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American and German
Crime Fiction Reiner Sowa's speach The following speech came into being with the assistance of the German author Wulf Dorn and the British detective Glyn Hughes. Thank you very much. Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I was asked to explain why German novels are very different to the novels of American authors. The idea was to stress especially the difference between German and American police and laws. Please, let me try to explain the phenomenon of the German style of writing from different points of view: 1. Are German authors not capable of writing like American authors do? I think this is rumour and prejudice. To produce evidence to counter this prejudice I would suggest we read the crime novels of David Kenlock. The background of his books is America, the persons who commit the crimes are American and the cops and detectives are American as well. And, of course, the story is typically American. When he started to publish his novels the Germans thought Kenlock was a new American writer, but he is in fact a German using an American pen-name. What I am trying to say is that writing crime thrillers has nothing to do with the nationality of the author. You will find good and successful books in every nation. However, American authors have the advantage of writing in a language that many people in the world can understand but this is perhaps only one reason why they have been so successful. Another reason could be that after the Second World War the American way of life was very interesting for Europeans. This has changed enormously in the last 10 years, especially in the time of George W. Bush. The Europeans are not anymore demanding American literature in the quantity they did before. They, for example, prefer novels from France. A German publisher DistelLiteraturVerlag has won an award for translating French books and publishing them with great success. Scandinavian authors as well are very popular in Germany - not only Henning Mankell but also his compatriots like Maj Sjöwall and Anne Holt. Furthermore the Germans like authors from the Netherlands, Spain, Great Britain and Russia. What about German crime writers? Some are in the top ten of best sellers. For example, Jaques Berndorf who has sold more then two millions books of his thriller which has action taking place in the Eifel - this sparsely populated landscape between the Belgian boarder and the River Rhine. And Petra Hammesfahr whom lives close to Cologne and is the favourite for those who love psychological thrillers. There are many more, but I have only a few minutes to talk, so let me focus on the next question: 2. Why do most of the German crime authors want to write differently to the American authors? German literature has a long history. Everyone knows Goethe and Schiller, the most famous poets in past ages. Schiller wrote the first German crime novel in 1787 (Verbrecher aus verlorener Ehre) and this shows that German crime fiction has a very long tradition. Crime fiction does not just, for example, describe a murder, but will also detail the structures and systems of society. We like to read why our neighbour could be able to kill his wife and children, why the police officer in our town is corrupt, why our politicians would sell their own grandmothers! This is why some German authors like to write about the things they have often known professionally and at first hand. Let me for a moment mention -ky. This is the pen-name of Horst Bosetzky, who is professor of sociology and has written numerous crime novels. His stories describe in detail social identity and social problems. His style of writing entertains the Germans since more than 20 years. The content of German crime fiction is very different to American thrillers. We don’t have conurbations like New York, Chicago or Denver. Frankfurt, Hamburg or Berlin are small towns in comparison to the American cities. There is less crime in Germany. Crimes such as murder and large scale drug selling are seen far less often in Germany than in the United States. The media sometimes portray these events in America as if happening on every street corner! For most of us these crimes happen far away – and this is really nice. The difference between the US and German experience of crime is perhaps illustrated by Cologne. It is a town of one million inhabitants. Each year on average there are four killings. Usually they are cleared up. In New York there are more than 100 killings each year. Yesterday
I received an e-mail fom an American cop: This e-mail illustrates the reality of American police operations. German police would never shoot 56 rounds into a criminals car. After three or four shots they would check, if there is a need for more rounds. There is a German saying: Evil and harm are in the safe hands of crime writers. German crime writers like reality. That’s why German crime fiction is mostly based on reality. An example would be Horst Eckert, a German author, who received some awards for his novels. He writes about crime scenes in Düsseldorf, the capital of the German State North-Rhine-Westfalia. In his work he replicates exactly the structure of the police in Düsseldorf. Reading his books you can walk round the corridors of Düsseldorf police headquarter and I am sure you would bump into some of the police characters who appear in his novels. Portraying reality also means to follow the German law and police. First the law: The German Police officer has to follow all the codes of criminal procedure right through to prosecution. Not to do so is in itself a crime and the officer can be prosecuted and risks a one year prison sentence. To receive such a sentence means he would also lose his job. The job of a German police officer is to investigate whether a person has committed a crime. That means he has to find incriminating evidence and, crucially, any evidence that exonerates the individual. The last point is why the German has no need for private detectives. The police have a duty to find and present any evidence that undermines the prosecution. It is a rarity that advocates would ask a private detective assist in a case. The consequence is that any German crime novel using a private detective is a kind of fairy tale. The German Crime writer Doris Gercke created a female private detective called Bella Block. The content of her books was a good basis for making a film. The German TV channel ZDF transformed Bella Block into a police inspector. This was to ensure that the German audience will believe the story. The character of the female inspector Bella Block has proved very popular in Germany. Back to the police: German police officers are allowed by German law to search houses and persons, to question suspects and witnesses, and of course to arrest a suspect. A private detective has none of these powers. He has, of course, only the rights and powers of every citizen. What about wearing weapons? Every German police is equipped with a pistol. They receive training in the use of this weapon during their three years study to become a police officer. After this training they have only the chance to shoot twice a year. My opinion is that this is not enough to handle the pistol in a professional manner. Only a few officers of special teams are better trained. The private detectives in Germany are not allowed to carry firearms. If they do they have to ask the police for a license which usually will be refused. That’s why you will not find in German literature private detectives being involved into a wild west gun battle. Germany consists of 16 different states. Every state has its own police law and its own ministry of interior. These ministries make sure that the police laws of the different states are almost the same. Police officers are dressed the same in Germany. One exception is Hamburg. Hamburg’s former minister of interior decided that his police should wear blue uniforms to match the blue sea. He also insisted that police motorbikes should be Harley Davidson and not BMW as it is usually in the rest of the German republic. This minister is an exception. He was voted into office because he promised to halve the committed crimes. He hasn’t achieved his goal and the statistics of committed crimes in Hamburg still show the highest numbers in Germany. Fortunately he was dismissed this summer! Once again: Novels which show the reality of police work are very popular in Germany. This counts for crime films and movies as well. I would need extend this meeting for one day to tell you the titles of German crime films. German TV companies are selling their films all over the world. Derrick, for example, is broadcast besides all European countries in Asian and African countries. Let me end this speech with one German saying – “Why do you need to go abroad when you can find all that is good close at home”. Relating this to our theme, we should perhaps give European crime books the attention they really have deserved. Thank you for your attention. © by Reiner M. Sowa 2003 Frühere Themen des Krimi-IQ finden Sie hier . Wenn Sie nach Büchern stöbern möchten, suchen Sie im Stöberkasten Ihre Kategorie und klicken auf "Los". |
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