| This dissertation examines the practice of reading autobiographically-based literary works as testimonies and in particular considers the role of stylistic elements in the legitimation of such works. Beginning with the social movements of the late 1960s and 1970s, testimony came to be a privileged literary mode in Germany and other countries. The practice of producing and receiving autobiographical literature as testimonies to collective experiences, or "social testimonies," became the primary source of legitimacy for the writings of members of marginalized, victimized, and underrepresented social groups. Qualities such as "exemplarity" and "authenticity," which are ascribed to the testimonies largely based on linguistic features of the texts, and evaluations such as how relevant or moving a particular testimony is, which are encouraged through particular narrative or pragmatic strategies, dominate the reception of works. Focusing on a few key works that have all been the object of strong reactions and even controversies in Germany during the last 20 years---in particular Binjamin Wilkomirski's Bruchstucke, Verena Stefan's Hautungen, Bernward Vesper's Die Reise and Feridun Zaimoglu's Kanak Sprak---the author investigates the production of such textual effects and their role in the authentication and authorization of these works as legitimate testimonial acts. Because of their thematic diversity, these works are often treated separately under topical categories; however, the social construction of the testimonial act is as much a matter of textuality as it is of topicality, as the comparative analysis of these diverse testimonies reveals. |
