To be sure, it is always a little bit risky to give general statements on the literary scene of any country, even when it is the one you are living in. Of course, there is not one "German literature". But there is always a kind of cultural climate and a few characteristics a sensitive writer is able to feel.

In general, there is a strong separation into high and low culture. It seems to me that the theories of the German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno and his analysis of cultural industry have a lot to do with this situation. Adorno states that entertaining art and literature are used by the ruling classes to manipulate the masses and keep them calm. They would have an affirmative character and support the capitalist system. Adorno would only accept an art that is critical of the system, which stimulates reflection, is original and not imitative and needs a mental effort to be understood.

The critical students and intellectuals since the 1960s were eargerly picking up on these ideas. Even today, it is fashionable to bring up Adornos arguments against mass culture, in every cultural-political discussion. Consequently a very difficult, intellectual, elitist literature developed. High literature is understood as a means of education. A poetry reading usually is an event where the audience can either show their level of cultural knowledge or learn something. It is not surprising to find a very large number of teachers in the classical literary audience. You are not really meant to have fun with literature.

Many critics and many writers presume that a commercially successful book must be a trivial book and really good literature will always be commercially unsuccessful.

Many of Adorns followers are now to be found in responsible positions in the cultural institutions, making decisions about prizes, grants and fundings.

German people are said to be tidy and that they don´t like chaos. To some extend this is true. They are sometimes obsessed with putting things in the right bracket. So it is no surprise that different genres are usually kept apart. The big publishing houses, the critics and the literary agents do not like authors who are working in different genres. Also it is very unlikely to get books published with a mixture of poetry and prose. Prizes and grants are usually confined to a special genre. Strange enough, the mixing of different media is easier accepted but then it is rather seen as art and has its place in art galleries and museums.

Besides the official literary scene with their best-selling novels on the one hand and the publicly sponsored elitist high literature on the other hand a very diverse alternative scene has developed in recent years.

Since the early 1990s a new consciousness within the alternative scene has evolved.

Many of those who up to then were writing in their tiny flats in isolation suddenly teamed up and found a new solidarity in the opposition to the established literary scene.

Dada-inspired poets from the experimental corner teamed up with followers of american Beat Poetry. German outlaw-realism teamed with pop art and punk aesthetics. In 1993 this culminated in the socalled "Social Beat" movement. These poets were organising big nation-wide festivals and local poetry events and were communicating a lot amongst each other. A national news-letter edited by the different Social Beat centres in turn informed about national and local activities of the scene and was used as a forum for discussions. In many German cities regional centres of the "Social Beat" movement came sprang up.

Most Social-Beat events happened far away from the usual literary places, far away from the traditional bourgeoise audience. Readings took place in punk-clubs, alternative art-centres, working-class pubs, run-down factories. They didn’t want teachers and literature-specialist in their audiences. They would rather have unemployed, punks, workers, junkies and outlaws listing to them.

Most of the alternative writers between the age 20-30 did not have a publisher. So, the readings was the best method to gain public response. Since they had no big names, they had group-readings or festivals.

The success of this concept came as a surprise. Suddenly young people came back in masses to the poetry readings they hated for so long. 100 to 300 people listening to virtually unknown young writers was quite common for some Social-Beat events. Suddenly people discovered that readings could be fun, and started to behave as if they were at a pop concert. The young poets were or at least seemed radical in their views and their language, they were writing about everyday life, about drugs, drinking, sex and rock´n roll and didn’t care about grammar and literary theories. Poetry readings became a lively event, crazy happenings with a lot of weird people who would very often, at the height of the event, rip off their clothes.

Suddenly it was not important anymore to have already published novels in "big German publishing houses", or how many prizes and grants a writer had managed to get.

The live poetry readings would become an event of their own. And here long forgotten literary genres came to the surface again. Social-Beat poets discovered the shortstory. From Bukowski they learned that a poem can also tell a story, that you can say "fuck" as often as you like and that you don’t need rhyme and meter at all.

Furthermore many forms of experimental poetry came to light, being confined until then to very obscure intellectual circles. Especially Dada and Fluxus became popular again. Many poets referred in their texts to music, especially to punk, blues and rock´n roll.

All this happened without the established literature scene taking much notice of it. But it was easy to see, that the diversity of the alternative scene would soon blow up the "Social-Beat" movement. A few years after the first Social-Beat Festival in Berlin 1993 the movement was more or less dead. The protagonists of the movement had alienated themselves while trying desperately to define what Social-Beat "really" is. Of course "Beat" referres to the american Beat-Poets, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kerouac and especially to Bukowski. Actually many of the Social-Beat poets referred more to Bukowski than to any other Beat-Poet. But what about the word "social"? No one could really explain it. But other Social-Beat poets didn’t refer either to Bukowski nor to other Beat Poets but rather to European avantgarde movements like Dada, Situationists, Surrealists or to Punk and Happening.

Even though Social-Beat as a movement soon started to disintegrate, it set the ground for other developments. In the first place Social-Beat stated that there is an alternative to the "big German novel"-culture, that literature has many facets. It also brought up the idea of "live poetry". And it set up a network which is partially still working and a basis for new activities. From Social Beat open stages where anyone can read his poetry or just give any statement it is not far to Poetry Slam. Many Social-Beat activists did not like the idea of Poetry Slam in the first place (they had their very special idea of "good literature"). But Social-Beat was the necessary ground for the Poetry Slam scene and by now both scenes have mixed to a large extend.

Unlike Social-Beat Poetry Slam does not even try to express a social-political message. Everything is possible, as long as it fits into the formal framework. And even though there is no preselection – everybody who feels like it can come on stage – the quality of readings is usually not worse than those of the planned Social-Beat events.

Anyway, the Slams developed the idea of live poetry consequently. The best slam poetry is consciously composed to work on stage in front of large audiences.

By now even the established literary scene has taken notice of the Poetry Slams especially because they draw such incredible crowds. But still the established scene and many critics seem to be at a loss of what to do with this Slam phenomenon.

Some try to disqualify it by putting it in the trivial-arts bracket. Others are beginning to see its possible commercial potential. But very few see the potential Poetry Slams have in bringing back young people to literature.

While novels are still dominating the German literary scene it has become clear that large audiences are hungry to see other forms of literature.