Mass Media and Memory: The Communist GDR in Today’s Communicative Memory
Mass Media and Memory: The Communist GDR in Today’s Communicative Memory
Author(s): Michael Meyen, Senta Pfaff-RüdigerSubject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Media studies, Communication studies, Politics of History/Memory
Published by: Fakultet političkih znanosti u Zagrebu
Keywords: collective memory; collective identity; GDR; focus groups;
Summary/Abstract: Using the example of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the present study asks how mass media shape collective memory. How do reports in German media on the GDR affect communicative memory? To answer these questions, the present study is grounded in the theory of collective memory and relies on more than 20 focus groups in very different social settings. Today’s mass media content on the GDR is almost always about dictatorship. This is why some East Germans do not find their picture of the past within the media and do not feel at home in reunited Germany, yet.
Journal: Medijske studije
- Issue Year: 5/2014
- Issue No: 9
- Page Range: 3-18
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English