658
PARTISAN REVIEW
us all to hear from those who are on the other side of what we call a
divide. We've heard also that the Austrian and German economies are
more and more intertwined, and, I would add, this is not just an Aus–
trian-German phenomenon, it's something that is worldwide in what we
call the global society, but for which we have all kinds of different
names. We learned that the Austrians and the French are at least ambiva–
lent about the reunified Germany, and that the Hungarians are uninter–
ested in what happens there.
We've been told, and I've heard many times, as you have, that
Americans tend to fit events into their own theoretical frameworks and
draw conclusions from them. Frederic Jameson's work of course is a
prime example of ideological bias, and his Althusserian Marxi$m was passe
already long before Germany was reunified.
In
the political sphere, we
were given a summary of what happened in the former Yugoslavia; we
were told of the fact that the Germans' aggressive manner has been up–
setting to its European partners, specifically when it pushed through the
separation of Yugoslavia into its component nations; and that this action
reinforced the prejudice that had existed for a long time.
In
fact, this is–
sue is what led me to arrange this conference. Actually, I think that we
have been speaking not just about the current situation, but about
something that will be with us for a long time, as a number of you also
said.
Overall, and very gradually, the weight of the panelists' foci moved
from the psychological to the historical, to the sociological and to the
economic issues, and again to the irresponsible way the American media
handles information about Germans from the East or the West, about
collectives as well as about individuals. For the media sort of puts every–
thing into its own perspective, I should say a momentary perspective
which is expected to go away, not only six months from now, but
maybe next week, or within the next five minutes - as soon as some–
thing else happens that captures its attention.
In
any event, to end up with your point, Peter Rollberg. Of course,
East Germany has to redefine its collective identity while at the same
time each individual is learning to express more clearly his or her per–
sonal identity in a new way. Margarete Mitscherlich said that West Ger–
mans as well have to reevaluate things they previously had been certain
of, and those who emigrate, as Mitchell Ash pointed out, will have to
do this too, for a long time to come. Therefore, we should remember
that this is not the first time that
Vergangenheitsbewiiltigung
is called for.
Our audience has helped, I think, to enrich our discussions. I want to
thank you all. And I want to thank the moderators. The edited
