Anna Funder’s literary journalist text Stasiland explores the lingering impact that the former German Democratic Republic had upon its citizens. Through investigating the struggles faced by individuals in rebuilding their lives within unified Germany, Funder acknowledges that the horrors of the GDR are still controlling those who once lived under its communist regime. Through the victims Funder interviews, she identifies that as East Germany is rebuilt, so too are its people, as they attempt to find a place within a society once characterised by suppression and oppression.
Funder acknowledges the lingering impact of the GDR through depiction of her experiences in unified Germany. Through her characterisation of herself as Anna, Funder contrasts …show more content…
Through Hagen Koch’s “preservation of historical monuments”, and attempts to maintain his guard tower, Funder demonstrates how some individuals struggle to move on from the GDR, as they are still nostalgic for it despite the horrors of what occurred. This is also explored as Koch ensures that developers can’t destroy his tower and instead must “build apartments around it”, demonstrating that although some members of unified Germany have attempted to rebuild and remove the past, individuals who are “against forgetting” are preventing them from doing so. In contrast to this, Funder also explores how a new “sanitised, disney version” of the wall is built, in order to identify the city’s attempt to rebuild. Although the state acknowledges that the wall existed, they have removed all the graffiti in order to create an “airbrushed” history, that is clean from the impact of the GDR on individuals. Furthermore, this idea is supported as Anna visits the Noremeninfejnfkjsn headquarters, where the cleaner is unable to remove “the smell of old men”, and the grease mark off the wall. Through this, Funder displays how Germany is attempting to clean away all the personal history and the impact of the Stasi, whilst still remembering the past. Ultimately, this fails as the cleaner “still can’t get [the mark] off” displaying how even in post GDR …show more content…
During the time of the GDR, Julia was unable to “conform to the fiction” and was “edged out of the reality” of East Germany, resulting in her being excluded from all aspects of the GDR. Furthermore, the collapse of East Germany had further impact on Julia, as she was raped “just after the wall fell”, and as a result of being failed by both old and new Germany, feels that she doesn’t belong in either society. This prevents Julia from rebuilding her life, despite seeing a psychotherapist, as she is only “part-attached” to the world. Her inability to move on, and the impact that the Stasi and the collapse of the GDR had on her is also heightened by Anna’s direct comparison of herself to Julia. As they were “born in the same year” and lived in “parallel universes”, the reader is able to view the impact that the GDR had on its people as Julia who was victim to the stasi is “unable to go forward into her future” whereas Anna, who was not under the communist regime, has “relative luck in life”. This comparison displays how victims of the Stasi are still unable to fully succeed in the new, unified Germany, despite its attempts to rebuild a functioning
Funder acknowledges the lingering impact of the GDR through depiction of her experiences in unified Germany. Through her characterisation of herself as Anna, Funder contrasts …show more content…
Through Hagen Koch’s “preservation of historical monuments”, and attempts to maintain his guard tower, Funder demonstrates how some individuals struggle to move on from the GDR, as they are still nostalgic for it despite the horrors of what occurred. This is also explored as Koch ensures that developers can’t destroy his tower and instead must “build apartments around it”, demonstrating that although some members of unified Germany have attempted to rebuild and remove the past, individuals who are “against forgetting” are preventing them from doing so. In contrast to this, Funder also explores how a new “sanitised, disney version” of the wall is built, in order to identify the city’s attempt to rebuild. Although the state acknowledges that the wall existed, they have removed all the graffiti in order to create an “airbrushed” history, that is clean from the impact of the GDR on individuals. Furthermore, this idea is supported as Anna visits the Noremeninfejnfkjsn headquarters, where the cleaner is unable to remove “the smell of old men”, and the grease mark off the wall. Through this, Funder displays how Germany is attempting to clean away all the personal history and the impact of the Stasi, whilst still remembering the past. Ultimately, this fails as the cleaner “still can’t get [the mark] off” displaying how even in post GDR …show more content…
During the time of the GDR, Julia was unable to “conform to the fiction” and was “edged out of the reality” of East Germany, resulting in her being excluded from all aspects of the GDR. Furthermore, the collapse of East Germany had further impact on Julia, as she was raped “just after the wall fell”, and as a result of being failed by both old and new Germany, feels that she doesn’t belong in either society. This prevents Julia from rebuilding her life, despite seeing a psychotherapist, as she is only “part-attached” to the world. Her inability to move on, and the impact that the Stasi and the collapse of the GDR had on her is also heightened by Anna’s direct comparison of herself to Julia. As they were “born in the same year” and lived in “parallel universes”, the reader is able to view the impact that the GDR had on its people as Julia who was victim to the stasi is “unable to go forward into her future” whereas Anna, who was not under the communist regime, has “relative luck in life”. This comparison displays how victims of the Stasi are still unable to fully succeed in the new, unified Germany, despite its attempts to rebuild a functioning