West Berlin. A Discourse Analysis
Translated title
West-Berlin. Eine Untersuchung der Erinnerungsdiskurse
Author
Mikkelsen, Ida Isabella
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Abstract
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, research has mainly focused on East Germans’ integration and nostalgia (Ostalgie), while the experiences of West Berliners have remained peripheral. This thesis examines the memory discourses about West Berlin as presented in the anthology “Unser West-Berlin. Lesebuch von der Insel” (2019). The study combines Aleida Assmann’s concepts of communicative, collective, and cultural memory with a discourse-analytical approach grounded in Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, supplemented by concepts from Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe for close textual analysis. The empirical basis is a collection of personal recollections, primarily covering experiences from the 1960s onwards. The analysis identifies two colliding discourses: West Berliners’ memories are predominantly positive and challenge a prevailing view that their nostalgic longing (Westalgie) is less legitimate than Ostalgie, despite similar psychological dynamics. The anthology aggregates individual memories into a shared memory that both distances itself from West Germany and strengthens a distinct West Berlin identity. The thesis calls for further empirical research into whether these discourses reproduce or transform social understandings and why Ostalgie appears more legitimate than Westalgie.
Efter Berlinmurens fald har forskningen primært fokuseret på østtyskernes integration og nostalgiske længsler (Ostalgie), mens vestberlinernes erfaringer er trådt i baggrunden. Denne masterafhandling undersøger erindringsdiskurserne om Vestberlin, som de fremstilles i antologien “Unser West-Berlin. Lesebuch von der Insel” (2019). Teoretisk kombineres Aleida Assmanns begreber om kommunikativ, kollektiv og kulturel hukommelse med en diskursanalytisk tilgang baseret på Norman Faircloughs tredimensionelle model, suppleret af Ernesto Laclau og Chantal Mouffes begreber for en tekstnær analyse. Empirien udgøres af personlige erindringstekster, primært fra 1960’erne og frem. Analysen peger på to kolliderende diskurser: Vestberlinernes erindringer er overvejende positive og udfordrer en udbredt opfattelse af, at deres nostalgiske længsel (Westalgie) er mindre berettiget end Ostalgie, selv om de psykologiske mekanismer ligner hinanden. Antologien samler individuelle erindringer til en fælles hukommelse, der både markerer afstand til Vesttyskland og styrker en selvstændig vestberlinsk identitet. Afhandlingen peger på behov for videre empirisk forskning i, om disse diskurser reproducerer eller forandrer sociale forståelser, samt hvorfor Ostalgie opfattes som mere legitim end Westalgie.
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