Introduction

Small cracks, complex structures: Trends and traditions in the historiography of the GDR’s popular music

Authors

  • Michael Rauhut University of Agder Author
  • Beate Peter Manchester Metropolitan University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.21636

Keywords:

Popular Music History, GDR, Historiography

Abstract

The history of popular music in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is marked by disproportion on the one hand and gaps on the other. The majority of studies focus on phenomena that are assigned subversive qualities and the potential to lead to fundamental social change: jazz, blues, folk, and various styles of rock music. These genres are well documented in the archives that have opened up since the fall of the Berlin Wall. As Schlager, musicals or the operetta are considered to be light entertainment rather than culture, they are rarely researched. Gaps also exist with regard to the analysis of the musical artefact itself. Most research projects are dominated by an interest in historical events and focus on political forces and social effects, and the music itself is often ignored in favour of a discussion of the socio-political framework. This special issue presents new findings and invites a discussion on those methods that may contribute to a broadening of the perspectives on the history of popular music in the GDR.

Author Biographies

  • Michael Rauhut, University of Agder

    Michael Rauhut is Professor of Popular Music at the University of Agder in Norway. He has written extensively on the history of popular music in the GDR. His most recent publication is One Sound, Two Worlds: The Blues in a Divided Germany, 1945–1990 (Berghahn Books, 2019).

  • Beate Peter, Manchester Metropolitan University

    Beate Peter is Senior Lecturer in German at Manchester Metropolitan University, and a trained musicologist with a PhD in popular music. She is chair of the Sound Studies Network at the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association.

References

Ahlers, M., and C. Jacke, eds. 2018. Perspectives on German Popular Music. London: Routledge.

Bretschneider, S. 2018. Tanzmusik in der DDR: Dresdner Musiker zwischen Kulturpolitik und internationalem Musikmarkt, 1945–1961. Bielefeld: transcript. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839445631

Brockhaus, H. A., and K. Niemann, eds. 1979. Musikgeschichte der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1945–1976. Berlin (DDR): Verlag Neue Musik.

Dieckmann, C. 1991. My Generation: Cocker, Dylan, Lindenberg und die verlorene Zeit. Berlin: LinksDruck.

Forschungszentrum populäre Musik. 1986. Populäre Musik in den Fachschul- und Graduierungsarbeiten der Hoch- und Fachschulen, Universitäten und Akademien der DDR. Internal document. Berlin (DDR): Humboldt-Universität Berlin.

Fulk, K. A., ed. 2021. Sounds German: Popular Music in Postwar Germany at the Crossroads of the National and Transnational. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv287sgr9

Galuszka, P., ed. 2021. Eastern European Music Industries and Policies after the Fall of Communism: From State Control to Free Market. London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429273988

Holtmann, E. 2020. ‘Die DDR – ein Unrechtsstaat?’. https://www.bpb.de/geschichte/deutsche-einheit/lange-wege-der-deutschen-einheit/47560/unrechtsstaat (accessed 21 July 2021).

Jansen, W., ed. 2020. Popular Music Theatre under Socialism: Operettas and Musicals in the Eastern European States 1945 to 1990. Münster and New York: Waxmann.

Kaldewey, H. 2020. A People’s Music: Jazz in East Germany, 1945–1990. New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108645638

Larkey, E. 2007. Rotes Rockradio: Populäre Musik und die Kommerzialisierung des DDR-Rundfunks. Münster: LIT.

Knauer, W. 2019. ‘Play yourself, man!’: Die Geschichte des Jazz in Deutschland. Ditzingen: Reclam.

Leitner, O. 1983. Rockszene DDR: Aspekte einer Massenkultur im Sozialismus. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch.

Lipp, F. 2021. Punk und New Wave im letzten Jahrzehnt der DDR: Akteure – Konfliktfelder – musikalische Praxis. Münster and New York: Waxmann.

Mazierska, E., ed. 2016. Popular Music in Eastern Europe: Breaking the Cold War Paradigm. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59273-6

Middleton, R. 2001. ‘Popular Music in the West’. In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 20, 2nd edn, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 128–53. London: Macmillan.

Mrozek, B. 2019. Jugend, Pop, Kultur: Eine transnationale Geschichte. Berlin: Suhrkamp.

Oliver, P. 2004. ‘History Begins Yesterday’. Popular Music History 1/1: 15–17. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.1.1.15.56024

Peter, B. 2019. ‘Experiential Knowledge: Dance as Source for Popular Music Historiography’. Popular Music History 12/3: 275–94. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.39678

Poiger, U. G. 2000. Jazz, Rock, and Rebels: Cold War Politics and American Culture in a Divided Germany. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520211384.001.0001

Rauhut, M. 1993. Beat in der Grauzone: DDR-Rock 1964 bis 1972 – Politik und Alltag. Berlin: BasisDruck.

Rauhut, M. 2019. One Sound, Two Worlds: The Blues in a Divided Germany, 1945–1990. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Rauhut, M. 2020. ‘Conflicting Identities: The Meaning and Significance of Popular Music in the GDR’. In Made in Germany: Studies in Popular Music, ed. O. Seibt, M. Ringsmut and D.-E. Wickström, 48–57. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351200790-6

Rauhut, M. 2022. ‘Krieg gegen Köpfe: Schlager und Ideologie in den frühen Jahren der DDR’. In Schlager erforschen: Kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf ein populäres Phänomen, ed. J. Müske and M. Fischer, 31–45. Münster and New York: Waxmann.

Ryback, T. W. 1990. Rock Around the Bloc: A History of Rock Music in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schäfer, O. 1998. Pädagogische Untersuchungen zur Musikkultur der FDJ: Ein erziehungs-wissenschaftlicher Beitrag zur Totalitarismusforschung. Berlin: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin.

Schmidt-Rost, C. 2015. Jazz in der DDR und Polen: Geschichte eines transatlantischen Transfers. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-653-04465-2

Schmieding, L. 2014. ‘Das ist unsere Party’: HipHop in der DDR. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.

Schütte, U., ed. 2017. German Pop Music: A Companion. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110425727

Seibt, O., M. Ringsmut and D.-E. Wickström, eds. 2020. Made in Germany: Studies in Popular Music. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351200790

Stahl, H. 2010. Jugendradio im kalten Ätherkrieg: Berlin als eine Klanglandschaft des Pop (1962–1973). Berlin: Landbeck.

Trültzsch, S., and T. Wilke, eds. 2010. Heißer Sommer – Coole Beats: Zur populären Musik und ihren medialen Repräsentationen in der DDR. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Wicke, P. 1987. Anatomie des Rock. Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik.

Wilke, T. 2009. Schallplattenunterhalter und Diskothek in der DDR: Analyse und Modellierung einer spezifischen Unterhaltungsform. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag.

Zaddach, W.-G. 2018. Heavy Metal in der DDR: Szene, Akteure, Praktiken. Bielefeld: transcript. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839444306

Downloads

Published

2022-06-22

How to Cite

Rauhut, M., & Peter, B. (2022). Introduction: Small cracks, complex structures: Trends and traditions in the historiography of the GDR’s popular music. Popular Music History, 14(2), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.21636