The Margins of Dictatorship - Assent and Dissent in the Work of Günter Eich and Bertolt Brecht

In this study the author elaborates a comparative framework for analysing literary texts from the Third Reich and the GDR in terms of the extent of assent and/or dissent expressed through them towards the National Socialist and SED regimes. The author maps out areas of similarity and difference in the workings of cultural policy in the two dictatorships. In the second part of the study, Günter Eich's work for the Nazi radio system and Bertolt Brecht's cultural activities in the GDR act as case studies to illuminate the patterns of interdependent assent and dissent generated under the conditions of dictatorship.

List of contents

Contents: 'Totalitarianism': The organisation and dynamics of cultural policy - 'Ideology': Towards a comparative paradigm - 'Resistance': Configuring literary assent and dissent in the German dictatorship - Forms of literary assent and dissent under National Socialism: Günter Eich - Forms of literary assent and dissent in the GDR: Bertold Brecht.

About the author

The Author: Matthew Philpotts (1973) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of German Studies at the University of Manchester where he completed his Ph.D. in 2000. He is currently working on a monograph investigating stylistic continuities in German literature across the political boundaries of dictatorship.

Report

"Philpotts's study is essential reading for scholars working on Eich and National Socialist cultural studies, and Brecht and GDR studies." (Steve Giles, Modern Language Review)

Product details

• Authors: Matthew Philpotts
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 16.06.2003
• EAN: 9783039100224
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3910022-4
• No. of pages: 377
• Dimensions: 150 mm x 20 mm x 220 mm
• Weight: 570 g
• Series: Britische und Irische Studien zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur / British and Irish Studies in German Language and Literature; Britische und Irische Studien zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur / British and Irish Studies in Ger
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics