Männer in der Krise

Abstract In contemporary German literature, diagnoses of the times can be observed that interpret social modernization processes as alienation and loss of meaning. The article examines whether the selected novels tie in with the culture-critical crisis consciousness of the turn of the century around 1900. This article develops the thesis that in Der Eisvogel by Uwe Tellkamp and Sieben Nächte by Simon Strauß, men appear as figures of crisis through which socio-pathological side effects of modern progress are articulated.