Publisher's Synopsis
The growing interest on both sides of the North Sea in Anglo-German literary relations provided the stimulus for this symposium, held In September 1989 at the Institute of Germanic Studies in London. The symposium differed from others in focusing on the post-1945 period, providing both a welcome change from the more usual emphasis on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and a challenge which pointed to directions for future research. This symposium undoubtedly contributed significantly towards answering some of the many questions that can be asked concerning the reception of German literature in Britain and English literature in Germany: the nature of the concept of reception., what kind of literature is received and by whom, what is the role of individual authors, of translators, critics and reviewers, what influences can be detected, how one country is reflected in the literature of another, what misconceptions have been rectified - or reinforced -, and indeed how far we may speak of literature as a 'common currency' in the emergent united Europe.
