The Power of Intellectuals in Contemporary Germany

The Power of Intellectuals in Contemporary Germany

The Power of Intellectuals in Contemporary Germany

The Power of Intellectuals in Contemporary Germany

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Overview

A decade after reunification, with Germany laboring to define a new national identity, the defunct German Democratic Republic has gained a second life in the pages of history. The former GDR, and particularly the fate of its intellectuals, has become the subject of novels, memoirs, and films, and it has also become the backdrop for general debates over the power of intellectuals in contemporary media and society.

This new collection of essays considers the demise of the GDR and its impact on the place of intellectuals in Germany today. Distinguished contributors from Germany, Austria, and the United States survey aspects of high and low culture, including the current nostalgia for East German film, the demise of the GDR rock scene, the pivotal role of East German poets, the consolidation and privatization of German media, and the frightening new resurgence of right-wing violence. The result is a timely volume that charts Germany's rocky transition from one world to another.

Contributors:
Mitchell G. Ash
Simone Barck
David Bathrick
John Borneman
Dorothea Dornhof
Michael Geyer
Andreas Graf
Dietrich Hohmann
Andreas Huyssen
Konrad Jarausch
Alexander Kluge
Loren Kruger
Martina Langermann
Siegfried Lokatis
Patricia Anne Simpson
Frank Trommler
Katie Trumpener

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780226289878
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication date: 12/17/2001
Edition description: 1
Pages: 392
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Michael Geyer is a professor of contemporary European history at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Deutsche Rüstungspolitik, 1860-1980 and Aufrüstung oder Sicherheit: Die Reichswehr in der Krise der Machtpolitik, 1924-1936, as well as coeditor of Resistance Against the Third Reich, 1933-1990.

Table of Contents

MICHAEL GEYER
Introduction: The Power of Intellectuals in Contemporary Germany
PART 1: Intellectuals and the Politics of Culture in the German Democratic Republic
DIETRICH HOHMANN
An Attempt at an Exemplary Report on H.
FRANK TROMMLER
German Intellectuals: Public Roles and the Rise of the Therapeutic
DOROTHEA DORNHOF
The Inconsequence of Doubt: Intellectuals and the Discourse on Socialist Unity
SIMONE BARCK, MARTINA LANGERMANN, AND SIEGFRIED LOKATIS
The German Democratic Republic as a "Reading Nation": Utopia, Planning, Reality, and Ideology
KATIE TRUMPENER
La guerre est finie: New Waves, Historical Contingency, and the GDR "Rabbit Films"
DAVID BATHRICK
Language and Power
PATRICIA ANNE SIMPSON
Syntax of Surveillance: Languages of Silence and Solidarity
LOREN KRUGER
Wir treten aus unseren Rollen heraus: Theater Intellectuals and Public Spheres
ALEXANDER KLUGE
It is a Mistake to Think That the Dead Are Dead: Obituary for Heiner Müller
PART 2: Intellectuals in Transit: Toward a Unified Germany
DIETRICH HOHMANN
The Consequences of Unification According to H.
PATRICIA ANNE SIMPSON
Soundtracks: GDR Music from "Revolution" to "Reunification"
ANDREAS GRAF
Media Publics in the GDR: Unification and the Transformation of the Media, 1989-1991
KONRAD JARAUSCH
The Double Disappointment: Revolution, Unification, and German Intellectuals
MITCHELL G. ASH
Becoming Normal, Modern, and German (Again?)
ANDREAS HUYSSEN
Nation, Race, and Immigration: German Identities After Unification
JOHN BORNEMAN
Education After the Cold War: Remembrance, Repetition, and Right-Wing Violence
MICHAEL GEYER
The Long Good-bye: German Culture Wars in the Nineties
ALEXANDER KLUGE
The Moment of Tragic Recognition with a Happy Ending
List of Contributors
Bibliography
Index
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