Memorializing the Gdr Monuments and Memory After 1989

Since unification, eastern Germany has witnessed a rapidly changing memorial landscape, as the fate of former socialist monuments has been hotly debated and new commemorative projects have met with fierce controversy. Memorializing the GDR provides the first in-depth study of this contested arena of public memory, investigating the individuals and groups devoted to the creation or destruction of memorials as well as their broader aesthetic, political, and historical contexts. Emphasizing the interrelationship of built environment, memory and identity, it brings to light the conflicting memories of recent German history, as well as the nuances of national and regional constructions of identity.

About the author

Anna Saunders is Professor of Modern Languages and Cultures in the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures at the University of Liverpool. Her publications include the monograph Honecker’s Children: Youth and Patriotism in Eastern Germany (2007) and the collection Remembering and Rethinking the GDR: Multiple Perspectives and Plural Authenticities (2013, coedited with Debbie Pinfold).

Summary

Since unification, eastern Germany has witnessed a rapidly changing memorial landscape. Memorializing the GDR provides the first in-depth study of this key topic, investigating the individuals and groups involved in the creation or destruction of memorials while addressing the subject’s complex aesthetic, political, and historical dimensions.

Product details

• Authors: Saunders, Anna Saunders, Saunders Anna
• Publisher: BERGHAHN BOOKS, INC
• Content: Book
• Product form: Paperback / Softback
• Publication date: 31.07.2020
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories
• EAN: 9781789208016
• ISBN: 978-1-78920-801-6
• Pages: 382
• Subjects: Civic, memory, art, History, HISTORY / Europe / Germany, German History, Europe, Social History, Karl Marx, Germany, 20th Century, Identity, Social & cultural history, Berlin Wall, Retrospective, Social Change, Eastern Germany, German Democratic Republic, East Germany, Diplomacy, Social and cultural history, GDR, Peaceful Revolution, East Germany, Ddr, Memorials, monuments, Architecture: public, commercial and industrial buildings, German Culture, Social Issues, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / General, Revolutionaries, Memorial Culture, Occupied Germany, Public Memory, German Society, historical contexts, socialist monuments, modern german history, collective forms of memory, conflicting memories, regional constructions, commemorative projects