New this year from Manchester University Press:-
HONECKER’S CHILDREN
Youth and patriotism in East(ern) Germany, 1979-2002
By Anna Saunders
During the final decade of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), young
citizens found themselves at the heart of a rigorous programme of
socialist patriotic education, yet following the fall of the Berlin Wall,
the emphasis of official state rhetoric, textbooks and youth activities
changed beyond recognition. For the young generation growing up during
this period, ‘normality’ was turned on its head, leaving a sense of
insecurity and inner turmoil.
Using a combination of archival research and interviews, together with
educational materials and government reports, this book examines the
relationship between young people and their two successive states in East
(ern) Germany between 1979 and 2002. This unusual time-span straddles the
1989/1990 caesura which often delimits historical studies, and thus
enables not only a detailed examination of GDR socialisation, but
crucially also its influence in unified Germany. Anna Saunders explores
the extent to which a young generation’s loyalties can be officially
regulated in the face of cultural and historical traditions, changing
material conditions and shifting social circumstances, and finds GDR
socialisation to be influential to post-unification loyalties through its
impact on the personal sphere, rather than through the official sphere of
ideological propaganda.
At a time of globalisation, this lucid study not only provides unique
insight into the functioning of the GDR state and its longer-term impact,
but also advances our broader understanding of the ways in which
collective loyalties are formed. It will be of particular interest to
those in the fields of German History and Politics, European Studies and
Sociology.
Anna Saunders is Lecturer in German at the University of Wales, Bangor
OUT NOW
ISBN: hb 978-0-7190-7411-0 £50.00
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