Faserland' von Christian Kracht. Das Motiv der Erinnerung und die Vision der Isabella Rosselin

Study paper from 2020 in the field of German Studies - Modern German Literature, grade: 2.0, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, language: German. Abstract: The following paper aims to summarize the content of the novel and then illuminate each individual childhood and youth memory of the protagonist. It will specifically address the triggers of these memories as well as a closely related special topic 'The Vision: Isabella Rossellini', which is particularly highlighted through the aforementioned thesis. Finally, I would like to revisit both theses to examine them. Christian Kracht, often referred to as the 'enfant terrible' of modern literary history, published his first novel 'Faserland' in 1995. The novel features a protagonist, aged between 20 and 30, on a 'fragmented' and internally restless journey from northern Germany to the south, all the way to Switzerland. The 'fragmented' inner life of the protagonist appears just as restless and aimless as the societal exterior he experiences. Kracht paints a devastating societal picture of the 1990s, where inner emptiness is numbed by drugs and parties. Additionally, Kracht deliberately employs stylistic elements of disgust (vomiting, emptiness, stench, etc.) and intersperses confusing and contradictory political ideas of his protagonist here and there. Nevertheless, Christian Kracht's 'Faserland' is considered a foundational work of pop literature, capturing the reality of the then 20 to 30-year-olds and their 'no-bock syndrome', as judged by the Frankfurter Rundschau in December 1995.