Bernhard Schlink's "Der Vorleser" and the Problem of Shame

Bill Niven

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German Literature and Culture Studies German legal, social, and political studies Literature and Cultural Memory

Abstract

Bernhard Schlink's novel "Der Vorleser" has been criticized for portraying a concentration-camp guard, Hanna Schmitz, as a victim of illiteracy for whom the reader is supposed to feel pity. In contrast to this, it is here argued that Hanna Schmitz comes across not as a victim of illiteracy, but as an evasive individual who consistently refuses to face the shame this illiteracy causes her. In addition, the article contends that Hanna's development in prison is deeply compromised; "Der Vorleser" is not the Bildungsroman many take it to be.

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