Comrades in Arms

Military Masculinities in East German Culture
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-78920-555-8
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 560 g

Without question, the East German National People’s Army was a profoundly masculine institution that emphasized traditional ideals of stoicism, sacrifice, and physical courage. Nonetheless, as this innovative study demonstrates, depictions of the military in the film and literature of the GDR were far more nuanced and ambivalent. Departing from past studies that have found in such portrayals an unchanging, idealized masculinity, Comrades in Arms shows how cultural works both before and after reunification place violence, physical vulnerability, and military theatricality, as well as conscripts’ powerful emotions and desires, at the center of soldiers’ lives and the military institution itself.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Smith, Tom

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Illustrations

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: Military Masculine Ideals and their Limits

Chapter 1. Pluralizing the GDR’s Socialist Soldier Personality

Chapter 2. Screen Violence and the Limits of Masculine Ideals

Part II: Challenging Performances

Chapter 3. The Vulnerable Body in Uniform

Chapter 4. Retro Masculinity and Military Theatricality

Part III: Challenging Feelings

Chapter 5. Shame, Emotions and Military Masculinities

Chapter 6. Same-Sex Desire, Archival Narration and the NVA’s Closet

Conclusion

Glossary: Selected Ranks in the Nationale Volksarmee with British and US Equivalents

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Smith, Tom
Tom Smith is a Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews.

Tom Smith is a Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews.