Workshop
11 Dec 2025 – 12 Dec 2025

Politische Semantik in der DDR

Venue: Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Ilse-Zimmermann-Saal, Pariser Str. 1, 10719 Berlin
Organized by Falko Schmieder
Contact: Falko Schmieder
Research project(s): The 20th Century in Basic Concepts

For almost half of the 20th century, German history was one of separated statehood. Against this backdrop, the concept for The 20th Century in Basic Concepts. A Dictionary of Historical Semantics in Germany developed at the ZfL also aims to analyze the language of the GDR. It takes a closer look at the interrelated linguistic developments in the FRG and GDR—two states involved in the East-West conflict.

Many of the dictionary’s already-completed entries show that this goal proves to be a challenge. The turning point of 1989 may tempt us to underestimate the influence of the Cold War on the history of many concepts. We may thus not fully appreciate their openness and controversial nature, but instead retrospectively level them as part of a triumphant narrative of Western discourse. The workshop will center on the treatment of political semantics in the GDR. It will focus on concepts that were either particularly controversial during the Cold War, or were considered basic concepts in the GDR during the investigated period. Furthermore, we will also address questions of methodology, research history, and identifying sources.

Program

Thursday, 11 Dec 2025

14.00

  • Ernst Müller, Falko Schmieder (ZfL): Zur Einführung
  • Vincent von Wroblewsky (Paris/Berlin): Das Volk – wer ist das?
  • Isabella Ferron (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia): Nation/Nationalismus

17.00

  • Simon Specht (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam): Eine »gesetzmäßige, objektive Höherentwicklung«: ›Fortschritt‹ als Verheißung und Vergewisserung in der politischen Sprache der DDR
  • Uwe Lindemann (Ruhr University Bochum): Konsum, Verbraucher, Konsument. Über eine begriffliche Leerstelle in der politisch-ökonomischen Sprache der DDR

 

Friday, 12 Dec 2025

10.00

  • Peer Pasternack (Institute for Higher Education Research Halle-Wittenberg): Jargon und Decodierung. Gesellschaftswissenschaftliche Formulierungsweisen in der DDR
  • Peter Sandner (Wiesbaden): Linguistische Forschung zur Sprache in der DDR. Die Untersuchungen von Horst Dieter Schlosser aus Frankfurt am Main in den 1980er Jahren

12.30

  • Christian Mathieu, Anna Jehle (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin): Digitalisierung in ihrem Lauf... Zur virtuellen Zugänglichmachung von (verlegten) Quellenwerken aus der SBZ/DDR im Bestand der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
  • Armin Schneider (Brown University): 89/90 – die Wende?