Geopolitical transformation and nostalgia: Literary return visits to former East Prussian home

This dissertation examines literary return narratives by German expellees and their descendants revisiting former familial homes located in the historical East Prussian region (contemporary northern Poland and Kaliningrad, Russia). In particular, I analyze Arno Surminski's East Prussian trilogy, Jokehnen oder wie lange fahrt man von Ostpreussen nach Deutschland? (1974), Polninken oder eine deutsche Liebe (1984), and Grunowen oder das vergangene Leben (1989); Elisabeth Schulz-Semrau's autobiographical prose texts, Suche nach Karalautschi. Report einer Kindheit in Konigsberg (1984) and Drei Kastanien aus Konigsberg. Tagebuch einer Reise in das heutige Kaliningrad (1990); and finally Stephanie Kuhlmann's novel Hoffnung heisst Nadjeschda (2010). Together, these works depict the memory and affective dimensions of such return visits as well as encounters with contemporary inhabitants from West German (Surminski), East German (Schulz-Semrau), and contemporary European (Kuhlmann) perspectives. In my analysis, I examine the affective feature of nostalgia, a central dimension of these visits, and contextualize my investigation within each writer's distinct socio-political moment. Each text sheds light on the complexity of nostalgia and return within the discourse of German flight and expulsion -- a discourse that has shifted overtime, but in each case nonetheless denotes problematic assumptions with regard to nostalgic sentiments. In the past, nostalgia has been instrumentalized toward revisionist and revanchist political ends and to a large extend maintains this reputation as it is treated with suspicion and as a regressive engagement. By drawing upon Svetlana Boym's concepts of restorative and reflective nostalgia, Michael Rothberg's multidirectional memory, and theoretical considerations located within the "affective turn", I argue that nostalgia does not necessarily indicate revision and revanchism. Instead, the analyzed literary return narratives invite an opportunity to reflect upon the complexity of nostalgia as having multiple potentials: in some cases problematic, but in others as encouraging empathy and understanding.