DOCSLIB.ORG

Double Vision: Territorial Strategies in the Construction of National Identities in Germany, 1949–1979

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Double Vision: Territorial Strategies in the Construction of National Identities in Germany, 1949–1979 Double Vision: Territorial Strategies in the Construction of National Identities in Germany, 1949–1979 Guntram H. Herb Department of Geography, Middlebury College The establishment of two separate German states in 1949 had far-reaching effects on German national identity. Initially, both governments claimed to represent the German nation as a whole, and each professed an identity that went beyond its state borders. When the two German states started to recognize each other in the early 1970s, the GDR (East Germany) embarked on a separate path and posited that a separate Socialist nation had developed in the territorial confines of the GDR. Now the GDR needed to explain how its construction of identity could be unique when it had the same German cultural roots as the FRG (West Germany). In the FRG on the other hand, the narration of national identity had to square the recognition of the eastern border of the GDR in international treaties and with demands to former German territories beyond it. The paper addresses these challenges over territory and identity in the two German states, using a conceptual framework inspired by works from critical geopolitics and recent studies on nations as local metaphors. I identify and discuss three key elements that are central to territorial strategies in the construction of national identities: territorial differentiation, territorial bonding, and territorial script. Next, I apply these elements to an empirical analysis of identity construction in the FRG and GDR. Sources in- clude geography textbooks and atlases, which have a decisive influence on shaping conceptions of the nation. Dominant constructions of national identity in the two states did not respond to each other’s initiatives and failed to produce effective strategies by the end of the 1970s. Key Words: Germany, nation, territory, construction of national identity, geographic education. he establishment of two separate German states in Each German state faced a dilemma in trying to 1949 had far-reaching effects on German nation- construct a convincing vision of its version of national T al identity. Throughout the Cold War, the two identity. The construction of national identity in the GDR Germanys clashed not only over the political ideologies needed to show the development of a separate nation of their respective blocks but also over the territorial despite common roots in the German national movement extent of the German nation. The position of the Federal of the 19th century, a movement that was centered on Republic of Germany (FRG), was to keep issues of national the cultural unity of all Germans in Central Europe. The territory open and to maintain claims to large areas in construction of national identity in the FRG was pressed Poland and other East European countries.1 Communist to explain how the recognition of the eastern border of East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the GDR, the so-called Oder-Neisse line, in inter- opposed these claims and denounced them as a continua- national treaties could be squared with demands for tion of the imperialist policies of the Hitler regime. The German unification beyond the confines of the two GDR regime did not refrain, however, from arguing for German states. The two challenges were explicitly the unification of the German nation under its leadership territorial in character. In the GDR, the difficulty was to until the late 1960s. When the Cold War began to thaw reduce the spatial extent of its national identity concep- and the FRG officially recognized the GDR as a result of tion to the confines of the GDR state territory, while in the Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik, the GDR changed its rhetoric. FRG, the struggle was to keep the full spatial extent of its Starting in the early 1970s, the government denied the national identity conception in light of the restrictive existence of significant commonalties between East and conditions of realpolitik. West Germany and posited that a separate socialist What was the response to these territorial challenges in nation had developed in the territorial confines of the each German state? In particular, what strategies were GDR. The FRG leaders vehemently rejected this claim employed in each state to construct a clear and convincing and maintained their stance on the continuity of a greater image of the territorial foundation of ‘‘its’’ national German nation. identity? To answer these questions, this investigation Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94(1), 2004, pp. 140–164 r 2004 by Association of American Geographers Initial submission, June 2000; revised submissions, September 2001 and August 2002; final acceptance, May 2003. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, U.K. Territorial Strategies in the Construction of National Identities in Germany, 1949–1979 141 will focus on the period 1949 to 1979. This time frame was present the two fundamental components of territoriality chosen to trace back the development of the construction in German national identity, territorial differentiation and of national identity to the founding of the two states in territorial bonding. Then I shall address the territorial 1949 to understand the fundamental changes that scripts in divided Germany, paying particular attention to occurred around the end of the 1960s, extending to the how these scripts relate to the findings from territorial end of the 1970s when the notion of a separate GDR differentiation and territorial bonding. identity was fully developed. The 1980s witnessed new Part three will focus on the interactions between developments in terms of the identity construction in the the different strategies in the GDR and FRG, discuss the FRG and GDR in the changing context of the appearance effectiveness of the conceptual approach, and point out and disappearance of the Second Cold War, which will avenues for further studies. On a more general level, I be discussed in a forthcoming publication. hope to show in this paper that concepts informed by the The present paper has significance for understanding school of critical geopolitics can strengthen empirical- not only German identity during the time of division, but ly oriented work in historical geography and thus offer a national identity construction in general. The role of bridge between these areas of inquiry. territory in the construction of national identities is an important part of the political geography literature, whether dealing with national identity in the context of National Identity, Territory, and globalization (Marden 1997), identities related to associa- Geographic Knowledge tions of states, such as the European Union (Murphy 1999), or regional identities (White 2000). The case of Despite a veritable flood of scholarly works on national divided Germany allows a direct comparison of territorial issues, the concept of nation defies easy definition. A strategies in national identity construction between a useful approach is to conceptualize nations as narratives or centralized totalitarian and a federal democratic state and discourses (Bhabha 1990; Wodaket al. 1998). The idea of between an ethnic and a civic identity. narration explains that individuals acquire an identity by The main argument is organized into three parts. In conveying the often discordant and conflicting experi- part one, I shall develop a theoretical framework for the ences and events of their past as a coherent story to others. investigation, conceiving nations as narrative identities The elements of the narrative, that is, different experi- and combining works from critical geopolitics with recent ences and events, can be arranged and rearranged, studiesonnations aslocalmetaphorstooffera more balanc- interpreted and reinterpreted to resolve discontinuities ed conceptualization of nations as forms of territoriality. and changes. The narrative provides continuity and The argument here is that the territorial strategies in the coherence because the plot can always be revisited to construction of identities can be made more tenable produce an acceptable story that fits new circumstances through a two-step process. First, the territoriality of and gives meaning to one’s existence (Wodak et al. 1998, national identity is dissected into its two fundamental 55–56; Langthaler 2002, 788). The narrative construc- components, territorial differentiation and territorial bond- tion of individual identity also applies to nations. As ing. Second, the rationale behind the territorial strategy— Bhabha (1990, 3) points out, nationalist discourses seek to what I term the ‘‘territorial script’’—is conceived as a present nations as ‘‘holistic concepts located within ‘‘geograph.’’ Territorial differentiation and territorial bond- an evolutionary narrative of historical continuity.’’ For ing offer insights into the building blocks of territorial example, in the narration of the national history, every strategies in the construction of national identity. The new historian makes corrections to the descriptions and script allows us to see the broader narrative that serves explanations of earlier historians and eventually also to as a justification for the strategy. The advantage of the the events themselves on which the historiographical approach is that it provides a clear structure and sound work was based (Wodaket al. 1998, 57, fn. 48). Therefore, basis for the analysis of a highly complex phenomenon. national traditions have to be viewed as myths (Connor
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jewish Identity and German Landscapes in Konrad Wolf's I Was Nineteen
    Religions 2012, 3, 130–150; doi:10.3390/rel3010130 OPEN ACCESS religions ISSN 2077-1444 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Article Homecoming as a National Founding Myth: Jewish Identity and German Landscapes in Konrad Wolf’s I was Nineteen Ofer Ashkenazi History Department, University of Minnesota, 1110 Heller Hall, 271 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: 1-651-442-3030 Received: 5 January 2012; in revised form: 13 March 2012 / Accepted: 14 March 2012 / Published: 22 March 2012 Abstract: Konrad Wolf was one of the most enigmatic intellectuals of East Germany. The son of the Jewish Communist playwright Friedrich Wolf and the brother of Markus Wolf— the head of the GDR‘s Foreign Intelligence Agency—Konrad Wolf was exiled in Moscow during the Nazi era and returned to Germany as a Red Army soldier by the end of World War Two. This article examines Wolf‘s 1968 autobiographical film I was Nineteen (Ich war Neunzehn), which narrates the final days of World War II—and the initial formation of postwar reality—from the point of view of an exiled German volunteer in the Soviet Army. In analyzing Wolf‘s portrayals of the German landscape, I argue that he used the audio- visual clichés of Heimat-symbolism in order to undermine the sense of a homogenous and apolitical community commonly associated with this concept. Thrown out of their original contexts, his displaced Heimat images negotiate a sense of a heterogeneous community, which assumes multi-layered identities and highlights the shared ideology rather than the shared origins of the members of the national community.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the Devil in the Original Folk and Fairy Tales
    Syncretism or Superimposition: An Analysis of the Devil in The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Tiffany Stachnik Honors 498: Directed Study, Grimm’s Fairy Tales April 8, 2018 1 Abstract Since their first full publication in 1815, the folk and fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm have provided a means of studying the rich oral traditions of Germany. The Grimm brothers indicated time and time again in their personal notes that the oral traditions found in their folk and fairy tales included symbols, characters, and themes belonging to pre-Christian Germanic culture, as well as to the firmly Christian German states from which they collected their folk and fairy tales. The blending of pre-Christian Germanic culture with Christian, German traditions is particularly salient in the figure of the devil, despite the fact that the devil is arguably one of the most popular Christian figures to date. Through an exploration of the phylogenetic analyses of the Grimm’s tales featuring the devil, connections between the devil in the Grimm’s tales and other German or Germanic tales, and Christian and Germanic symbolism, this study demonstrates that the devil in the Grimm’s tales is an embodiment of syncretism between Christian and pre-Christian traditions. This syncretic devil is not only consistent with the history of religious transformation in Germany, which involved the slow blending of elements of Germanic paganism and Christianity, but also points to a greater theme of syncretism between the cultural traditions of Germany and other
    [Show full text]
  • Depopulation: on the Logic of Heidegger's Volk
    Research research in phenomenology 47 (2017) 297–330 in Phenomenology brill.com/rp Depopulation: On the Logic of Heidegger’s Volk Nicolai Krejberg Knudsen Aarhus University [email protected] Abstract This article provides a detailed analysis of the function of the notion of Volk in Martin Heidegger’s philosophy. At first glance, this term is an appeal to the revolutionary mass- es of the National Socialist revolution in a way that demarcates a distinction between the rootedness of the German People (capital “P”) and the rootlessness of the modern rabble (or people). But this distinction is not a sufficient explanation of Heidegger’s position, because Heidegger simultaneously seems to hold that even the Germans are characterized by a lack of identity. What is required is a further appropriation of the proper. My suggestion is that this logic of the Volk is not only useful for understanding Heidegger’s thought during the war, but also an indication of what happened after he lost faith in the National Socialist movement and thus had to make the lack of the People the basis of his thought. Keywords Heidegger – Nazism – Schwarze Hefte – Black Notebooks – Volk – people Introduction In § 74 of Sein und Zeit, Heidegger introduces the notorious term “the People” [das Volk]. For Heidegger, this term functions as the intersection between phi- losophy and politics and, consequently, it preoccupies him throughout the turbulent years from the National Socialist revolution in 1933 to the end of WWII in 1945. The shift from individual Dasein to the Dasein of the German People has often been noted as the very point at which Heidegger’s fundamen- tal ontology intersects with his disastrous political views.
    [Show full text]
  • Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va
    GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 32. Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police (Part I) The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1961 This finding aid has been prepared by the National Archives as part of its program of facilitating the use of records in its custody. The microfilm described in this guide may be consulted at the National Archives, where it is identified as RG 242, Microfilm Publication T175. To order microfilm, write to the Publications Sales Branch (NEPS), National Archives and Records Service (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. Some of the papers reproduced on the microfilm referred to in this and other guides of the same series may have been of private origin. The fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission of their authors may be held liable for infringement of such literary property rights. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-9982 AMERICA! HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE fOR THE STUDY OP WAR DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECOBDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXAM)RIA, VA. No* 32» Records of the Reich Leader of the SS aad Chief of the German Police (HeiehsMhrer SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei) 1) THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (AHA) COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF WAE DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA* This is part of a series of Guides prepared
    [Show full text]
  • Alwin Seifert and Nazi Environmentalism
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette History Faculty Research and Publications History, Department of 5-2020 Advocates for the Landscape: Alwin Seifert and Nazi Environmentalism Peter Staudenmaier Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/hist_fac Part of the History Commons Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette History Faculty Research and Publications/College of Arts and Sciences This paper is NOT THE PUBLISHED VERSION; but the author’s final, peer-reviewed manuscript. The published version may be accessed by following the link in the citation below. German Studies Review, Vol. 43, No. 2 (May 2020): 271-290. DOI. This article is © Johns Hopkins University Press and permission has been granted for this version to appear in e- Publications@Marquette. Johns Hopkins University Press does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Johns Hopkins University Press. Advocates for the Landscape: Alwin Seifert and Nazi Environmentalism Peter Staudenmaier ABSTRACT Reexamining debates on ostensibly green facets of Nazism, this article offers a case study of the "landscape advocates" led by Alwin Seifert from 1934 to 1945. In contrast to previous accounts focused on the role of the landscape advocates in the construction of the Autobahn, the article assesses their work on a wide range of projects in Nazi Germany and across occupied Europe. It argues that existing scholarship has not fully recognized the extent of the landscape advocates' involvement in Nazi structures and has sometimes misunderstood the relationship between their environmental activities and blood and soil ideology. Seven decades after the defeat of Hitler's dictatorship, the European landscape still bears the scars of war and genocide.
    [Show full text]
  • Regionalism, Federalism and Nationalism in the German Empire Siegfried Weichlein
    6 Regionalism, Federalism and Nationalism in the German Empire Siegfried Weichlein i{t•gions and regionalism had a great impact on developments in nineteenth­ ' ·t•ntury Germany. The century began with a genuine territorial revolution in Pebruary 1803 that ended the iridependent history of hundreds of regional states and brought their number down to 34. After several hundred years of rl'lative continuity this was a clear break with the past. Bringing the number t ,r German states down further to 27 and taking away much of their indepen­ dence with the unification of Germany in 1871 was then a comparatively small step. What had begun in the late eighteenth century- the dissoci­ ation of territory and political power- reached a certain climax in 1803. Early-modern small state particularism, nevertheless, had a Iasting impact on regionalism as well as nationalism. Deprived of their political power the old German states still fastered a sense of the 'federative nation' (föderative Nation). 1 Regional identity was therefore still a veritable cultural and political rorce which could support a call for federalism. Regions could be coextensive with a state, but also exist below the states and between them. A good example is the Palatinate. Since the late eighteenth century it belonged politically and administratively to Bavaria. Culturally and to a certain extent politically, however, representatives of the Palatinate kept their distance fram the capital Munich. In this the Palatinate did not stand alone. Many sub-state regionalisms explicitly or implicitly referred to their political borders before the French Revolution. Regions like Lower Franconia araund Würzburgor Westfalen araund Münster had been former bishoprics that had lost their political independence under Napoleon.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Study of the Use of Folktales in Nazi Germany and in Contemporary Fiction for Young Adults
    SPINNING THE WHEEL: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE USE OF FOLKTALES IN NAZI GERMANY AND IN CONTEMPORARY FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS by Kallie George B.A., University of British Columbia, 2005 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Children's Literature) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2007 © Kallie George, 2007 Abstract This thesis compares a selection of contemporary Holocaust novels for young adults that rework Grimm folklore to the Nazi regime's interpretation and propagandistic use of the same Grimm folklore. Using the methodology of intertextuality theory, in particular Julia Kristeva's concepts of monologic and dialogic discourse, this thesis examines the transformation of the Grimms' folktales "Hansel and Gretel," "Briar Rose," "Aschenputtel" and "Fitcher's Bird" in Louise Murphy's The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, Jane Yolen's Briar Rose and Peter Rushforth's Kindergarten. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract " Table of Contents iii Acknowledgements iv 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The Brothers Grimm 1 1.2 Folktales between the Era of the Brothers Grimm and the Nazi Era 9 1.3 Nazi Germany and the Use and Abuse of Folktales 12 1.4 Holocaust Literature for Children and Young Adults 15 1.5 Holocaust Novels by Louise Murphy, Jane Yolen and Peter Rushforth 23 1.6 Principal Research Questions 26 1.7 Methodology 28 2 Literature Review 31 2.1 Overview 31 2.2 Folklore Discourse and the Brothers Grimm : 31 2.3 Structuralism 33 2.4 Grimms' Retellings - Postmodernism
    [Show full text]
  • Working-Class Barracks [Proletarierkasernen] and Such 'Elegant Villas'
    Schultze-Naumburg's Heimatstil: A Nationalistic Conflict of Tradition and Modernity This paper analyzes the role of nationalism in Paul Schultze-Naumburg's polemical and popular Kulturarbeiten. It focuses on three distinct aspects of the series: the importance of the whole cultural landscape, the value placed in traditions from "around 1800", and the functionalist stand which Schultze-Naumburg took in his arguments. Together these three themes simultaneously defined the German nation, its culture, and its architecture. Far from being another historicist style, the Heimatstil was an image that fully encompassed modern industry and technological progress. Focusing primarily on architecture, this paper analyzes the formation of a nationalistic aesthetic, a Heimatstil, which combined the values of tradition with continual development. One of the primary figures in the heated cultural debates surrounding German architecture at the turn of the century was the architect and critic Paul Schultze-Naumburg (1869-1949).1 His most influential work was a series of very popular and polemical essays and picture books entitled Kulturarbeiten (Cultural Works) published between 1900 and 1917.2 In the first line of the preface of the Kulturarbeiten Schultze-Naumburg explicitly spells out the scope and purpose of the essays: "to work against the terrible devastation of our country in all areas of visible culture" and to offer a hopeful alternative for the future.3 The scope of the "visible culture" that the Kulturarbeiten addressed was an ambitious, all-encompassing view of the entire 1 cultural landscape--material as well as environmental culture. Landscape referred not to nature, but the whole environment, as one might see it from a high lookout.
    [Show full text]
  • The Vibrant Body of the Grimms' Folk and Fairy Tales, Which Do Not
    INTRODUCTION The Vibrant Body of the Grimms’ Folk and Fairy Tales, Which Do Not Belong to the Grimms The example of the Brothers Grimm had its imitators even in Russia, including the person of the first editor of Russian Folk Tales, A. N. Afanasyev. From the viewpoint of contemporary folkloristics, even a cautious reworking and stylization of the texts, written down from their performers, is considered absolutely inadmissible in scientific edi- tions. But in the era of the Brothers Grimm, in the world of romantic ideas and principles, this was altogether permissible. To the credit of the Brothers Grimm, it must be added that they were almost the first to establish the principle of publication of the authentic, popular oral poetic productions. — Y. M. Sokolov, Russian Folklore (1966)1 It is the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm who illustrate the connec- tion between folklore and textual criticism most powerfully, just as they demonstrate the continuing influence of Herder on thought. Nationalist politics and folkloric endeavours intertwine throughout all the Grimm brothers’ projects, but the Europe-wide significance of the Kinder- und Hausmärchen (first edition 1812) was the inspiration it provided to proto- folklorists to go out and collect “vom Volksmund,” that is from the mouth of the people (whether or not this was the Grimms’ own practice). — Timothy Baycroft and David Hopkin, Folklore and Nationalism in Europe During the Long Nineteenth Century (2012)2 Just what is a legacy, and what was the corpus of folk and fairy tales that the Broth- ers Grimm passed on to the German people—a corpus that grew, expanded, and eventually spread itself throughout the world? What do we mean when we talk about cultural legacy and memory? Why have the Grimms’ so- called German 1 2 INTRODUCTION tales spread throughout the world and become so universally international? Have the Grimms’ original intentions been betrayed? Did they betray them? If we fail to address these questions, the cultural legacy of the Grimms’ tales and their relevance cannot be grasped.
    [Show full text]
  • Hitler's Happy People: Kraft Durch Freude's Everyday Production Of
    Hitler’s Happy People: Kraft durch Freude’s Everyday Production of Joy in the Third Reich By Julia Timpe M.A., Brown University 2007 Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at Brown University Dissertation Committee: Prof. Omer Bartov Prof. Deborah Cohen Prof. Ethan Pollock PROVIDENCE, MAY 2013 © 2012 by Julia Timpe The dissertation by Julia Timpe is accepted in its present form by the Department of History as satisfying the dissertation requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________ _____________________________________ Date Omer Bartov, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council _______________________ ______________________________________ Date Deborah Cohen, Reader _______________________ ______________________________________ Date Ethan Pollock, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council _______________________ ______________________________________ Date Peter Weber, Dean of the Graduate School iii CURRICULUM VITAE Julia Timpe was born on November 21, 1980 in Wolfenbüttel, Germany and came to Brown University, Providence, RI in 2004 as an exchange student from Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, where she was enrolled in a Magister Artium program in the fields of Modern and Contemporary History (major,) Modern German Literature and European Ethnology (minors.) At Brown, she first worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of German Studies, before entering the Ph.D. program of Brown’s History Department in 2006. She received an A.M. in History from Brown in 2007 and passed her preliminary examinations with distinction in 2008 in her major field Modern German History (with Omer Bartov) and her minor fields Modern European History (with Deborah Cohen) and Modern Russian History (with Ethan Pollock.) At Brown, she has worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Departments of History and German Studies, taught several courses in Brown’s Summer Program and an undergraduate seminar on the history Weimar Germany in the History Department.
    [Show full text]
  • Separation After Unification? the Crisis of National Identity in Eastern Germany
    Separation After Unification? The Crisis of National Identity in Eastern Germany Andreas Staab Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy London School of Economics and Political Science University of London December 1996 i UMI Number: U615798 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615798 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I S F 7379 OF POLITICAL AND S&uutZ Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to George Schopflin for having taken the time and patience to supervise my work. His professional advice have been of immense assistance. I have also greatly benefited from the support and knowledge of Brendan O’Leary, Jens Bastian, Nelson Gonzalez, Abigail Innes, Adam Steinhouse and Richard Heffeman. I am also grateful to Dieter Roth for granting me access to the data of the ‘Forschungsgruppe Wahlen ’. Heidi Dorn at the ‘Zentralarchiv fur Empirische Sozialforschung ’in Cologne deserves special thanks for her ready co-operation and cracking sense of humour. I have also been very fortunate to have received advice from Colm O’Muircheartaigh from the LSE’s Methodology Institute.
    [Show full text]
  • National Socialistic Folklore and Overcoming the Past in the Federal Republic of Germany
    James R. Dow Iowa State University Hannjost Lixfeld Universitat Freiburg i. Br. National Socialistic Folklore and Overcoming the Past in the Federal Republic of Germany Abstract Following the perversion of Volkskunde by National Socialism during the Third Reich, scholars in the German-speaking world have several times attempted to overcome this usurpation of their discipline. Vergangenheitsbewaltigung has, how­ ever, been quite difficult. Through the postwar years there have been various attempts to hide the unholy alliance between German Volkskunde and National Socialism. A few attempts had been made immediately after the end of the war, but this resulted in the legend ” of two Volkskunden by John Meier and Will- Erich Peuckert, one tainted and the other continuing the traditions of the past. Then again from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s there was hefty debate con­ cerning the work of Hermann Bausinger and Wolfgang Emmerich, but there was too little interest, too much guilt, or too much concern with the newly developing directions of the discipline to devote the kind of energy and careful documenta­ tion necessary to accomplish an accurate historiography of this dark period. Research activity again intensified during the 1980s. Some revisionistic tenden­ cies are surfacing, and the topic continues to be avoided by many German and Austrian scholars. Key words: National Socialism — Vergangenheitsbewaltigung — John Meier Will-Erich Peuckert Asian Folklore Studies’ Volume 50,1991:117-153. The more honestly we address the intellec­ tual crimes of the past the less chance there is that they will be repeated. V ergangenheitsbewaltigung — Overcoming the Past IFTY years ago the academic discipline German Volkskunde (folk­ lore) was being perverted in the German-speaking world directly F and very consciously by National Socialism.
    [Show full text]