Screen LibraryComplicity, censorship and criticism : negotiating space in the GDR literary sphere /
This study develops an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of the cultural history of the German Democratic Republic, examining the interaction between intellectuals and Party functionaries from a literary and historical perspective. Divided into three case studies, the work focuses on writer...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Corporate Authors: | |
| Published: |
De Gruyter,
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| Publisher Address: | Berlin ;Boston : |
| Publication Dates: |
[2011] ©2011 |
| Literature type: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Series: |
Interdisciplinary german cultural studies ;
10 |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110237962 http://www.degruyter.com/doc/cover/9783110237962.jpg |
| Summary: |
This study develops an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of the cultural history of the German Democratic Republic, examining the interaction between intellectuals and Party functionaries from a literary and historical perspective. Divided into three case studies, the work focuses on writers positioned along a spectrum of conformity and dissent and who had quite different relationships to political power: Hermann Kant, Stefan Heym and Elfriede Br ning.Drawing on and comparing unpublished archive material, autobiography and the literary output of the three named writers, this study brings to the fore the ambiguities and contradictions of intellectual life in the GDR. Tensions between the different sources point towards tensions inherent in the subject positions of writers, publishers, reviewers and cultural authorities. This granular approach to the study of GDR cultural history challenges top-down interpretations and builds into a theoretical understanding of GDR cultural life based on the concepts of ambiguity and ambivalence and the increasing fragmentation of ideology. Comparison with other spheres of GDR life points towards the significance of these concepts for the study of East German society as a whole. |
| Carrier Form: | 1 online resource (230pages). |
| ISBN: | 9783110237962 |
| Index Number: | PT405 |
| CLC: | I516.065 |
| Contents: |
Frontmatter -- Foreword -- Contents -- Introduction -- Complicit Critic: Hermann Kant and the Writer as Functionary -- Hostile Partisan: Stefan Heym and the Search for Clarity -- Uncertain Comrade: Elfriede Br ning, Loyalty, Criticism and Power -- Conclusion: Ambiguity, Fragmentation and the End of the GDR -- Bibliography -- Index of Names |