Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und im Schatten

Plot:
The world has been at war for decades. Ever since the Swiss Socialist Republic was declared after Lenin’s revolution there, they have used their colonies in Africa to replenish their ranks of soldiers in their fight against German and British fascists. One of those soldiers, a political commissar, is tasked with finding the jewish Colonel Brazhinsky whose behavior has become increasingly suspicious. But before he can be arrested, Brazhinsky disappears and his trail leads the commissar deep into the heart of the country.

Despite its slim size, Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und Schatten is many things at once: alternate history, fantasy, post-colonial critique, political commentary, and another take on Heart of Darkness. It show more isn’t equally successful with all of those things, but it is a very interesting attempt.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2016/07/02/ich-werde-hier-sein-im-sonnenschein-und-im-scha... show less

Everything is different. African youths are trained as Swiss officers and then sent to war in the heart of Europe. The story is told from the perspective of such an African officer. He is one of the very few people who can still write and read. This is no longer important, but it is for him. He has a tattered notebook where he writes everything down until one day he loses it. He is actually looking for a Polish Jew to arrest. He encounters a woman who explains to him that there is a new communication system that does not speak anymore (a kind of thelepsy?). His path leads from Bern to the reduit of the Swiss Alps. On the way he meets poor Swiss people who hardly have anything to eat. In the reduit he meets the Polish Jew, whom he does show more not arrest. On the one hand he is fascinated by his personality, on the other hand he also wants to learn this new communication. In the reduit he remembers his past, as the history of mankind is painted on the gallery walls as before. He has an increasing need to get away from it all. When the Alps are shaken by bombardment, he flees through the southern tunnel, comes to Ticino and on to the Mediterranean to travel to Africa on a ship. On the way he remembers writing. But since he has no paper and no pen, he puts all the words on the floor with sticks and stalks.
In Africa, attitudes and life have also changed. While the Swiss cities, schools, children's hospitals and railway tracks had previously built and thus ensured the upswing in East Africa, all of the facilities have been orphaned and people have returned to their origins back in the country.
Christian Kracht describes a utopia away from racism and the exploitation of African people to a peaceful world that somehow cannot be realized. He indirectly criticizes colonialism, annihilates the former colonial rulers such as England and Germany, but also paints a very dystopian picture. show less