On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film

Though the German Democratic Republic (GDR) collapsed in 1990, after 41 years of existence, the socialist state lives on – in schoolbooks, museums, novels, films and in the memories of those who witnessed the “workers’ and peasants’ state.” With GDR memory being a highly embattled discourse in Germ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mandy Tröger, Daria Gordeeva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Università di Napoli Federico II 2020-12-01
Series:Funes
Online Access:https://serena.atcult.it/index.php/funes/article/view/7472
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849398601884631040
author Mandy Tröger
Daria Gordeeva
author_facet Mandy Tröger
Daria Gordeeva
author_sort Mandy Tröger
collection DOAJ
description Though the German Democratic Republic (GDR) collapsed in 1990, after 41 years of existence, the socialist state lives on – in schoolbooks, museums, novels, films and in the memories of those who witnessed the “workers’ and peasants’ state.” With GDR memory being a highly embattled discourse in Germany more generally, we ask how the GDR is constructed in German film. This means more specifically, what stories are being told and what interpretations suggested within the broader GDR memory discourse? To answer these questions, we offer a comparative three-level-analysis of the feature films Balloon (2018) and Sealed Lips (2019). Looking at the film-immanent, the structural and the actor-centered level, we find that East German directors, producers or actors can bring different albeit divergent perspectives on the GDR in film whose construction is currently dominated by West German elites.
format Article
id doaj-art-a11fa3faac8e423da6222cbc8726268c
institution Kabale University
issn 2532-6732
language English
publishDate 2020-12-01
publisher Università di Napoli Federico II
record_format Article
series Funes
spelling doaj-art-a11fa3faac8e423da6222cbc8726268c2025-08-20T03:38:34ZengUniversità di Napoli Federico IIFunes2532-67322020-12-01410.6093/2532-6732/7472On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German FilmMandy Tröger0Daria Gordeeva1Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichLudwig Maximilian University of Munich Though the German Democratic Republic (GDR) collapsed in 1990, after 41 years of existence, the socialist state lives on – in schoolbooks, museums, novels, films and in the memories of those who witnessed the “workers’ and peasants’ state.” With GDR memory being a highly embattled discourse in Germany more generally, we ask how the GDR is constructed in German film. This means more specifically, what stories are being told and what interpretations suggested within the broader GDR memory discourse? To answer these questions, we offer a comparative three-level-analysis of the feature films Balloon (2018) and Sealed Lips (2019). Looking at the film-immanent, the structural and the actor-centered level, we find that East German directors, producers or actors can bring different albeit divergent perspectives on the GDR in film whose construction is currently dominated by West German elites. https://serena.atcult.it/index.php/funes/article/view/7472
spellingShingle Mandy Tröger
Daria Gordeeva
On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film
Funes
title On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film
title_full On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film
title_fullStr On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film
title_full_unstemmed On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film
title_short On the Construction of Socialist East Germany in Contemporary German Film
title_sort on the construction of socialist east germany in contemporary german film
url https://serena.atcult.it/index.php/funes/article/view/7472
work_keys_str_mv AT mandytroger ontheconstructionofsocialisteastgermanyincontemporarygermanfilm
AT dariagordeeva ontheconstructionofsocialisteastgermanyincontemporarygermanfilm