Four-Color Communism - Comic Books and Contested Power in the German Democratic Republic

As with all other forms of popular culture, comics in East Germany were tightly controlled by the state. Comics were employed as extensions of the regime's educational system, delivering official ideology so as to develop the "socialist personality" of young people and generate enthusiasm for state socialism. The East German children who avidly read these comics, however, found their own meanings in and projected their own desires upon them. Four-Color Communism gives a lively account of East German comics from both perspectives, showing how the perceived freedoms they embodied created expectations that ultimately limited the regime's efforts to bring readers into the fold.

About the author

Sean Eedy holds a doctorate in history from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His publications include articles and chapters on comic book representations of the Holocaust, animated DEFA adaptations of Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and time travel and historical representation in the work of Hannes Hegen.  Sean is currently an independent researcher and part-time professor in the Department of History at Trent University.

Product details

• Authors: Sean Eedy, Eedy Sean
• Publisher: BERGHAHN BOOKS, INC
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.07.2024
• EAN: 9781805393368
• ISBN: 978-1-80539-336-8
• No. of pages: 230
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Popular Culture, HISTORY / Europe / Germany, Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000, European History, Social & cultural history, LITERARY CRITICISM / Comics & Graphic Novels, Social and cultural history, Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period), East Germany, Ddr, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / General