Gerhard Friedrich, The“new family novel”. Family memories and national cohesion during the course of German reunification

The aim of Friedrich is to draw the reader’s critical attention on essays and autobiographies written by those who lived the tragedy of Second World War in Germany. It is interesting to notice that this new kind of literature originated only after the German reunification in 1989. Therefore such phenomenon is not “natural” but rather historical and political; it didn’t originate from a private and inner elaboration, but rather from a public expression of laceration which was still alive, within memory.