Ambivalent Literary Farewells To The German Democratic Republic

Author : John David Pizer
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 207 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2021-08-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9783110725032

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Ambivalent Literary Farewells to the German Democratic Republic by John David Pizer Pdf

This study reverses the question implicit in title of Christa Wolf’s now-canonical 1990 novella Was bleibt (What remains), looking instead at what was lost during the process of German reunification. It argues that, in their work during and after the Wende, most literary authors from both East and West Germany responded ambivalently to the reunification. Many felt, on the one hand, a keen sense of loss as the GDR dissolved and an expanded Federal Republic summarily absorbed former Eastern Germany. They mourned the ideals of democratic socialism, tolerance, and internationalism that the GDR had held dear, as well as the country’s rich cultural life. On the other hand, however, they recognized that the GDR was a fundamentally corrupt surveillance state whose industry weighed heavily on the environment while failing to buoy the country’s economy. By looking at works by some of the most important authors from either side of the border, this study shows that those who unequivocally embraced the reunification were clearly in the minority.

Author : John David Pizer
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2021-08-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9783110725100

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Ambivalent Literary Farewells to the German Democratic Republic by John David Pizer Pdf

This study reverses the question implicit in title of Christa Wolf’s now-canonical 1990 novella Was bleibt (What remains), looking instead at what was lost during the process of German reunification. It argues that, in their work during and after the Wende, most literary authors from both East and West Germany responded ambivalently to the reunification. Many felt, on the one hand, a keen sense of loss as the GDR dissolved and an expanded Federal Republic summarily absorbed former Eastern Germany. They mourned the ideals of democratic socialism, tolerance, and internationalism that the GDR had held dear, as well as the country’s rich cultural life. On the other hand, however, they recognized that the GDR was a fundamentally corrupt surveillance state whose industry weighed heavily on the environment while failing to buoy the country’s economy. By looking at works by some of the most important authors from either side of the border, this study shows that those who unequivocally embraced the reunification were clearly in the minority.

Author : Theo D'haen,David Damrosch,Djelal Kadir
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 640 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2022-09-30
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9781000625967

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The Routledge Companion to World Literature by Theo D'haen,David Damrosch,Djelal Kadir Pdf

This fully updated new edition of The Routledge Companion to World Literature contains ten brand new chapters on topics such as premodern world literature, migration studies, world history, artificial intelligence, global Englishes, remediation, crime fiction, Lusophone literature, Middle Eastern literature, and oceanic studies. Separated into four key sections, the volume covers: the history of world literature through significant writers and theorists from Goethe to Said, Casanova and Moretti the disciplinary relationship of world literature to areas such as philology, translation, globalization, and diaspora studies theoretical issues in world literature, including gender, politics, and ethics; and a global perspective on the politics of world literature Comprehensive yet accessible, this book is ideal as an introduction to world literature or for those looking to extend their knowledge of this essential field.

Author : Stephen Brockmann
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2023-06-20
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781640141544

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The Freest Country in the World by Stephen Brockmann Pdf

Shows that while the GDR is generally seen as - and mostly was - an oppressive and unfree country, from late 1989 until autumn 1990 it was the "freest country in the world" the dictatorship had disappeared while the welfare system remained. Stephen Brockmann's new book explores the year 1989/1990 in East Germany, arguing that while the GDR is generally seen as - and was for most of its forty years - an oppressive and unfree country, from autumn 1989 until the autumn of 1990 it was the "freest country in the world," since the dictatorship had disappeared while the welfare system remained. That such freedom existed in the last months of the GDR and was a result of the actions of East Germans themselves has been obscured, Brockmann shows, by the now-standard description of the collapse of the GDR and the reunification of Germany as a triumph of Western democracy and capitalism. Brockmann first addresses the culture of 1989/1990 by looking at various media from that final year, particularly film documentaries. He emphasizes punk culture and the growth of neo-Nazism and the Antifa movement - factors often ignored in accounts of the period. He then analyzes three later semiautobiographical novels about the period. He devotes chapters to dramatic films dealing with German reunification made relatively soon after the event and to more recent film and television depictions of the period, respectively. The final chapter looks at monuments and memorials of the 1989/1990 period, and a conclusion considers the implications of the book's findings for the present day.

Author : Karen J. Leeder
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : German literature
ISBN : 1316464342

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Rereading East Germany by Karen J. Leeder Pdf

"This volume is the first to address the culture of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as a historical entity, but also to trace the afterlife of East Germany in the decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall. An international team of outstanding scholars offers essential and thought-provoking essays, combining a chronological and genre-based overview from the beginning of the GDR in 1949 to the unification in 1990 and beyond, with in-depth analysis of individual works. A final chapter traces the resonance of the GDR in the years since its demise and analyses the fascination it engenders. The volume provides a 'rereading' of East Germany and its legacy as a cultural phenomenon free from the prejudices that prevailed while it existed, offering English translations throughout, a guide to further reading and a chronology"--

Author : Chris Weedon
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 409 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2023-08-28
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9789004544901

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Life Stories from the German Democratic Republic by Chris Weedon Pdf

More than thirty years after German reunification, Life Stories from the German Democratic Republic addresses how life in the GDR is remembered, thereby enriching and complexifying the narratives of East German life found in public history, museums, tourist venues, film, media and popular fiction. The frequent stress on material lack, social restrictions and the repressive state is expanded and reconfigured by interviewees who variously both challenge and confirm widespread assumptions about what it meant to live in the GDR. Aimed at a wide readership, this book gives English-speaking readers access to varied and detailed accounts of everyday life, individual engagement with state institutions and different views of GDR politics, society and culture.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2018-04-17
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9789004359789

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German Reunification and the Legacy of GDR Literature and Culture by Anonim Pdf

This collection of academic articles and personal reflections explores German reunification and the legacy of GDR literature and culture. It examines a broad range of genres and combines perspectives on both lesser-known and more established writers.

Author : Carol Poore
Publisher : Wayne State University Press
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : History
ISBN : 0814328970

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The Bonds of Labor by Carol Poore Pdf

"The Bonds of Labor is a book that augments both historical studies of class relations and the labor movement as well as literary studies of German themes and images by exploring the cultural history of responses to social inequities. This literary exploration of the industrial world will be important reading for scholars and students of German cultural and social history, German literature, and labor studies."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Author : Thomas W. Goldstein
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2017
Category : History
ISBN : 9781571139207

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Writing in Red by Thomas W. Goldstein Pdf

In the German Democratic Republic words and ideas mattered, both for legitimizing and criticizing the regime. No wonder, then, that the ruling SED party created a Writers Union to mold what writers publicly wrote and said. Its chief task was ideological: creating a socialist and antifascist culture. But it was also supposed to advance its members' professional interests and enable them to act as public intellectuals with a say in the direction of socialism. Many writers demanded that it pursue this second function as well, which brought it into conflict with the SED. This book explores how the union became a site for the contestation of writers' roles in GDR society with consequences well beyond the literary community. Union leaders, pressured by the SED or the secret police, usually acquiesced in enforcing regime demands, but by the 1980s many authors had adapted to the rules of the game, exploiting their union membership to insulate themselves from reprisal for their carefully worded critiques and in so doing beginning to break down limitations on public speech. The book explores how and why in the 1970s the Writers Union helped normalize relations between writers and state, yet over the course of the 1980s inadvertently aided the expansion of permissible speech, ultimately helping destabilize the East German system. Thomas W. Goldstein is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Central Missouri.

Author : Feiwel Kupferberg
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Germany
ISBN : 0765801221

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The Rise and Fall of the German Democratic Republic by Feiwel Kupferberg Pdf

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 42 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Germany (East)
ISBN : STANFORD:36105122323954

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GDR Bulletin by Anonim Pdf

Author : Jost Hermand,Marc Silberman
Publisher : Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : History
ISBN : STANFORD:36105019413702

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Contentious Memories by Jost Hermand,Marc Silberman Pdf

Who is remembering the German Democratic Republic, and how do they go about it? This volume of «contentious memories» brings together essays and critical responses in a look back at three aspects of GDR studies. It presents an opportunity for self-reflection on German Studies' past and ongoing engagement with the GDR and post-unification transformations. It seeks to evaluate old questions and raises new ones concerning the historical knowledge of GDR culture and our interpretations of it. Finally, it examines blindspots and self-deceptions of the past as well as those forming all too quickly in the present. Characterized by a self-awareness and historical understanding that is often neglected in the current tendency to write of the GDR, this collection marks a milestone in the (re)assessment of GDR studies in North America.

Author : Peter Demetz
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 1970
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : UVA:X000187391

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Postwar German Literature by Peter Demetz Pdf

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 111 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 1978
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:491758394

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German Democratic Republic by Anonim Pdf

Author : Stephen Brockmann
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 1999-10-07
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780521660549

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Literature and German Reunification by Stephen Brockmann Pdf

A full-length study of the literary consequences of German reunification.