Christa Wolf und die Verortung von dem Selbst

Abstract

Abstract Christa Wolf was born in 1929 in a country that shortly thereafter had to end its existence. The famous German writer then studied, lived, and wrote in another system, which in turn was dissolved after decades. Such events have a dramatic effect on the life of an individual. The paper attempts to identify some features related to writing and identity in Wolf’s novel Nachdenken über Christa T (Reflections on Christa T.). In her texts, the author writes about her characters who encounter existential contradictions: on the one hand, there is a totalitarian system in which human beings have to survive; on the other hand, there is Wolf’s protagonist who tries to locate his or her individuality and thus create an ethic of his/her life. Christa Wolf’s analysis of identity is focused on the attempt to be authentic in a milieu that gives her few opportunities for development. Wolf’s writing describes our world. The texts written in the 60s, 70s, and 80s are still full of relevance today. By reading Christa Wolf, we discover a system full of violence, where the individual develops strategies for survival. The author suggests an existential recipe: through critical questioning and through a meticulous analysis of our own self, we are able to find a solution for ourselves and for others.