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← Back to all issuesGranta 165: Deutschland
Autumn 2023
From Lower Saxony to Marienbad, the carwash to the planetarium, this issue of Granta reflects on Germany today.
Featuring non-fiction by Alexander Kluge, Peter Handke, Fredric Jameson, Lauren Oyler, Michael Hofmann, Peter Kuras, Adrian Daub, Peter Richter, Lutz Seiler, Ryan Ruby, Jan Wilm and Jürgen Habermas. As well as a conversation between George Prochnik, Emily Dische-Becker and Eyal Weizman.
The issue introduces two young novelists on the German scene – Leif Randt and Shida Bazyar – forthcoming work from Yoko Tawada, a short story from Clemens Meyer, and autofiction by Judith Hermann. Plus, poetry by Elfriede Czurda and Frederick 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 artwork © Muhammad Salah
From this Issue
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Auto Mind
Adrian Daub
‘Today, Germany knows it’s supposed to talk about cars.’
Adrian Daub on car-washing the past.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Last Week at Marienbad
Lauren Oyler
‘The only thing on the schedule was spa.’
Lauren Oyler on her trip to Marienbad.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Murder of Halit Yozgat
‘The National Socialist Underground murders were a series of racist attacks perpetrated throughout Germany between 2000 and 2007.’
Forensic Architecture and the murder of Halit Yozgat.
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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.
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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.
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How Lustig is It
Peter Kuras
‘Germans don’t really have a word for ‘funny’, which seems appropriate enough.’
Peter Kuras on German humour.
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Out of Germany
Michael Hofmann
‘It is pleasant – to me, confusingly so.’
Michael Hofmann on returning to Germany.
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Have a Good Trip with Trabant
Martin Roemers & Durs Grünbein
‘Question: ‘What do a Trabant and a condom have in common?’ Answer: ‘Both decrease the pleasure of the ride.’’
Durs Grünbein introduces photography by Martin Roemers.
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Notebook 2021
Peter Handke
‘‘Order is half of life’ – and the other half? – You get one guess.’
Extracts from Peter Handke’s notebook, translated by Peter Kuras.
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SO WHAT
Frederick Seidel
‘Poetry is a disgrace on a warm spring day in March. You look at the sky with unconditional love.’
Poetry by Frederick Seidel.
