• Persistent Ambivalence: Theorizing Queer East German Studies

    Author(s):
    Kyle Frackman (see profile)
    Date:
    2018
    Group(s):
    LGBTQ Studies, LLC 20th- and 21st-Century German, Queer German Studies
    Subject(s):
    Germany (East), Affect (Psychology), Culture and law, Motion pictures, Seduction
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    youth, Homosexuality, Surveillance, East Germany, Affect, Queer and gender studies, Law and culture, Film
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6BW06
    Abstract:
    The German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) had an ambivalent relationship with homosexuality. Under the principles of socialism, everyone was welcome to contribute to the greater good. The situation for queer people, here lesbians and gay men, was different: one of illegality and invisibility. A difficulty in analyzing these experiences is the theory and methodology necessary to find them and draw them together in an historical narrative. This essay offers a mode of analysis in which theories of affect illustrate long-term trends in East German conceptualizations of same-sex sexuality. By discussing a 1950 court ruling and a 1989 film, the essay demonstrates the persistence of homophobic prejudice and fear of homosexual seduction of young people and the links to historical and legal developments.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1423220
    Publisher:
    Informa UK Limited
    Pub. Date:
    2018-1-16
    Journal:
    Journal of Homosexuality
    Page Range:
    1 - 21
    ISSN:
    0091-8369,1540-3602
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    5 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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