침묵을 깨는 문학적 행위 ― 귄터 그라스의 『게걸음으로』 연구

Abstract

This paper examines Günter Grass’s Im Krebsgang as a literary intervention into the contested field of memory politics in post-war and post-unification Germany. By focusing on the three central characters - Tulla, Paul, and Konrad - the novel dramatizes how the memory of German civilian suffering during World War II, particularly the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, has been transmitted, distorted, and politicized across generations. Tulla embodies a marginalized, orally transmitted eyewitness memory that is excluded from official narratives. Paul, representing the 1968 generation, internalizes the Holocaust-centered memory culture of West Germany but ultimately fails to mediate between his mother’s traumatic memory and his son’s radicalization. Konrad, as a member of the post-reunification generation, instrumentalizes memory through digital media, turning it into a source of identity and ultimately political extremism. The novel exposes the asymmetries and ideological boundaries of East and West German memory regimes, and how these shaped individual memory within private and public spheres. In doing so, Im Krebsgang interrogates the ethical challenges of remembering German suffering without relativizing the Holocaust. It also warns against the dangers of uncritical memory appropriation, especially in digital and affective contexts where memory can be easily detached from historical reflection and co-opted into radical narratives. By illustrating that memory is not preserved but continually reconstructed through narrative, discourse, and power, Grass’s novel offers a literary critique of the monolithic memory culture in contemporary Germany. It ultimately calls for a pluralistic and reflective approach to memory - one that recognizes the complexity of the past, the ethical demands of its narration, and the political implications of its remembrance.