Globalisierung – ein Begriff auch der Literaturwissenschaft? Unter anderem zu Uwe Johnson's Roman Jahrestage

Abstract

Although over the last ten years or so the notion of globalisation has become central to a variety of disciplines, it has found little attention in literary studies. Yet it seems unlikely that literature has remained unaffected by the various social processes grouped under the heading of "globalisation". Taking Uwe Johnson's novel Jahrestage as an example, this paper seeks to demonstrate how globalisation is reflected in literature not simply on the level of the topics it deals with, but also on a structural level. The focus of the argument is on the narrative function of the protagonist's memory, connecting the past and the present, the far and the near, the global and the local, and that of the New York Times, providing the protagonist with information that allows her to relate to the world in its global dimensions.