The Media of Testimony : Remembering the East German Stasi in the Berlin Republic

The Media of Testimony explores testimony relating to the Stasi in different cultural forms: autobiographical writing, memorial museums and documentary film. Combining theoretical models from diverse disciplines, it presents a new approach to the study of testimony, memory and mediation. In The Media of Testimony, Sara Jones examines the use of eyewitness testimony in different cultural forms. The focus is on memories of the East German State Security Service (Stasi) in autobiographical writing, memorial museums and documentary film. Combining theoretical models from diverse disciplines, Jones develops a distinctive and interdisciplinary approach to testimony, memory and mediation. She considers the processes by which authors, directors and heritage managers seek to generate authority and authenticity for particular versions of contested histories. Contemporary uses of eyewitness testimony in popular history can extend communities of memory to include those with no direct experience of the represented past. However, this may result in a narrowing of history and a disinheritance of particular social groups. The Media of Testimony represents a significant contribution to studies of German cultural memory and to understanding the ways in which memories circulate and become salient in the media-dominated societies of the present Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: Remembering East Germany: Contested Heritage....Pages 1-22 The Media of Testimony....Pages 23-46 Literary Autobiography and the Stories That Can’t Be Told....Pages 47-69 Fragmented Auto/Biographies: Testifying with Many Voices....Pages 70-98 The Importance of ‘Being There’: Memorial Museums and Living the Past in the Present....Pages 99-125 Whose Memory Is It Anyway? Memorial Museums and Modes of Authority....Pages 126-160 Documentary Film: Being Moved by Memory....Pages 161-186 Conclusion: Extending the Remembering Community....Pages 187-195 Back Matter....Pages 196-233