But Wolf’s claim to fame began to show cracks five years later with the publication of her second novel, The Quest for Christa T. (Nachdenken über Christa T, 1968). Throughout the text, the issue of how the self fits in with the socialist ideal of the collective is brought up. In her novel, Wolf oscillates between the individual self and the larger group, alluding to the potential flaw of this relationship: Christa T., the enigmatic eponymous character, is neither part of the group nor a complete individual, as she eludes social conformity. A unique narrative style referred to as ‘subjective authenticity’ undermines the existence of ‘fact’ and relies on supposition – a risqué move in a political system that strove to know everything about everyone. Not entirely in line with the socialist credo, the book heralded Wolf’s disillusionment with the state and her fall from the status of state favorite. The book garnered praise in the West, but it was banned in the East.
‘I can only write about things that disturb me,’ Wolf said in a 1976 interview with Hans Kaufmann. Her work around that time focused primarily on the subjects of power, inclusion/exclusion, and the role of women. The semi-autobiographical Patterns of Childhood (Kinderheitsmuster, 1976), approaches difficult subjects such as selective memory, subjectivity and, above all, the concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung – here, specifically, coming to terms with Germany’s Nazi past. Cassandra (Kassandra, 1983), a rewriting of the ancient Greek myth, deals with the symbolic representations of contemporary problems: the tense relationship between a patriarchal society and its female citizens, marginalization, and the ‘self’ vs. the ‘us’. In the Kaufmann interview, Wolf further explained that novels – her novels – take root in, ‘an experience, which needs to be assimilated: experience of ‘life,’ by which I mean experience of the tangible reality of a particular time in a particular society.’ And indeed, throughout her oeuvre, individual fates clash with external realities – just as she did.
In 1989, Wolf left the Socialist Party with several fellow artists. Despite her disillusionment with the GDR, her profound belief in an East Germany never faltered. On the 4th of November 1989, together with the likes of Stefan Heym or Heiner Müller, she held a speech during a demonstration at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. Although the GDR’s collapse was unavoidable at that point, she still called out for the people to unite in overcoming this political crisis and creating a new nation. In the face of harsh criticism, she remained firm in her belief that it was change, and not the disbanding of a nation, that was necessary: the country should have been reborn on the pillars of socialism.

The Case For Citing Christa Wolf As East Germany’s Literary Icon

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