1. 2 nd Comenius Project Meeting 2 th – 8 th April 2011 Campobasso, Italy European Literature – Mirror of European Identity?

2.  Günter Grass‘ Biography  The Tin Drum – Summary  Focus on Oskar‘s decision to stop growing  The Tin Drum – Movie Clip  Sources

3.  * 16 th Oct 1927, Free City of Danzig  Had to serve in the military  Prisoner of war of U.S. army (after WW II)  Started writing in 1956  1959 first novel  1999 Nobel Prize in Literature  There is a parallel between Günter Grass’ life and Oskar’s story e.g. the place of birth, the job of the parents, profession etc. => in certain way an autobiography

4.  Oskar, the protagonist of the novel, looks back on his life  He was born in 1924 in Danzig, Poland.  Story begins in mental hospital, where Oskar is locked up (he is already an adult)  When he is 3 years old, he does not want to grow anymore (94 cm), because he does not want to be like the other adults  He is against the adults, who behave like philistines (people, who are materialistic old fashioned, snooty)

5.  At the age of 3, Oskar gets his promised tin drum from his mother, which he likes very much  Grows up with grandmother, mother, two fathers, (Alfred Matzerath, husband of his mother, and Jan Bronski, friend of the family) and his beloved Maria.  Oskar is one day in a school. When his teacher wants to take away his tin drum, he bursts all the window panes by screaming.

6.  When he is 3 years old, he is sure, that he neither wants to be a politician, nor a grocer, because politicians have a bad reputation during Hitler’s regime.  Then he decides to stop growing.  He chooses to fall on his head, so the adults have a explanation, why he stopped growing.  He stays 4 weeks in hospital. During those weeks, he beats the drum till it breaks. As he might injure himself on the sharp edged drum, his father wants to take it away. Oskar discovers his ability to break glass by screaming. So his parents give him a new drum.

8.  http://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Grass_blec htrommel.htm http://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Grass_blec htrommel.htm  http://book-summary.net/nobel-prize-in- literature/tin-drum-summary http://book-summary.net/nobel-prize-in- literature/tin-drum-summary  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ewzWkF ZOFk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ewzWkF ZOFk  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tin_Drum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tin_Drum