Comrades of Color : East Germany in the Cold War World

The political culture of the German Democratic Republic strongly emphasized solidarity with the non-white world, from contributions to relief efforts in Vietnam to public memorials for Ho Chi Minh and Martin Luther King, Jr. Through a series of illuminating historical investigations, this volume traces the contours of East German internationalism. In keeping with the tenets of socialist internationalism, the political culture of the German Democratic Republic strongly emphasized solidarity with the non-white world: children sent telegrams to Angela Davis in prison, workers made contributions from their wages to relief efforts in Vietnam and Angola, and the deaths of Patrice Lumumba, Ho Chi Minh, and Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired public memorials. Despite their prominence, however, scholars have rarely examined such displays in detail. Through a series of illuminating historical investigations, this volume deploys archival research, ethnography, and a variety of other interdisciplinary tools to explore the rhetoric and reality of East German internationalism Contents 6 List of Figures 8 Introduction • Quinn Slobodian 10 Part I. Race Without Racism? 30 1. Socialist Chromatism: Race, Racism, and the Racial Rainbow in East Germany • Quinn Slobodian 32 Part II. Aid anders? 50 2. Through a Glass Darkly: East German Assistance to North Korea and Alternative Narratives of the Cold War • Young-Sun Hong 52 3. Between Fighters and Beggars: Socialist Philanthropy and the Imagery of Solidarity in East Germany • Gregory Witkowski 82 4. Socialist Modernization in Vietnam: The East German Approach, 1976–89 • Bernd Schaefer 104 Part III. Ambivalent Solidarities 124 William “Bloke” Modisane to Margaret Legum, 1966 126 5. Bloke Modisane in East Germany • Simon Stevens 130 6. African Students and the Politics of Race and Gender in the German Democratic Republic • Sara Pugach 140 7. Ambivalence and Desire in the East German “Free Angela Davis” Campaign • Katrina Hagen 166 8. True to the Politics of Frelimo? Teaching Socialism at the Schule der Freundschaft, 1981–90 • Jason Verber 197 Part IV. Socialist Mirrors 220 “The Black Façade of the Universities of German Revisionism,” The Red Flag of the Shanghai University of International Trade,1968 222 9. The Uses of Disorientation: Socialist Cosmopolitanism in an Unfinished DEFA-China Documentary • Quinn Slobodian 228 10. Imposed Dialogues: Joerg Foth and Tran Vu’s GDR-Vietnamese Coproduction, Dschungelzeit (1988) • Evan Torner and Victoria Rizo Lenshyn 252 Part V. Internationalist Remains 274 11. Affective Solidarities and East German Reconstruction of Postwar Vietnam • Christina Schwenkel 276 12. La Idea de Carlos Marx: Tracing Germany through a Long Cuban Imaginary • Victor Fowler Calzada and Jennifer Ruth Hosek 302 Index 327 Introduction / Quinn Slobodian Socialist chromatism : race, racism and the racial rainbow in East Germany / Quinn Slobodian Part I. Aid anders? Through a glass darkly : East German assistance to North Korea and alternative narratives of the Cold War / Young Sun Hong Between fighters and beggars : socialist philanthropy and the imagery of solidarity in East Germany / Gregory Witkowski Socialist modernization in Vietnam : the East German approach, 1976-1989 / Bernd Schaefer Part II. Ambivalent solidarities William "Bloke" Modisane to Margaret Legum, 1966 Bloke Modisane in East Germany / Simon Stevens African students and the politics of race and gender in the German Democratic Republic, 1957-1990 / Sara Pugach Ambivalence and desire in the East German "Free Angela Davis" campaign / Katrina Hagen True to the politics of Frelimo? : teaching socialism at the Schule der Freundschaft, 1981-1990 / Jason Verber Part III. Socialist mirrors "The black facade of the universities of German revisionism" The red flag of the university of foreign trade, 1968 The uses of disorientation : socialist cosmopolitanism in an unfinished DEFA-China documentary / Quinn Slobodian Imposed dialogues : Jorg Foth and Tran Vu's GDR-Vietnamese co-production Dschungelzeit (1988) / Evan Torner and Victoria Rizo Lenshyn Part IV. Internationalist remains Affective solidarities and East German reconstruction of postwar Vietnam / Christina Schwenkel La idea de Carlos Marx : tracing Germany through a long Cuban imaginary / Jennifer Ruth Hosek & Victor Fowler Calzada. "This volume looks into the relationship that East Germany held with non-white socialistic nations, such as China and Cuba, as well as socialistic and communistic minorities in the United States. The volume also relates how these states and individuals saw East Germany"--Provided by publisher.