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From: sonja fritzsche <[log in to unmask]>
Dear all interested in East German Popular Culture,
I'm interested in getting a panel together on this topic for the
graduate student conference "The Politics of Pop: Popular Culture in
German-speaking countries" at the University of Minnesota from
March 2-4, 2001. Anyone interested?
Here is kind of what I have in mind about possibilities for the panel:
The study of East German popular culture offers a rich, multi-
faceted view of everyday life and experience in the German
Democratic Republic (GDR). Long perceived in the West solely as a
propaganda tool of the Socialist Unity Party, the closer analysis of
GDR popular culture in its social-historical context offers a more
complex understanding of its function in East German society.
Moreover, its continued popularity in post-Wende Germany, evident
in the furvor of "Mosaik" collectors and the appropriation of the
characters "Fix und Fax" in a recent movie production, points to the
continued importance of East German popular culture in everyday
life in the Federal Republic.
Proposals from all disciplines are welcome, including but not limited
to the following topics and texts: DEFA film (Indianerfilme, M rchen,
Science Fiction), popular representations of Ostalgie, magazines
(including "Mosaik," "Atze," "Sybille"), children's literature and
programming ("der Sandmann"), Krimis, notions of high and low,
censorship, influence of West German, American and/or Soviet
popular culture, music (rock, folk), advertising, television, radio, and
sports.
The official Call for Papers asks for papers to be in German or
English and asks for a 1-2 page abstract to be mailed to:
Jennifer L. Creech
Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch
University of Minnesota
205 Folwell Hall
9 Pleasant Street, SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
*** or ***
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The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2000.
Also look at the department website for the conference call for
papers:
www.folwell.umn.edu/gsd/.
Best,
Sonja Fritzsche
Ph.D. Candidate
Dept. of German, Scandinavian and Dutch
Univ. of Minnesota
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