German subscription cinema and literature
11. Ich fühle mich so fifty-fifty
Reasons to study this work
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Apart from the inherent interest in the subject matter, Ich fühle mich so fifty fifty is also an excellent "trainer" novel in that the language is relatively straightforward with plenty of dialogue which is so valuable for language learners.
The interest of the work
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
This short, popular book was published in 1991 to help German adolescents comprehend the changes that were taking place within their reunited country. It therefore attempts to cover what it felt like to be part of the socialist system in the former DDR, restricted and spied upon at the same time as demonstrating the the new liberties which were to unfold.
The first many western people knew of the rapidly evolving political situation was the site of east Germans crossing through to Austria via the Hungarian border and this is where the novel starts. It is interesting to read what it felt like to be within a state from which travel was difficult but from which people were disappearing every day; it is therefore a useful challenging document to get young people thinking about the freedoms they take for granted.
