Sigrid Weigel: Conversions between Guilt and Debts

Sigrid Weigel discusses the symbolic trade-off between guilt and debt, above all, in relation to the cultural memory in Germany since 1945.

Her point of departure is the conversion of guilt into debt in the post-war discourse, and the country’s restitution policies. Against the backdrop of theoretical considerations on conversion, the discussion centers on the “encumbered” attitude of the ‘68 generation towards money and the close interconnection between money and guilt within the generational discourse and the current euro crisis.

Sigrid Weigel is Director of the Center for Literary and Cultural Research, Chairperson of the Humanities Centers Berlin and Professor at the Institute for Philosophy, the History of Literature, Science and Technology at the Technical University Berlin.