This thesis focuses on an analysis of the representation of the German Democratic Re-public (GDR) in two literary works by Thomas Brussig. The year between the summer of 1989 and the fall of 1990 was very eventful in Germany’s history. This time is called ‘Wende’, which finally ended with the reunification of the GDR and the German Fed-eral Republic. Since then, there has been a broad literary discourse about the ‘Wende’, which focuses on the time of the GDR itself, as well as its consequences afterwards. One of the authors involved in this debate is Thomas Brussig. This thesis will examine his two novels Helden wie wir (1995) and Wie es leuchtet (2004), which are both con-sidered to be part of the literary ‘Wende-dicourse’. Helden Wie Wir is regarded as one of the most important works within this genre. In this novel we find an accurate repre-sentation of the time and circumstances of the GDR, which ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall as the plot’s climax. Wie Es Leuchtet begins shortly before this event and describes the ‘German Year’ until the reunification. Therefore, both novels take place during the time of the GDR, represent how the ‘Wende’ developed, and bring the consequences it had for the country and its people in to consideration. The selection of these two stories is based upon the possibility that they allow to analyse different stations of the process of the ’Wende’. The main aspect which binds the novels together is the idea of ‘freedom’. The thesis will analyse the social structures of the time and answer the question of whether or not the ‘Wende’ is constructed as the protagonist’s liberation from a limited ‘power’. In order to achieve this, the thesis will utilize Foucault’s concepts of power and dis-course-relations. Since Foucault does not (against tradition) consider ‘power’ as some-thing that is completely possessed by the apparatus of the state, his ideas are helpful to analyse the distribution of power during the constructed time of the GDR, the “Wende”, and afterwards in literary works. Additionally, Foucault’s concept of resistance will help to analyse why the revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the GDR came in to existence. Furthermore, this thesis focuses on discourses about sexuality, body and gender by means of Foucault’s ideas as well as Judith Butler’s concept of performativity in order to discuss difficulties in society. The theory the thesis follows is that all of the novel’s constructed forms of society, especially those during and after the ‘Wende’, are societies that ‘need to be’ normalised, and are therefore a border itself for the people to free themselves from. In the first chapter the essay describes the genre “Wendeliteratur”. Afterwards, it elabo-rates on the most important points of Michel Foucault’s and Judith Butler’s theoretical concepts. At last, it gives an analysis of Brussig’s two novels with help of these con-cepts. The examination of Helden wie wir mainly shows that it is the hierarchical society during the GDR and afterwards that sets borders on societal freedom, since there is a distribution of power throughout the whole of society in both cases. The examination of Wie es leuchtet shows even clearer that the collapse of the GDR does not simultaneously mean absolute freedom for society.

In this dissertation, the design, implementation, and educational applications of a real-time water and weather monitoring system, developed to enhance water sustainability education and research, are discussed. This unique system, called LabVIEW Enabled Watershed Assessment System (LEWAS), is a real- world extension of various data acquisition modules that were successfully implemented using LabVIEW into a freshman engineering course (Engineering Exploration, ENGE 1024) at Virginia Tech. The outdoor site location measures water quality and quantity data including flow rate, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and temperature -- as indicators of stream health - for an on-campus impaired stream in real-time. In addition, weather parameters (temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity and precipitation) are measured at the LEWAS outdoor site. The measured parameters can be accessed by remote users in a real-time through a web-based interface for education and research. LEWAS is solar powered and uses the campus wireless network through a high-gain antenna to transmit data to remote clients in real-time. Its power budget consisting of consumption (14 W), electrical storage, and generation (80 W, peak) is balanced to enable 24/7 operation regardless of weather conditions. An embedded computer with low power consumption and modules for communicating and storing data are installed in the field and it is programmed to process measured environmental parameters to be delivered to remote users. This computer is programmed both using a field programmable gate array (FPGA, for low power consumption and robust operation) and traditional microprocessor programming (for more flexibility). The environmental sensors of the system are routinely calibrated using established procedures. A LEWAS Development Platform was established to develop and test the system and to train and mentor several undergraduate and graduate students who helped in its implementation. A number of design and implementation challenges were overcome including extending campus Internet access to a location not included on the network and integrating hardware and software from three different sensor manufacturers into a unified software platform accessible over the Internet. To study the educational applications of LEWAS, an observational study was conducted as the system was gradually introduced to students in ENGE 1024 between 2009 and 2011. Positive student attitudes on the role of LEWAS to enhance their environmental awareness informed an experimental design implemented to study the motivational outcomes associated with the system. Accordingly, appropriate educational interventions and a hands-on activity on the importance of environmental monitoring were developed for both control and experiment groups, with only the latter given access to LEWAS to retrieve the environmental parameters for the activity. An instrument was developed on the theoretical foundation of the expectancy value theory of motivation and was administered to control and experimental groups in ENGE 1024. Altogether, 150 students participated in the study. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was applied which resulted in factors that group questions together based on interest, importance, real-time access, and cost (feasibility of monitoring). After conducting parametric and nonparametric statistical analyses, it was determined that there exists a statistically significant difference between control and experimental groups in interest, real-time, and cost factors. This finding implies that providing real-time access to environmental parameters can increase student interest and their perception of feasibility of environmental monitoring -- both major components of motivation to learn about the environment. Future extensions and applications of the system at Virginia Tech and beyond are discussed. / Ph. D.

Since the fall of the Wall, a new era of East German literature has emerged. This genre of literature exists even though East Germany’s borders dissolved over a decade and half ago and is challenging the way we think about the former German Democratic Republic. East German author Thomas Brussig is pivotal in this new genre of literature. His novels Helden wie wir (1995), Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee (1999) and Leander Haußmann’s cinematic adaptation, Sonnenallee (1999), confront the negative associations and stereotypes connected with East Germany to deconstruct how formal history has portrayed its past and its citizens. Brussig’s texts take a completely different approach to remembering the GDR, which simultaneously challenges history’s dominant perspective as well as the Ostalgie phenomenon. Through his texts’ recollection, Brussig subverts the East German state in hindsight and begins the construction of a new mythology with which to associate former East Germany.

Diese Arbeit analysiert, aus einer literatursoziologischen Perspektive, wie die vier ausgewählten Romane die Gesellschaft kritisieren. Man kann Gesellschaftskritik in allen diesen Romanen finden, jedoch unterscheiden sich die Schwerpunkte. Die unendliche Geschichte ist ein komplexes Werk und behandelt sowohl die innere Reise, als auch, dass die Wünsche und Entscheidungen immer Konsequenzen haben müssen. Eine Woche voller Samstage widersetzt sich den Normen der Gesellschaft. Die Hauptkritik in Krabat ist die Gefahr mit Macht und Unterdrückung wie in einer Diktatur. Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig behandelt in erster Hand die Gleichberechtigungsfrage innerhalb der Familienstruktur und gegenüber dem autoritären Vater. Die Romane spiegeln die damalige Zeit und deswegen kann man diesen vier Romanen aus der Phantastik der 1970er Jahren die Rolle als kritischer Gesellschaftsprüfer zuschreiben.

Zugl.: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 2006