Examines the cultural function of the novels of communist authors in East Germany from a psychoanalytic angle. This book argues that these socialist realist fictions were in fact complex fictions, sharing the theme of opposition to fascism. It is of interest to literary critics and historians of German literature.

"Instead of falling back on tired theories of totalitarianism, Hell offers a highly literate and literary analysis of the 'ideological fantasies' that underlie the literature of the GDR."-- Patricia A. Herminghouse, University of Rochester