Suchergebnisse

This book analyzes the changing portrayal of GDR literature in German Gymnasium textbooks 1985-2015. Addressing the need for textbook research to broaden its focus from GDR history to GDR literature, the author presents case studies of well-known GDR authors (Bertolt Brecht, Johannes R. Becher, Anna Seghers, Wolf Biermann, and Christa Wolf), each examining a particular aspect of the societal discourse about GDR literature and the tension between (literary) text and (historical) context. Taken together, the case studies reveal the frequently underestimated power of ideology in literature textbooks. They also show how attempts to package these authors into simplified categories ultimately reveal the profound complexities of the GDR literary legacy. By examining the clear tension between literature and politics in textbooks and curricula, the author demonstrates how ideological messages are transmitted in all textbooks, as well as the importance of attending to overt and covert ideology.

Federal and state curricula not only determine much of what is taught in school, they also reveal what is important to political and cultural leaders and ultimately help shape a country's narrative. This article examines how the GDR currently is addressed in history and literature curricula for the Oberstufe. While state history curricula consistently require coverage of the GDR, literature curricula vary widely, with a few states clearly including GDR literature and many states completely omitting it. If GDR literature is ignored in state curricula, it risks being ignored in the classroom, limiting student understanding of the GDR to historical facts and depriving them of an opportunity to better understand both past and current German society.

Much like history textbooks, literature textbooks produce a grand narrative, telling a nation's story via its literature. This article examines the presentation of literature of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in upper level secondary school (Oberstufe) textbooks published in Germany in 2009 and 2010. Twenty years after German unification, literature textbooks are largely divided into two groups in accordance with their handling of literature from the failed socialist state: some focus on ideological criticism of the GDR, and some choose to avoid politics as much as possible. Both options result in a simplistic, even reductionist (grand) narrative of GDR literature. Case studies on Christa Wolf and Günter Grass reveal a consistent, positive portrayal of West German literature and a polarized representation of GDR literature.