William J. Waltz - Of Writers and Workers: The Movement of Writing Workers in East Germany

German Life and Civilization

Vol. 69

Jost Hermand

General Editor

Advisory Board

Helen Fehervary

Ohio State University

Peter Uwe Hohendahl

Cornell University

Robert C. Holub

Ohio State University

Klaus Scherpe

Humboldt University, Berlin

Frank Trommler

University of Pennsylvania

PETER LANG

Oxford Bern Berlin Bruxelles New York Wien

William J. Waltz

Of Writers and Workers

The Movement of Writing Workers
in East Germany

PETER LANG

Oxford Bern Berlin Bruxelles New York Wien

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.

Cover image: Cover of 11/1961 issue of Ich schreibe. Zeitschrift fr die Zirkel schreibender Arbeiter und Genossenschaftsbauern.

ISSN 0899-9899
ISBN 978-1-78874-497-3 (print) 978-1-78874-499-7 (ePub)
ISBN 978-1-78874-500-0 (mobi) 978-1-78874-498-0 (ePDF)

Peter Lang AG 2018

Published by Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers,
52 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LU, United Kingdom

William J Waltz has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this Work.

All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

About the author

William J. Waltz completed his PhD at the University of WisconsinMadison in German Studies and is currently an Adjunct Professor of German in western Michigan. He previously worked in Halle, Germany as a USIS English Teaching Fellow. This book is the result of his research fellowship at the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies at the Free University, Berlin (20102011).

About the book

Born of the dream of fostering a new caste of writers from working-class ranks, the Movement of Writing Workers (Bewegung schreibender Arbeiter) offers a paradigmatic view of the successes and failures of attempts to implement a socialist cultural revolution in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The abstract tenets of Marxist teleology and state-sponsored programmes ascribed to writing workers a central position in the efforts to overcome class divisions, educational privilege and, ultimately, the distinctions between workers and intellectuals, art and labour. This study, based largely on original archival research, traces the historical background and development of this major cultural initiative. It undermines the notion of servile obedience to Soviet direction in East German cultural affairs and displays the discrepancies between the official rhetoric of the ruling communist party and the realities of popular cultural participation. While there existed over 200 Circles of Writing Workers in the GDR also known as socialist literary salons the four case studies featured here highlight their diversity and stake out the broad parameters of state-sponsored literary production in East Germany.

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

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For my parents,
who made everything possible

| ix

Aufgabe und Arbeitsweise unserer Zirkel, ich schreibe 6 (1969), 16.

Cover page ich schreibe 6/1961: Anna Seghers and Herbert Warnke sign the DSV and FDGB co-operation agreement.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful for notification of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

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This book was originally submitted as my doctoral thesis to the German Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014. The people who have supported me along this path are too many to name or count. The project would not have been possible without financial support from the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies at the Freie Universitt, the UW-Madison DAAD Center for German and European Studies and UW-Madison Vilas Travel Grants. I owe thanks to the staff of the German Federal Archives, Berlin-Lichterfelde (especially Frau Baumann and Frau Gast); the Academy of Arts, Berlin (Herr Lux and Frau Horn); and, at the Archive of Writing Workers (SchreibART e.V.), Berlin-Schneweide, to Jrgen Kgel, Britta Suckow and team. My advisor Marc Silberman deserves thanks for his patient and unwavering support as do the members of my defense committee for their valuable feedback. Above all I am indebted to all my friends and acquaintances in Halle/Saale who have informed my work over many years both directly and indirectly and to all my interview partners who graciously offered their time, memories and insights.

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AJA Arbeitsgemeinschaft junger Autoren (Working Group of Young Authors)

ASA Archiv schreibender ArbeiterInnen (Archive of Writing Workers)

BAG Bezirksarbeitsgemeinschaft (District Working Group)

BPRS Bund proletarisch-revolutionrer Schriftsteller (League of Proletarian and Revolutionary Writers)

BSA Bewegung schreibender Arbeiter (Movement of Writing Workers)

CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union

DKB Deutscher Kulturbund (German Cultural League)

DSF Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft (German-Soviet Friendship)

DSV Deutscher Schriftstellerverband (German Writers Union)

FDGB Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (Free German Trade Union Federation)

FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth)

FRG Federal Republic of Germany

GDR German Democratic Republic

KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany)

LPG Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft (Collective Farm) xiii | xiv

MDV Mitteldeutscher Verlag

MTS Maschinen-Traktoren-Station (Machine and Tractor Station)

NSW Nichtsozialistische Wirtschaftsgebiet (Non-Socialist Economic Area)

NS/NSPL Neues konomisches System der Planung und Leitung (New Economic System of Planning and Management)

RAPP Russian Association of Proletarian Writers

SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany)

SBZ Sowjetische Besatzungszone (Soviet Occupation Zone)

SMA Sowjetische Militradministration (Soviet Military Administration)

SPD Sozialistische Partei Deutschlands (Socialist Party of Germany)

SW Sozialistische Wirtschaftsgebiet (Socialist Economic Area)

VEB Volkseigener Betrieb (Nationally Owned Company)