Social History of the Media

Since the late nineteenth century, modern mass media have increasingly shaped European societies. Whether politics, economics or culture, there is hardly an area of social life that has not been changed by the dissemination of newspapers, films, radio or the World Wide Web. The projects of this study area examine this process by analysing the interdependencies between the proliferation and transformation of media on the one hand and social changes on the other hand.

Forschung

Projekte

Screenshot https://medienerbe-ddr.de/

The media heritage of the GDR

 Frank Bösch, Jürgen Danyel, Christoph Classen

The BMBF joint project investigates the emergence, transformation and use of GDR-related media. Mass media and private media as well as their usage environments are analysed. In addition to the research projects, the network is developing a handbook on GDR film, a new website with oral history interviews and a portal on GDR narrow film.

 

Mann, Thomas: Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull. Buch der Kindheit. Berlin und Leipzig: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Stuttgart 1923, 97 Seiten, Orig.-Pappband. Potempa D 12.1.2., Foto H.-P.Haack, CC BY-SA 3.0

Impostors. On the cultural history of deception in the long 20th century

 Michael Homberg

Conference and publication projects
together with Tobias Becker, FU Berlin; Thomas Werneke, HU Berlin

Starting from the question of whether imposture and conmanship was connected to the political, social, and cultural transformations of the long twentieth century, the research project therefore aims to trace the changes in the phenomenon, its shimmering semantics, and its multifaceted appearances and effects from a social, cultural, and media-historical perspective.

Berlin visit by Konrad Adenauer (Federal Chancellor) to the sector border, August 1961; Journalists of the Ost-Wochenschau, Photo: Landesarchiv Berlin/Johann Willa, F Rep. 290 (02) Nr. 0077007

Media History in the Cold War

 Christoph Classen

Research project

The project analyses the history of mass media relations and interdependencies in the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR until the end of the Cold War. Which reflexes, competitions and cooperations characterised their relationship, and how did it evolve? Was it primarily a propaganda war or did the mass media – especially public broadcasting – create a “bridge over troubled water” in the conflict between the two Germanys? How did the collapse of Communism affect this relationship?

Social History of the Media

Since the late nineteenth century, modern mass media have increasingly shaped European societies. Whether politics, economics or culture, there is hardly an area of social life that has not been changed by the dissemination of newspapers, films, radio or the World Wide Web. The projects of this study area examine this process by analysing the interdependencies between the proliferation and transformation of media on the one hand and social changes on the other hand.

Forschung

Projekte

Screenshot https://medienerbe-ddr.de/

The media heritage of the GDR

 Frank Bösch, Jürgen Danyel, Christoph Classen

The BMBF joint project investigates the emergence, transformation and use of GDR-related media. Mass media and private media as well as their usage environments are analysed. In addition to the research projects, the network is developing a handbook on GDR film, a new website with oral history interviews and a portal on GDR narrow film.

 

Mann, Thomas: Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull. Buch der Kindheit. Berlin und Leipzig: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Stuttgart 1923, 97 Seiten, Orig.-Pappband. Potempa D 12.1.2., Foto H.-P.Haack, CC BY-SA 3.0

Impostors. On the cultural history of deception in the long 20th century

 Michael Homberg

Conference and publication projects
together with Tobias Becker, FU Berlin; Thomas Werneke, HU Berlin

Starting from the question of whether imposture and conmanship was connected to the political, social, and cultural transformations of the long twentieth century, the research project therefore aims to trace the changes in the phenomenon, its shimmering semantics, and its multifaceted appearances and effects from a social, cultural, and media-historical perspective.

Berlin visit by Konrad Adenauer (Federal Chancellor) to the sector border, August 1961; Journalists of the Ost-Wochenschau, Photo: Landesarchiv Berlin/Johann Willa, F Rep. 290 (02) Nr. 0077007

Media History in the Cold War

 Christoph Classen

Research project

The project analyses the history of mass media relations and interdependencies in the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR until the end of the Cold War. Which reflexes, competitions and cooperations characterised their relationship, and how did it evolve? Was it primarily a propaganda war or did the mass media – especially public broadcasting – create a “bridge over troubled water” in the conflict between the two Germanys? How did the collapse of Communism affect this relationship?