Historische Texte der DDR aus der Perspektive des linguistic turn

Abstract

"Though the second German state existed only four decades, it was well on its way to developing an odd language of its own, not immediately understandable to a Western audience. Inspired by the linguistic turn, this article attempted to analyze the effect of this separation of speech on historical research. To begin with, GDR publications used a different vocabulary which was characterized by a kind of double-speak, a noticeable difference between official declarations and personal communications. There was a clean hierarchy with political pronouncements in the lead, ideological transmission texts in the middle and actual daily usage following behind. The SED version of Marxism-Leninism created a new master narrative of German history, led by the working class and culminating in the creation of the GDR which had the effect of creating a public norm. This mixture of ideology, Soviet phrases and party-speak constrained methodological innovation and also led to the swift disappearance of this style after 1989." (author's abstract)