Remembering History: German Representations of the Stasi’s Legacy in Fiction and Memory
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Abstract
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Germany’s twentieth century was one filled with traumas, both inflicted and
experienced. By looking at portrayals of the German Democratic Republic’s surveillance
apparatus in fictional narratives, done here by analyzing Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s
The Lives of Others film, not only are the social perspectives of such traumas’ highlighted, but
intrinsic differences between the role of memory and the historiographical operation revealed.
Doing so, memory’s ability to preserve and memorialize victims’ experiences both separate from
and connected to the narratives emerging out of the historical institution is shown. These
narratives help shape social perspectives on said past events and perpetuate an understanding and
awareness even if it overlooks some more complicated elements within the historical realities.
By distinguishing between memory and history, the importance and uniqueness of fictional
representations is defended along with its influence on the broader social consciousness and
identity formation. Reflections upon impactful past German experiences emerge not only with
regards to the GDR’s Ministry of State Security, but echo tendencies which occurred during the
Historikerstreit of the 1980s and the German approach to its Nazi legacy. By comparing the role
of memory in both such instances, the importance of understanding the differences between it
and the historical process along with their importance in shaping societal understandings of
traumatic past experiences is made clear.
Item Type
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843
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Language
en
Location
Germany
Time Period
Post War Germany - present day / twentieth and twenty-first Century