Suchergebnisse

This article presents the involvement of East German writers in the autumn events of the 1989 breakthrough in the wider context. These events included, above all, the demonstrations organized by the liberal wing of the Writers' Union and the "For Our Country" statement, which aroused wide controversy. The article describes the main axes of the "literature controversy," a debate which lasted from the beginning to the middle of the 1990s and concerned the political responsibility of East German writers. The author's reflections are largely based on archival materials, which encompass testimonies of social reactions to the actions of the government, the appeals of intellectuals, and the opinions of writers from the FRG and GDR (including those in exile) on the political future of Germany. The article outlines the specificity of the GDR writers' milieu over several decades, comparing it with analogous circles in Poland. The article ends with a reflection on the relationship between these two circles and the reaction of East German writers to the events in Poland in the 1980s.

In fast jedem autoritär regierten Staat werden von den Machthabern Maßnahmen wie Repressalien und Strafen ergriffen, die die erwünschten Verhaltensweisen der Menschen erzwingen und diese dazu bringen sollen, sich einer bestimmten Ideologie unterzuordnen. Die Kunst ist ein besonders empfindlicher Bereich des öffentlichen Lebens und entzieht sich zumindest teilweise diesen Methoden. Eine Kontrolle über die Künstler und ihr Schaffen erfordert seitens der Staatsgewalt deshalb meistens ein subtileres Instrumentarium. Aber auch andere, "weiche" Faktoren haben einen Einfluss auf das politische Verhalten der Künstler und die Gestaltung der Kunstinhalte. ; The paper is devoted to the mechanisms of control over the literary milieu in the authoritarian system, shown on the example of the GDR. Firstly, the political framework of the conditions that the GDR-writers created their works and were politically active in is presented, as well as the outline of measures that were applied by the authorities towards the writers. Then the impact that the generational aspect had over the political "self-control" of the writers is presented. At last, the direct influence of such measures like prizes, punishments and repressions is discussed.