Cette thèse, intitulée « Réécriture et dialogue avec la tradition dans l’œuvre de Irmtraud Morgner : de Schahrazade à Mnèmosunè », vise à comprendre le recours à la réécriture comme modalité de dialogue avec la tradition dans l’œuvre de l’auteure est-allemande Irmtraud Morgner. L’analyse porte sur divers cas de réécriture tirés de Hochzeit in Konstantinopel, Gauklerlegende, Leben und Abenteuer et Amanda, sur les déplacements narratifs introduits par la reprise, ainsi que sur l’emboîtement des récits les uns aux autres. Cette démarche permet de repérer une structure narrative récurrente qui organise le travail de réécriture en trois temps : par une conteuse romantique, par une narratrice critique héritière de l’Aufklärung et par une auteure qui intervient pour souligner les limites de la pensée critique imposée par la narratrice. Cette structure de réécriture en trois temps organise le travail d’expérimentation narrative dans l’ensemble des textes. Elle vise à chaque fois un matériel différent : les récits hérités des traditions du conte, des jongleurs, du roman courtois, du roman moderne, mais également les récits modernes de l’Histoire, de la Science, de la Mémoire. Le moment de la troisième réécriture, confiée par Morgner à la figure de l’auteure, est déterminant car il lui permet de préciser la nature de ce « Tat », de cette « action » de la réécriture, qu’elle tente de définir pour elle-même et ses narratrices, qui rendrait possible le maintien d’un rapport vivant à l’Histoire, à la Mémoire et à la Tradition. C’est en insérant la question du rapport à la tradition dans le cadre plus large d’une interrogation sur le travail de la représentation, que Morgner parvient à la repenser en des termes autres que ceux définis par le Erbedebatte ou par une pensée marxiste ou féministe de la réappropriation de la tradition. Son travail fictionnel contribue ainsi à la réflexion sur le phénomène littéraire contemporain, sur l’évolution de la forme du roman et sur la fortune du récit dans la modernité. Son œuvre est porteuse de questionnements à l’égard du phénomène littéraire contemporain qui dépassent largement le cadre plus étroit souvent attribué à la production littéraire est-allemande. Elle suggère la nécessité d’une réévaluation de la place octroyée à Morgner dans la littérature allemande. / This dissertation entitled, «Rewriting and dialogue with tradition in the works of Irmtraud Morgner : from Schahrazade to Mnèmosunè», tries to understand how and why, in her works, East German writer Irmtraud Morgner turns to strategies of rewriting as a mean of establishing a dialogue with tradition. The analysis examines various cases of rewriting found in Hochzeit in Konstantinopel, Gauklerlegende, Leben und Abenteuer and Amanda, the narrative shifts thus introduced and the way in which narratives interlock with one another. It makes it possible to identify a narrative structure which organizes the work of rewriting into three distinct moments : first, that of a storyteller using the idiom of romanticism, second, that of a narrator whose critical discourse represents the Enlightenment heritage, and third, that of an author who intervenes to underline the limits of critical thought imposed by the narrator. This structure of rewriting in three stages is shown to organize the work of narrative experimentation in all the texts under study. It applies in each case to a different narrative material inherited from various traditions : the fairy tale, minstrel stories, the courtly novel, as well as modern narratives such as History, Science and Memory. The third rewriting, which Morgner assigns to the figure of the author is the most significant since it characterizes the nature of this « Tat », of this «work» of rewriting which Morgner is attempting to define for herself and her women narrators as that, which would open the possibility of maintaining a living relationship with History, Memory and Tradition. By reframing the question of the nature of the relation to tradition within the larger context of an interrogation on the question of Representation, Morgner manages to rethink the question of the relation to tradition in terms other than those established by the Erbedebatte or by Marxist and feminist theories of re-appropriation of tradition. Thus her fictional works contribute to the reflection on contemporary literature, on the evolution of the novel and on the heritage of the tradition of storytelling in modernity. Her work shares a questioning about contemporary literature which go far beyond the narrower frame through which East German literary production has usually been defined. This suggests the need for a reevaluation of Morgner’s works within German literature. / Thèse de doctorat effectuée en cotutelle au Département de littérature comparée, Faculté des arts et des sciences de l'Université de Montréal et à l'Institut für Deutsche und Niederländische Philologie, Fachbereich Philosophie und Geisteswissenschaften de la Freie Universität Berlin

Zugl.: Stuttgart, Universiẗat, Diss., 2005.

The relation between memory and identity is significant, particularly if an identity-establishing entity such as a state has vanished. In the context of GDR memory, this pertains to the type of memory discourse: what is remembered, how, and by whom? What are the differences in the discourse about East German memory between the US and Germany? Based on approaches of the Aleida Assmann’s approaches to individual, collective, and cultural memory this thesis seeks to examine the notion and impact of archives in collective memory processes and to analyze the extent to which the medium of film as a concrete and abstract archival complex can represent a part of individual and collective memory. Therefore, I combine the notion of the archive – based on approaches of Benjamin and Foucault – with memory discourses, going beyond the archive’s material character. Furthermore, in my analysis I follow the media studies’ definitions of film as a material-based dualistic, communicative and semiotic system. The analysis focuses on the work of the DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which is important for American utilization and circulation of DEFA films and the distribution of audiovisual images of and about the former GDR. The DEFA Film Library is the only archive and research center outside of Germany devoted to a broad spectrum of filmmaking from and related to the former GDR. The DEFA Film Library has been distributing DEFA movies and providing materials for media education since the early 1990s. In this thesis, I examine the multilayered role of the DEFA Film Library in US-East German sociocultural relationships, particularly with respect to its impact on raising awareness of East German culture, history and politics through public and academic film programming and exchange. Using the DEFA Film Library’s work as a case study, I analyze the political impact of film work amidst the challenges of preserving, circulating, and communicating the audiovisual memory of the GDR.

Deutsche Vereinigung 1989 hat grundsätzliche Änderungen in der deutschen Gesellschaft, sowohl kulturelle, soziale als auch wirtschaftliche Entwicklung gebracht. Diese Studie versucht, das literarische Image der deutschen Gesellschaft im Übergang zu analysieren, der durch Arbeiten von Volker Braun vorher und nach der Wiedervereinigung Deutschland vertreten ist. Die Analyse führte mit der ästhetischen und thematischen Annäherung auf mehreren Werke Volker Brauns wie Drama, Prosa und Dichtungssammlung, die mit dem Feld und der Literatur in Deutschland in der 80er Jahren bis zu 90er Jahren vereinigt wird. Die Forschung beschränkt sich auf Werke Volker Brauns in den achtziger Jahren bis kurz nach der Wende. Die Werkauswahl beinhaltet Werke Brauns, die sich in Bänden 8-10 befinden. Die Texte von Volker Braun werden ins Feld der ostdeutschen und Literatur der der Wiedervereinigung gelegt und als ein Teil der kulturellen Produktion analysiert, die immer mit dem Machtfeld Ostdeutschlands entsprechend ist. Forschung konzentriert sich auf Änderungen in thematischen Arbeiten von Volker Braun, nachdem die Vereinigung Deutschlands die Änderung in thematisch und ästhetisch vereinigt mit den großen sozialen Änderungen in Deutschland nach der Vereinigung beschrieb. Die Methode des interpretativen Kommentars bezieht sich auf Pierre Bordieus Theorie über das literarische Feld. Die Forschung versucht aus den Texten Brauns vor und nach der Wende einen Mentalitätswandel herauszuarbeiten und zu zeigen, wie die Texte die „Übergangsphase“ repräsentieren. / German unification in 1989 has brought fundamental changes in German society, both cultural, social and economic development. This study attempts to analyze the literary image of German society in transition, represented by works of Volker Braun before and after reunification Germany. Analysis conducted with the aesthetic and thematic approach on a number of rich Volker Braun such as drama, prose and poetry collection that is associated with the field and literature in Germany in the year of an 80-to 90-an. Texts of works of Volker Braun placed in the field of East German literature and German unification and analized as part of cultural production, which is always correspondent with the field of the repressive East Germany. Research focuses on changes in thematic works of Volker Braun after the unification of Germany described the change in thematic and aesthetic associated with the great social changes in Germany after unification. The method of the interpretative comment refers to Pierre Bordieu''s theory on the literary field. The research tries to work out from the texts of brown before and after the turn a mentality change and to show how the texts represent the "transitional phase".

Bei dieser Untersuchung geht es darum, welche Rolle die Erwachsenenbildung sowohl für die Anpassung der Ostdeutschen an das neue Gesellschaftssystem als auch für innere Einheit beider deutschen Staaten nach der deutschen Wiedervereinigung in Deutschland gespielt hat, da Erwachsenenbildung in Phasen des gesellschaftlichen Umbruchs auf verschiedene Weise flexibel auf aktuelle gesellschaftliche Aufgaben reagieren kann und einen Beitrag zur Bewältigung der neuen politischen und ökonomischen Anforderungen leisten kann. In diesem Hintergrund werden in dieser Untersuchung die im Bereich der EB/WB stattgefundenen Tagungsdiskussionen (Konzertierte Aktion Weiterbildung) kritisch analysiert, um zu bewerten, welche Rolle sie im Prozess der deutschen Einheit gespielt hat, wobei diese auf der Bundes- sowie Landesebene angesiedelten Tagungsdiskussionen zwischen verschiedenen Bildungsakteuren wie Wissenschaftlicher, Politiker, Praktiker, usw. für die konkrete Umsetzung der Erwachsenenbildung von entscheidender Bedeutung sind. Die Untersuchungsbefunde zeigen, dass sich die Tagungsdiskussionen hauptsächlich auf die berufliche Weiterbildung beziehen und sie andere wichtigen Herausforderungen wie die Demokratieentwicklung, die gegenseitige Annährung zwischen beiden Seiten Deutschlands wenig thematisieren. Letztendlich sie zeigen, dass der Beitrag von Weiterbildung bezogen auf die Herausforderung zur „harmonischen Integration“ darin liegt, die Menschen demokratiefähig zu machen, indem sie die Chance bekommen, ihre sozialen und personalen Kompetenzen zu erweitern und arbeitsmarktfähig zu halten, indem sie ihre beruflich-fachliche Qualifikation verbessern können. Dabei liegt die Bedeutung der Tagungsdiskussion darin, dass sie den Austausch zwischen Bildungsexperten aus verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Bereichen ermöglicht hat. / This thesis focuses on the roles of adult education that have been played not only for the adaptation of East Germans in the new society system after the unification of Germany, but also for the inner unification between East and West Germans, since especially adult education can react flexibly to the current social challenges in various respects at the time of social changes and make a contribution to accommodate the new political and economic demands. In this research I try to analyse mainly the debate of conferences taken place in the field of adult education, particularly between experts like professors, specialists, politicians etc… and to estimate what role the debate of conferences has played in the process of German unification, especially concerning the implementation of adult education in East Germany after the German unification. The results of the research show that the debate of conferences was much more focussing on the theme about vocational education than the important problems such as Democratizing, inner Unification of East and West Germans. In terms of the ‘inner Unification’ the results of the research show that adult education contributes to make people act democratically since they have chance to extend social personal competent to improve their vocational Qualification. In this Relation the conferences make it possible for experts from various social fields to exchange and cooperate each other.

In the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the overthrow of the socialist regime did not only bring about both an economic and political shift, it resulted also in the inclusion of the GDR into the Federal Republic of Germany. The fall of the Wall brought with it transformations in everyday life as well as changes in social identities. This study examines how people who grew up in the GDR define the East and the West in unified Germany, as well as identifying which concepts play a role in the self-interpretations given by former GDR citizens. Through applying discourse theory, I investigate how identities are partially fixed and change over time, relating this always to historically situated discourses. In the analysis, East and West are considered as floating signifiers, which, through articulations made with other categories such as class, nation, place and gender, come to be filled with meaning. The study is based on twenty-five life story interviews conducted in Eastern Germany. The group of interviewees consisted of fifteen women and ten men born in the GDR between the years of 1970 and 1979, all of whom had different levels of education. The demise of the socialist state and the transition to a capitalist society is central in the interviewees’ life stories. Their narratives about the past are formed in a discursive order other than the one in which the events themselves took place. Conversely, the past is used as a foil against which the present is compared. With the dislocation, the interviewees have developed a reflexive stance to both themselves and the world. The study reveals both how East and West are still used to make the world intelligible in a number of fields and, at the same time, how these same concepts are transcended. It shows in what ways the interviewees employ different strategies to adapt to the new circumstances and to handle a potentially marked position in unified Germany.

This thesis constitutes the first comparative study of the phenomenon of alternative art galleries functioning during the 1970s in two neighbouring state socialist regimes, namely, the German Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Poland. Firmly contextualised in the cultural-political climate of Honecker's and Gierek's quasi-liberalisation, it examines the socio-cultural function of non-conformist exhibition spaces and focuses, specifically, on two case studies: Galerie Arkade in East Berlin and Galeria/Repassage in Warsaw. By looking at a wide variety of practices produced in those spaces, this thesis investigates the commonalities and differences in how the galleries operated and how they related to the divergent post-Stalinist conditions. For instance, due to more repressive cultural-politics in the GDR, it proved more difficult to accommodate experimental practices in Arkade, since even exhibiting abstract art was problematic for the East German officials. Conversely, in Poland Gierek's liberalisation resulted in the state's limited acceptance of radical artistic practices such as performance and conceptual art but only in the marginal spaces of artist-run galleries. Despite their alternative status, the galleries were, to a certain degree, dependent administratively and financially on these socialist institutions and were at the same time exposed to surveillance by the state security services. These aspects of galleries' activities are often neglected and so to remedy this lack this thesis offers new perspectives on and insights into various aspects of the functioning of alternative culture in this region. The originality of this research lies also in its references to new archival material which has not been published, nor interpreted before. The interpretation of these rich primary sources makes use of a new theoretical framework that combines Michel Foucault's theory of heterotopia in a macro-level analysis and Henri Lefebvre's ideas on the social production of space in a micro-level analysis. In particular, the galleries' histories are seen in this thesis as intertwined with the advancing process of disintegration of state socialism in the Eastern Bloc as this was perceptible to varying degree in different socialist states. Accordingly, it argues that the galleries were symptomatic of and, simultaneously, contributed through various practices to the 'post-socialist condition'.

The content of this thesis are relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR at the end of the Cold War, specifically in the seven-year period between the beginning of the government of Helmut Kohl and the fall of the Berlin Wall. These relations are described in a wider dimension within a square made of Bonn - Berlin - Prague - Moscow; the basic intention of the work is to create a comprehensive analysis of all important links and transformations not only between the East and West Germany, but also among all actors in defined tetragon. Thesis-conclusions are to a large extent based on the long-term research in Czech and German archives; key documents were found in the archive of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the archive of the former State Security of the GDR. The term inter-German relations is reduced to the area of Deutschlandpolitik - negotiations at the highest level - and given the large scope of reciprocal contacts, they are limited also thematically, while two dimensions are primarily monitored - so called priority axis. The first is the field of economy. Its key importance is framed by two billion-loans granted with a guarantee of the Federal Government of the GDR at the beginning of analysed period, and a total paradigm shift in relations among Bonn - Berlin...

En 1989, la Pologne, la Hongrie, la Tchécoslovaquie et la République démocratique allemande (RDA) furent secouées par des mouvements de protestations qui précipitèrent la dissolution de leur régime communiste. Il est souvent admis, dans l’historiographie comme dans la mémoire populaire, que les intellectuels, dont plusieurs écrivains, ont joué un rôle déterminant lors de ces bouleversements. Or, l’analyse de la révolution en Allemagne de l’Est et des prises de position de son intelligentsia littéraire démontre qu’une telle conclusion s’applique mal à cet État : les auteurs phares de la RDA, qui se sont pourtant présentés pendant et après la révolution comme des victimes et des opposants au régime, n’ont jamais partagé les revendications anticommunistes de leurs concitoyens et ont conservé un discours socialiste. Ce mémoire entend expliquer cette réaction particulière des écrivains les mieux établis de l’Allemagne de l’Est – soit Christa Wolf, Heiner Müller, Stefan Heym, Volker Braun et Christoph Hein. En étudiant leurs textes non fictifs et en analysant la relation qu’ils entretenaient avec le régime, la population et l’idéologie promue en RDA, nous démontrerons que ces auteurs avaient développé, avant l’ouverture du mur de Berlin, une stratégie d’action alliant loyauté socialiste et critique de l’autoritarisme, ce qui leur avait permis de cumuler un important capital social et culturel. À l’automne 1989 et lors du processus de réunification allemande, l’intelligentsia littéraire a en fait agi en fonction de cette même stratégie ; celle-ci, toutefois, n’était pas adaptée aux nouvelles conditions sociales. / In 1989, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) were shaken by protest movements that precipitated the dissolution of their communist regimes. It is often accepted in historiography as in the popular memory that intellectuals, amongst whom many writers, played a key role in these revolutionary changes. However, analysis of the revolution in East Germany and of its literary intelligentsia’s stance demonstrates that such a conclusion cannot apply to this state: the leading authors of the GDR, who presented themselves during and after the revolution as opponents and victims of the regime, never shared the anti-communist claims of the citizens, and maintained a socialist discourse. This master’s thesis intends to explain this particular reaction of the most influential East German writers – especially Christa Wolf, Heiner Müller, Stefan Heym, Volker Braun and Christoph Hein. By studying their non-fictional texts and analysing the relationship they had with the regime, the people and the ideology promoted in the GDR, we will demonstrate that these authors had developed, before the opening of the Berlin Wall, a strategy that combined a socialist loyalty and a critic of the authoritarianism, which allowed them to accumulate significant social and cultural capital. In the Fall of 1989 and during the process of German reunification, the literary intelligentsia acted accordingly to that same strategy which, however, was not adapted to the new social conditions.