Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Berlin Wall, divided Germany, discourse analysis
Abstract
This discourse analysis examines a collection of short stories, entitled Schattensprünge: Geschichten rund um die Berliner Mauer, spanning the period of divided Germany (1949-1989) and the effect of this era on the mentality of the German people, particularly in the areas of politics, religion, society and economics.
The separation of the country created a culture of fear, struggle and deceit, separated families, encouraged big government secrecy, and proved that socialism leads to economic catastrophe. Both before the Wall went up in 1961 to the time of its destruction in 1989, the German people were faced with having to rebuild their nation after war and the added strain of a divided country caused more unrest in the nation as a whole. The suffering of divided families caused by the Wall and a culture of distrust created by the Orwellian East German government was contrasted with the economically-flourishing and democratic society of the West. These texts illustrate the magnitude of the Berlin Wall and how it affected the society and culture of the German people.
Our analyses of the 19 personal stories and experiences related in this collection reveal how the 40-year division of a Volk affected politics, religion, society and economics in the lives of the authors. These specific examples from regular people illustrate life in Germany on both sides of the Wall.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Dr. Annis N. Shaver
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-1-2015 11:00 AM
End Date
4-1-2015 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Discourses Surrounding Divided Germany
Cedarville, OH
This discourse analysis examines a collection of short stories, entitled Schattensprünge: Geschichten rund um die Berliner Mauer, spanning the period of divided Germany (1949-1989) and the effect of this era on the mentality of the German people, particularly in the areas of politics, religion, society and economics.
The separation of the country created a culture of fear, struggle and deceit, separated families, encouraged big government secrecy, and proved that socialism leads to economic catastrophe. Both before the Wall went up in 1961 to the time of its destruction in 1989, the German people were faced with having to rebuild their nation after war and the added strain of a divided country caused more unrest in the nation as a whole. The suffering of divided families caused by the Wall and a culture of distrust created by the Orwellian East German government was contrasted with the economically-flourishing and democratic society of the West. These texts illustrate the magnitude of the Berlin Wall and how it affected the society and culture of the German people.
Our analyses of the 19 personal stories and experiences related in this collection reveal how the 40-year division of a Volk affected politics, religion, society and economics in the lives of the authors. These specific examples from regular people illustrate life in Germany on both sides of the Wall.
