Nicolai Busch

The author Uwe Tellkamp is often regarded as a ›political convert‹ who switched from conservative to (new) right-wing positions in 2018. This article first of all discusses media stagings of Tellkamp’s conversion and points to their problems. Based on socio-scientific studies, the article then discusses the relationship between conservatism and right-wing extremism in East Germany and reveals various intersections between the two ideologies, which Tellkamp reproduced long before 2018. Contrary to the assumption of a ›sudden conversion‹, the article shows which strategies of conversion and political immunization Tellkamp and his literary environment in Dresden-Loschwitz have developed for many years. The focus here is on figures of ›inner emigration‹ and ›exile‹, which are interpretated as conversions into imaginary or literary shelters.