One of the discursive mechanisms that enabled West Germans in the immediate postwar period to reconcile continuity with rupture was the notion of Germany as part of the occident. The occident is referred to in German as the Abendland or "the land of evening, " and perhaps more poetically rendered, in a counterpoint to Japan's self-imagination, as " the land of the setting sun." The notion of Germany as an integral part of the Abendland was by no means the only one that played a role in West Germany's cultural and ideological transformation, but for a number of reasons it enjoys a privileged position. First and foremost, the notion of the occident had-or at least could be perceived to have- a long historical tradition in Germany, and hence it enabled Germans in the postwar period to see themselves in a stabilizing, productive continuity with their previous history. Second, the notion of the occident allowed West Germans to imagine themselves as part of a geographic and ethical universe which joined them with their former enemies and postwar allies in the West, helping to strengthen what might otherwise have been a tenuous association among the nations of Western Europe. Third, the notion of the occident provided a clear delimitation against the enemy to the east, the Soviet Union, once again strengthening the nation's alliance with its former enemies in the West while at the same time reinforcing its rejection of another former enemy: Again, a significant element of continuity. Fourth, the notion of the occident allowed Germans in the postwar period to gloss over questions of collective and/or individual guilt and to perceive the nation more as a victim than as a perpetrator. And finally, the notion of Germany as a member of the occident also allowed West Germans from diverse political and ideological backgrounds to agree on a common denominator and thus to achieve consensus. In what follows, I will elaborate on these points further, examining both literary and political discourse to illuminate the specific attractiveness of occidental concepts.
