The Eastern German author Thomas Brussig (b. 1965) wrote Helden wie wir (Heroes Like Us) as a response to the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent unification of Germany in 1989/90. Helden wie wir belongs to a postwall Eastern German cultural trend consisting of humorous and satirical texts in all genres and audiovisual media. In his first three novels, Wasserfarben (Watercolors, 1991), Helden wie wir (1995/English ed. 1997), and Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee (On the Shorter End of Sunny Street, 1999), Brussig adopted adolescent male protagonists and narratives based on German and American literary models. Helden wie wir bears a superficial resemblance to Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum (1959) in presenting an idiosyncratic, picaresque antihero who reflects on his past life while…
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Citation: Twark, Jill E.. "Helden wie wir". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 January 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24691, accessed 09 December 2023.]
