Wirtschaftsroman oder Wirtschaftspop? Zur Poetik des Kredits in Rainald Goetz’ Johann Holtrop

Rainald Goetz’ novel Johann Holtrop has repeatedly been read as a failed satire of the 21st century’s financial crisis: On the one hand, its descriptions were understood as opinionated and sententious. On the other hand, critics were irritated by what was seen as an inconsequent integration of realistic narration into Goetz’ hyperbolic style of writing. This paper takes a different stance on the text: First, it discusses the work’s allusions to realistic narration and the financial crisis in detail. Second, it argues that Johann Holtrop transfers the idea of a collapsing economy into an only partially realistic poetic of distortion. Third, it suggests that this strategy can be fruitfully compared to a crumbling system of credit. On this basis, the novel is read as an inherently literary depiction of the financial crisis.