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Up till now, Karl-Markus Gauß has published five volumes of what has often been described as “journals”: Mit mir, ohne mich (2002), Von nah, von fern (2003), Zu früh, zu spät (2007), Ruhm am Nachmittag (2012) and Der Alltag der Welt (2015). The emphasis of this paper lies on the first two of these volumes which are labelled respectively as “Ein Journal” and “Ein Jahresbuch”. A special focus lies on thematic continuities, such as the historical and present peripheries of Europe and its populations and questions linked to the construction of identity. Gauß (self-)reflects critically on the historical roots of contemporary phenomena, which are often taken from medial incidents. The study shows aspects of the texts’ construction character. The crossing of boundaries on the thematic level is reflected in the transcending of literary genres: Gauß’ texts merge different genres into new shapes; his narration can be understood as a kind of resistance to cotemporary superficiality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]