‚Was ist denn schon Wahrheit‘?

Abstract

In fictional literature for adults, it is legitimate to depict fiction independently of historical facts. Does literature for young readers have to follow different rules because these recipients have different previous experiences with reading and with the world? It is noticeable that in the last 10 years, more and more young readers novels have come onto the German market that play creatively and openly with the construct of reality. Very different means are chosen for this: The interweaving of fiction and historical reality, the multiperspective depiction of reality, the depiction of an alternative history, fluctuating searches for biographical clues, interpretation of documents through illustrations, insertion of metatext, parablelike writing, … The confrontation of young people with this distanced view of history promotes their skills in dealing with narratives, which is important for both history and literature instruction. This article addresses these questions and explores these issues and developments.