Abstract

This essay constitutes an attempt to define the so-called Wenderoman, that’s to say that particular kind of novel that deals with the fall of the Berlin wall and the German reunification, as a literary genre. First of all it will be seen how it is possible to consider it as a genre mainly because of its pragmatic value. Furthermore, its primary characteristics, such as its role in the history writing process, its autobiographical inclination and its cultural value as a part of the German Vergangenheitsbewältigung, will be outlined. moreover three Wenderomane will be analyzed in order to better explain the nature of this genre and to give a pratical example of how the constant qualities of the genre actually find expression in novels: for every text we’ll point out the themes that better correspond to the essential characteristics of the Wenderoman as a literary genre, without forgetting its cultural and pragmatic value