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Dissertation Sylvia Fischer.pdf (1.99 MB)

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Dass Hämmer und Herzen synchron erschallen. Erkundungen zu Heimat in Literatur und Film der DDR der 50er und 60er Jahre. May hammers and hearts ring out in unison. Exploring Heimat in GDR literature and film of the 1950s and 1960s.

Fischer, Sylvia
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1406068794

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Germanic Languages and Literatures.
This dissertation explores manifestations of the topos Heimat in East German novels and films of the 1950s and 1960s. In particular, it identifies Heimat as a cultural-anthropological concept taking shape as an individual and social human endeavor, and explores the tensions, that arise between this endeavor and a socialist Heimat as defined by the GDR state. I propose that these tensions were never fully resolved, although it was a core ideal of the socialist society to harmonize them. Analyses of novels by Hans Marchwitza, Anna Seghers, Karl Heinz Jakobs, and Werner Bräunig, and feature films and documentary films by Kurt Maetzig, Konrad Wolf, and Winfried Junge reveal different approaches to the understanding of Heimat, as well as conceptions of how to resolve the tensions described above. Their conclusions range from equating Heimat with a societal form, to acknowledging and wrestling with an increasing gap between the individual’s grasp of Heimat and that of the state, and to mourning this gap. By employing Heimat as a discursive medium, this dissertation adds a new dimension to the ongoing discussion about the development of real socialism and its discontents in the GDR. It ultimately proposes that their reconciliation remained an utopian promise.
Helen Fehervary (Advisor)
321 p.
Germanic Literature; Literature
GDR; DDR; Heimat; Literatur und Film der DDR; GDR literature and film; Literatur und Film der DDR der 50er und 60er Jahre; GDR literature and film of the 1950s and 1960s

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fischer, S. (2014). Dass Hämmer und Herzen synchron erschallen. Erkundungen zu Heimat in Literatur und Film der DDR der 50er und 60er Jahre. May hammers and hearts ring out in unison. Exploring Heimat in GDR literature and film of the 1950s and 1960s. [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1406068794

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fischer, Sylvia. Dass Hämmer und Herzen synchron erschallen. Erkundungen zu Heimat in Literatur und Film der DDR der 50er und 60er Jahre. May hammers and hearts ring out in unison. Exploring Heimat in GDR literature and film of the 1950s and 1960s. 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1406068794.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fischer, Sylvia. "Dass Hämmer und Herzen synchron erschallen. Erkundungen zu Heimat in Literatur und Film der DDR der 50er und 60er Jahre. May hammers and hearts ring out in unison. Exploring Heimat in GDR literature and film of the 1950s and 1960s." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1406068794

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1406068794
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.