German post-socialist memory culture : epistemic nostalgia / Amieke Bouma.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bouma, Amieke, author.

Series:

Heritage and memory studies.

Heritage and memory studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Collective memory--Germany.

Collective memory.

Post-communism--Germany.

Post-communism.

Germany--History--Unification, 1990.

Germany.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2019.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

After German unification, former officers of the GDR state security service united with GDR professors and cultural managers to establish the East German Committee of Associations (OKV). On the basis of encompassing oral history into this complex web of interest organizations and memory clubs, Bouma argues that these activists are driven by an epistemic nostalgia: a longing for the time when their political understanding of the world was seemingly unchallenged. Far from constituting a 'second life of the Stasi', the main goal of OKV associations has been to validate the personal biographies of their activists, against the now prevalent view that the GDR was a 'state of injustice'. While the OKV quickly adapted to the new legal procedures in post-socialist Germany, their staunch defence of the GDR heritage complicates their relation to SED successor party Die Linke and other radical left parties and associations, even when they share practical goals.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I. Memory and Nostalgia

Part II. The Ostdeutsches Kuratorium von Verbänden

Part III. The Maintenance of Communal Continuity in Activism and Outreach

Part IV. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 20 Nov 2020).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-003-69662-7

90-485-4467-X

9781003696629

OCLC:

1109775750