Book Club: Politics and Literature: Literary Work and Work Collectives

01.10.2024 - 30.06.2025

How much work is there in literature? Where can we find traces of work (including literary work)? What does the craft of literary writing have in common with the agony of physical labour? In which texts do brainwork and manual labour meet? How did the labour movement of the 20th century influence literary creation? And what about other social movements in this context, where do they encounter the theme of 'work'?

In the "Politics and Literature" book club, we deal with the topic of "literary work and work collectives". We ask how capitalist, alienated, exploited labour appears in literature, but also what literary representation does to these forms of labour. We assume that work can always enable other forms of social interaction: forms of solidarity and togetherness that go beyond what we normally experience at work, whether it is solitary work at a desk, secluded craft work or temporary work in hospital corridors or logistics centres. In the book club, we are looking for literary representations of these other forms of working together.

We began with factory and production novels of the 20th century, but soon continued with contemporary literature. We look at factory and production novels, but also novels that address work beyond its conventional and legally regulated forms (e.g. domestic work, care and nursing work). And we also include novels that suggest or even demand that work be stopped.

The book club comprises nine meetings between October 2024 and June 2025, which take place once a month at the Literaturforum in the Brecht-Haus.

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