Understanding Christa Wolf

Christa Wolf is one of the most celebrated and controversial of German writers. She has a large and devoted global audience, has published works that have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and has received many coveted prizes. In this chronological study of her novels, short stories, and essays, Margit Resch examines Wolf's literary career and its link to her country's traumatic past. Resch contends that any assessment of the writer must consider the historical metamorphoses of Germany during her lifetime - from fascism to socialism to democracy. Resch explores central…