Berlin Anthologies, 1885-2022

Posits the city anthology as a particular manifestation of both urban literature and the anthology form and contends that it takes on heightened import in Berlin.

The city anthology is a de-centered, multi-voiced construct that represents a metropolis in and through literature, and Berlin-a city of continual historical and geographical change and constant re-invention-particularly lends itself to representation in this form. Berlin anthologies arose around the end of the 19th century-along with the much better researched Berlin novel-after Berlin became the capital of reunified Germany, and they track the city''s urbanization as well as its turbulent history. Berlin anthologies have proliferated especially in the late 20th and early 21st centuries; they define themselves through affective connection to the city.

Based on a corpus of over 200 Berlin anthologies and a number of case studies, this book is the first to analyze this popular yet critically neglected form. It outlines different types of anthologies (including synchronic, diachronic, and retrospective formats); identifies trends visible in the significant corpus; and analyzes the image these publications create of Berlin through their content as well as their structure and paratexts. Ultimately the book contends that the city anthology is a particular type of city literature and a particular manifestation of the anthology form, and advocates for anthologies to take their rightful place in literary histories of Berlin.