CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Salemann, Jennifer Lauren |
|---|---|
| Title | Displaying the German Democratic Republic: New Exhibitions in the Berlin Museum Landscape |
| Summary | This thesis explores competing memory discourses of life in East Germany as represented in recent additions to Berlin’s museum landscape. The thesis employs a comparative methodological approach to three case studies: the privately operated DDR Museum; the state-sponsored Museum in der Kulturbrauerei; and the joint private-state administered Stasi Museum. The circumstances surrounding each exhibition’s creation, revision or expansion attest to the prominent role of the German federal government in shaping GDR commemoration through truth commissions and historical foundations alongside the influence of non-state actors. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how each museum’s particular historiographical and curatorial strategies contribute to competing representations of life in East Germany created for a broad public audience. I ask the following questions of each exhibition. 1) Whose history is told? 2) How is this history told? 3) For what purpose is this history told? My primary sources include the published promotional and catalog materials, narrative explanatory texts, documentary evidence, and various media of each exhibition, as well as interviews conducted with museum staff. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that historical consensus appears to be forming in the museum community regarding what GDR historical content must receive attention within their exhibitions—namely an integrated approach that acknowledges both everyday life history and the history of the SED dictatorship. However, the landscape remains diverse with respect to curatorial strategy and the affective posture encouraged for visitors. An analysis of the discourses represented in the unique communicative space of these museum environments not only makes a contribution to the study of the historicization of East Germany in particular, but also reflects upon the shifting form and content of contemporary history museum practice. |
| Supervisor | Iordachi, Constantin; Wilke, Carsten |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/salemann_jennifer.pdf |
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