The Triumph of the Ordinary: Depictions of Daily Life in the East German Cinema, 1949-1989 - Brossura

Feinstein, Joshua

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0807853852 ISBN 13: 9780807853856

Casa editrice: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002

Riassunto

Were movies in the East Bloc propaganda or carefully veiled dissent? In the first major study in English of East German film, Joshua Feinstein argues that the answer to this question is decidedly complex.

Drawing on newly opened archives as well as interviews with East German directors, actors, and state officials, Feinstein traces how the cinematic depiction of East Germany changed in response to national political developments and transnational cultural trends such as the spread of television and rock 'n' roll. Celluloid images fed a larger sense of East German identity, an identity that persists today, more than a decade after German reunification. But even as they attempted to satisfy calls for "authentic" images of the German Democratic Republic that would legitimize socialist rule, filmmakers challenged the regime's self-understanding. Beginning in the late 1960s, East German films dwelled increasingly on everyday life itself, no longer seeing it merely as a stage in the development toward communism. By presenting an image of a static rather than an evolving society, filmmakers helped transform East German identity from one based on a commitment to socialist progress to one that accepted the GDR as it was.

Su questo libro

L'autore

Joshua Feinstein has taught European history at Stanford University and Emory University. He lives in Buffalo, New York.

Product Description

This publication confronts the question of whether movies in the Eastern Bloc were propaganda or secretly veiled dissent. It argues that the answer to the question is decidedly complex. Drawing on newly opened archives with East German directors, actors, and state officials, it traces the change in cinematic depiction of East Germany in response to national political developments and transnational cultural trends. Even as they attempted to answer calls for authentic images of the German Democratic Reopublic that would legitimize socialist rule, filmmakers challenged the regime's self-understanding. From the late 1960s East German films focused on everyday life , no longer seeing it merely as a stage in the development towards Communism. By presenting a static image it could be said that filmmakers helped transform East German identity from one based on a commitment to socialist progress to one that accepted the GDR as it was.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: The University of North Carolina Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2002
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0807853852
• ISBN 13: 9780807853856
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 348
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile