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The novels of Imperial Berlin, a rich repository of social discourse about the simultaneous experiences of nationhood and modernity in Imperial Germany, reveal distinct historical and cultural obstacles impeding authors' attempts to envision a humane, modern German identity.
About the author
Katherine Roper did her graduate work in modern German history at Stanford University under Gordon Craig. Her interest in using novels as a source for the study of modern German history was sparked when she entered Professor Craig's seminar on Weimar literature as a new graduate student, and this interest was solidified when she chose as a dissertation topic to analyze the social criticism in the works of twentieth-century writer Erich Kästner. Since then her research and writing have continued to focus on the historical analysis of imaginative literature of modern Germany, extending from the mid-nineteenth century to postwar Germany. As the Europeanist in the History Department at Saint Mary's College, a liberal arts college in the Bay Area, she teaches a wide variety of courses in history and in the core curriculum great books seminar. She is presently chair of the History Department as well.
