SOURCE: Evans, Owen. “Hope for the Future? Günter de Bruyn's Neue Herrlichkeit and Christoph Hein's Der Tangospieler.” In Christoph Hein in Perspective, edited by Graham Jackman, pp. 77–94. Atlanta, Georgia: Rodopi, 2000.

In the following excerpt, Evans examines the character Dallow in Der Tangospieler as a victim of his own apathy, who has remained unchanged despite his imprisonment.

Christoph Hein's Der Tangospieler¹ provides further insight into social stagnation in the GDR and in the process reveals certain parallels with Neue Herrlichkeit. Published in 1989, the text focuses on Hans-Peter Dallow, like Viktor very much an anti-hero; but whereas Kösling's family background is privileged, Dallow comes from farming stock. At the novel's outset, Dallow has just been released from prison, having served a twenty-one-month sentence. He played the piano at a student cabaret, and the text of the tango that was performed had poked fun at Ulbricht. On his release...