Complicity, Censorship and Criticism: Negotiating Space in the GDR Literary Sphere

Sara Jones

Published by De Gruyter 2011

Complicity, Censorship and Criticism

Negotiating Space in the GDR Literary Sphere

Sara Jones

Volume 10 in the series Interdisciplinary German Cultural Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110237962

Overview
Contents

About this book

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 Brüning.
Drawing on and comparing unpublished archive material, autobiography and the literary output of the three named writers, this study brings to the fore the ambiguities and contradictions of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.

Author / Editor information

Sara Jones, University of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	I
Foreword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	V
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	VII
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Complicit Critic: Hermann Kant and the Writer as Functionary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
Hostile Partisan: Stefan Heym and the Search for Clarity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
Uncertain Comrade: Elfriede Brüning, Loyalty, Criticism and Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
Conclusion: Ambiguity, Fragmentation and the End of the GDR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Institutes, Libraries
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 221
Keywords: GDR Literature; GDR Literary History

eBook

Published: June 30, 2011
ISBN: 9783110237962

Hardcover

Published: June 16, 2011
ISBN: 9783110237955