This talk revisits the “laboratory of radical democracy” during the months leading up to East Germany’s absorption into the West, challenging conventional memories of Germany’s reunification. By examining the spontaneous collaborative unrest of 1989-90, it argues for the presence of political joy and traces revolutionary impulses through visual and material archives. Additionally, the talk meditates on the limits and possibilities of memory as a site for alternative histories in times of crisis.
Prof. Dr Anke Pinkert is a scholar of modern German literature, film, and culture, with a focus on memory studies and social activism. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has taught in the United States and Germany before becoming a Professor of German and Media & Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois.
Moderation: Eckhard Schumacher & Alexander Waszynski (both Greifswald)
The lecture will take place as a hybrid event. If you want to follow the lecture online via Zoom, please contact us at baltic-peripetiesuni-greifswaldde.
Further Information
IRTG "Baltic Peripeties – Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes"
Anklamer Straße 20, 17489 Greifswald
baltic-peripetiesuni-greifswaldde
https://peripeties.uni-greifswald.de