Novel
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The liaison in East Germany between Friedeward and Wolfgang, two high school students and then students in the 1950s.
Jacqueline is a cover and so is Friedeward. The two East German students “a little peculiarity” as the Stasi will later indicate to the second, thus finding a way to trap him: she is a lesbian and he is gay. In the 1950s in Leipzig, it was difficult to live one’s sexuality as one wished. Paragraph 175 of the German penal code enacted in 1871 (and worsened during the period of the Third Reich) is still in force: homosexual men risk up to five years in prison. It’s better to get married, Friedeward suggests to Jacqueline. She will be able to continue living with her great love, Herlinde, without the risk of losing her position at the university. And he will stop shaking when he sees Wolfgang.
Disarray by Christoph Hein develops a theme less explored than others on East German society. Without lyricism, as a story is told after the fact and in a fairly factual manner, it unfolds the hindered life of Friedeward, his hopes, his flight, his lost illusions. It is a novel which is also steeped in the cult of Germanic literature. Friedeward and Wolfgang get closer, while reading Tonio Kroeger by Thomas Mann and The Troubles of the Torless Student by Musil, novels which do not hide the emotions of adolescents for comrades of the same sex.
