Killing of a Berlin Power Broker
Peter Richter
‘Why does the centre of Berlin look like an abandoned shopping mall on the edge of Omaha?’
An essay from Peter Richter, translated by Shaun Whiteside.
Out of the Woods
Elena Helfrecht & Hanna Engelmeier
‘Helfrecht’s forest is a place where dead wood has taken on the form of a woman, where we stare wild animals in the eye, where we suspect body parts may be hidden under the snow.’
Hanna Englemeier introduces photography by Elena Helfrecht. Translated by Peter Kuras.
In the Movie Bunker
Lutz Seiler
‘On 6 April 1981, I walked into the District Conscription Office, thereby obeying the very first command of my time as a soldier.’
Memoir from Lutz Seiler, translated by Martyn Crucefix.
Where the Dragons Live
Clemens Meyer
‘Then they ask me if I love Germany, if I’d show my pussy to dirty Turks and Yugos, all that kind of stuff. It hurts.’
Fiction from Clemens Meyer, translated by Katy Derbyshire.
A Very German Coup
Jan Wilm
‘The suspected ringleader was a 71-year-old real-estate developer with an engineering degree.’
Jan Wilm on an attempted coup in 2022.
Model Country
Shida Bazyar
‘Are you talking as Laleh now, or as the Islamic Republic of Iran? I don’t say anything.’
Fiction by Shida Bazyar, translated by Ruth Martin.
How Lustig is It
Peter Kuras
‘Germans don’t really have a word for ‘funny’, which seems appropriate enough.’
Peter Kuras on German humour.
