German Pop Music in Literary and Transmedial Perspectives. Edited by Uwe Schütte. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2021. 260 pages. $85.45 hardcover, $82.95 eBook.

Uwe Schütte’s edited volume German Pop Music in Literary and Transmedial Perspectives examines pop music on an interdisciplinary level by addressing “questions of identity formation, transnational exchange and, in particular, [the genre’s] transmedial nature” (5). Schütte, who established himself as a leading voice in W.G. Sebald studies and German pop music, describes transmediality as a conglomerate of various media setting German pop music apart from other genres. The book is primarily concerned with case studies, focused on mostly white, male artists from (West) Germany. The volume concludes with a reflection by a multimedia artist of a similar background on his practice with producing transmedial art.

Following Schütte’s introduction, David Pattie discusses the music of Neu! and Kraftwerk in connection with paintings by Gerhard Richter (all Düsseldorf artists of the 1970s, including Richter, who fled East Germany in 1961). Pattie argues that these artists were engaged in ongoing questions over German identity, Vergangenheits-, and Gegenwartsbewältigung through movement and a temporal displacement by way of visual blurring and sonic Motorik. These traits express an escape from a culture that “could not come to terms with its past” (19) and a reworking of West German identity by mocking consumerism and blurring time. Martin Brady and Helen Hughes then focus on the relationship between Kraftwerk and movement. They situate the band’s œuvre within a modernist and postmodernist tradition of appropriation and reproduction, especially the track “Radio-Activity” in its 1975 edition, which they call a “critical re-working” (35), in line with Guy Debord’s detournement, of a celebration of radio and nuclear technology into an anti-nuclear anthem. The authors examine intersections between Kraftwerk’s track and films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Christopher Petit, and Michael Madsen. These films use “Radio-Activity” as an ecstatic moment that injects the “presence and present” (39) into an atmosphere of “past cultural and social ‘greatness’” (39). This cinematic montage tends to break open a source text, and the authors compellingly argue how this disrupts historical continuity and resembles the blurring of time.

The next three chapters explore socio-political implications of music. Andy Spencer discusses the album Lament (2014) by the West Berlin band Einstürzende Neubauten as an example of music’s ability to commemorate historical events. By employing quotations in a similar way to cinematic montage, Lament introduces a more complex narrative than other album-length works in this context. The chapter provides a helpful analysis of Lament, but it could offer more in-depth interpretations of the piece at times. In their chapter about K.I.Z (Berlin-Kreuzberg), Antilopen-Gang (Düsseldorf), and Frische Sahne Fischfilet (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Patricia Bollschweiler and Anna Lenz suggest that political concerns find expression in institutional and medial incorporations of pop music. They argue that pop music in general, and concerts in particular, are inherently political expressions, even if some artists resist such claims. They demand that artists reflect on their political involvement because of their right to artistic freedom. Extending the focus on political involvement of music to issues of racism and critical whiteness, Tom Smith analyzes the exhibition nineties.berlin (2018–19) and Thomas Meinecke’s novel Hellblau (2001) to argue that nostalgia for Berlin’s techno scene in the 1990s is inseparable from the concepts of Germanness and whiteness. Smith scrutinizes the political potential of nostalgia that, for the exhibition, contributes to a “racially unmarked image of techno tied to German nationhood” (100), and, for the novel, resembles white appropriation of Black techno origins while largely ignoring discussions of race for techno’s present. While the author at times leaves whiteness unmarked, he engages meaningfully with scholarship by academics of color and offers a chapter that is a pleasure to read because of its impeccable structure and argumentative claim.

By analyzing transmedial dimensions in songs by Blumfeld and Tocotronic, Florian Scherübl demonstrates that pop-song lyrics cannot be treated like literary texts because they are intertwined with other media. Michael Eggers continues this textual focus by exemplifying how the 1970s/80s West German progressive rock band Novalis refers textually and musically to German Romanticism, especially to Novalis himself. The band “profaniert” (148) the poet’s metaphysical and religious texts while keeping a vision of longing that resonates with the 1970s in West Germany.

The next three chapters focus on hybrid publications of literature and music. Christoph Jürgensen and Antonius Weixler interrogate such hybrid works with specific focus on post-2013 novels by musicians belonging to the so-called “Hamburger Schule” (Diskursrockers, e.g., Tocotronic or Blumfeld). These musicians either deployed “poesiologische Homologie” (159) or actively chose to distance themselves from its usage altogether. Utilizing or rejecting musical aesthetics became part of the creation of these written works. At times, this chapter would have benefited from clearer answers, as the authors’ interpretations were sometimes presented in cryptic ways. On the topic of hybrids, editor Schütte argues in the next chapter that an alleged “Verschulung” (184) and “saturierte[] Verhältnisse” (181) prevent contemporary writers, whom Schütte describes as bourgeois “millennials” (181), from producing “neue Schreibweisen” and “ästhetische Wagnisse” (181) that could improve the socio-political order. While he acknowledges rather unsaturated circumstances by citing the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a fourth industrial revolution that millennials in particular have been grappling with, Schütte criticizes their focus on subjectivity and concerns of minorities, which, according to the author, signals their lack of a rebellious streak. Schütte compares them to white male writers born between 1916 and 1944 (such as W.G. Sebald, Schütte’s PhD thesis adviser) who apparently had revolutionary aims. Pervasive throughout this chapter is a belief in the (masculine) genius myth that sneers at hard work and learnedness while solely lauding autodidactic talent. I wonder how millennial authors such as Ana Warwan, Kim de l’Horizon, Fatma Aydemir, or Shida Bazyar would respond if given the opportunity. Schütte introduces the claim that the consequential “Krise der Gegenwartsliteratur” (181) becomes less disenchanting when one inspects the works of pop musicians as authors. He argues that this innovative, transmedial genre produces art of aesthetic and literary quality with new possibilities for contemporary literature. Andrew Wright Hurley concludes the chronology of case studies by examining EDM-influenced, musico-centric literature by Swiss author Peter Weber. Hurley argues that Weber’s 2007 novel Die melodielosen Jahre uses repetition to refer to and reject the concept of Germanness, which connects to the first chapter’s focus on Motorik.

Millenial and multimedia artist Hendrik Otremba concludes the book by reflecting on his artistic process which is driven by the premise “Kunst drängt” (229), or the work of art determining the process more than the artist. He discusses the various ways that he relies on a “dynamische[s], kapitalistische[s] System” (227) while also wanting to control artistic production as much as possible. Otremba suggests that the act of switching between artistic disciplines can be either intentional, serve as a means against boredom, express a need for change, or it could be driven by the “Gegenstand” of the art, dictating the desired appearance or outcome the artist aims to achieve (231). Otremba’s reflections complicate claims made in previous chapters, which makes for a satisfying open-ended conclusion.

With ample references to genre-specific terms and artists, the book should appeal to audiences already familiar with these specificities. At times, the authors miss the opportunity to reflect on their own positionality and instead judge artwork and artists from what is clearly a biased worldview. As Schütte rightly laments, the book would have benefitted from featuring more artists and writers who identify as female and/or as Persons of Color. There is also a distinct lack of representation from the former East Germany that would diversify the case studies. These shortcomings notwithstanding, Schütte has compiled a beautifully curated edition whose chapters frequently complement one another well.