German Language and Literature Commons^™

Discourses Surrounding Divided Germany, Timothy Gauthier, Shaune Young, Zachary Weaver

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This discourse analysis examines a collection of short stories, entitled Schattensprünge: Geschichten rund um die Berliner Mauer, spanning the period of divided Germany (1949-1989) and the effect of this era on the mentality of the German people, particularly in the areas of politics, religion, society and economics.

The separation of the country created a culture of fear, struggle and deceit, separated families, encouraged big government secrecy, and proved that socialism leads to economic catastrophe. Both before the Wall went up in 1961 to the time of its destruction in 1989, the German people were faced with having to rebuild their …