Heimat, History, and Identity: Discourses and Practices of Amateur Historical Studies in the GDR and Post-socialist Germany, 1960–2000.

  • Published In: German Politics & Society, 2024, v. 42, n. 4. P. 65 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Schütz, Johannes 3 of 3

Abstract

From its very beginning, the German Democratic Republic (gdr) tried to establish legitimacy through historical narratives. The state party required thousands of amateur historians, who conducted their studies as leisure activities, to participate in this ideological project. Every chronicler had to prove the necessary and inevitable victory of socialism when researching local history. The article focuses on the practices of those hobby historians, looking at the ways in which they went along with the official demands and how they tried to find their own ways to deal with historical issues. Furthermore, it points out how these practices lasted beyond German reunification and are still used today to construct local identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:German Politics & Society. 2024/12, Vol. 42, Issue 4, p65
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:1045-0300
  • DOI:10.3167/gps.2024.420404
  • Accession Number:184264486
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of German Politics & Society is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Looking to go deeper into this topic? Look for more articles on EBSCOhost.