Ulbricht klopft an die Himmelspforte...: Der politische Witz in der DDR als historisches Kondensat

Second-hand bookstores are now full of anthologies of political jokes from the GDR period. But one would never know this from the numerous publications on the subject of the GDR's history, which pass over any mention of what may be called „Joke-literature", as they try to undertake a schol...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schmidt, Hans Jörg (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:German
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Published: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2004
In: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
Year: 2004, Volume: 17, Issue: 2, Pages: 439-450
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:Second-hand bookstores are now full of anthologies of political jokes from the GDR period. But one would never know this from the numerous publications on the subject of the GDR's history, which pass over any mention of what may be called „Joke-literature", as they try to undertake a scholarly analysis of the GDR's past. But in view of the fact that cultural fashions and events in daily life are becoming brought more and more into focus for historical enquiry, so jokes of the kind which fall under the rubric „Ulbricht at Heaven's Gate" deserve to be included. This essay tries to explore the possibilities of this new range of historical evidence. The author seeks to show that political jokes carry a double message: on the one hand they illustrate the weak points of the system, and on the other they demonstrate that, despite the reputation dictatorships have for their humourlessness, nevertheless even there jokes of this kind flourished.
ISSN:2196-808X
Contains:Enthalten in: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte