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Accepted Paper:
Sabine Kittel (Newcastle University)
Paper short abstract:
In the focus of my paper are recollections of the socialist past within a political education office that deals with the official memory and historiography of the GDR. I will explore the tensions between personal memories of employees at this office and the surrounding authoritative discourse.
Paper long abstract:
In my paper I want to discuss the negotiation of memories about a state and society which no longer exist, and the nature of which is highly contentious today. I will focus on recollections of the socialist past within a political education office that deals with the official memory and historiography of the GDR.
In 1991, shortly after the unification of Germany, the new federal Governments installed political education institutions. Initially, their assignment was to encourage liberal and democratic awareness. In the longer run the newly created institutions focused also on historical education to 'overcome' the legacies of a totalitarian Germany and to foster a new democratic culture. This was part of a wider development of an 'authoritative' image of the GDR as a communist dictatorship and accompanying discourses and structures.
The paper explores the tensions between personal memories of employees at this office and the surrounding authoritative discourse which became evident in life-story interviews and participant observation. As ordinary people - neither victims nor members of the civil rights movement - their personal experiences conflict to an extent with official versions of life in socialism. On the other hand, their current personal situation, workplace alliances and public discourses add profoundly to their remembering the socialist past. It will be highlighted how post-socialist experiences and current context patterned these retrospectives, thus creating a 'biographical illusion' (Bourdieu) with new preconditions: now the defense of biographical accomplishments.
The paper explores findings stemming from a research project on 'the social construction of the socialist past'.
Memory, identity and cultural change
Session 1