Stasiland
Encyclopedia
Stasiland: Oh Wasn't it so Terrible - True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall (Stasiland: Ach, war es nicht so schrecklich - Wahre Geschichten von hinter der Berliner Mauer by Anna Funder
is a polyvocal text about individuals who resisted the East German
regime, and others who worked for its secret police, the Stasi
. It tells the story of what it was like to work for the Stasi, and describes how those who did so now come to terms, or not, with their pasts.
Funder, an Australian, found that Germans often resorted to stereotype
s in describing the Ossis, the German nickname for those who lived in East Germany, dismissing questions about civil resistance. She used classified ads to reach former members of the Stasi and anti-Stasi organizations and interviewed them extensively.
called it "an essential insight into the totalitarian regime". Giles MacDonogh
wrote in The Guardian
that the culture of informants and moral capitulations "comes wonderfully to life in Funder's racy account".
Stasiland has been published in fifteen countries and translated into a dozen different languages. It was shortlisted for many awards in the UK and Australia, among them the Age Book of the Year Awards, the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, the Guardian First Book Award
2003, the South Australian Festival Awards for Literature (Innovation in Writing) 2004, the Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2004, and the W.H. Heinemann Award 2004. In June 2004 it was awarded the world’s biggest prize for non-fiction, the Samuel Johnson Prize
.
Stasiland is being developed for the stage by The National Theatre
in London.
Anna Funder
Anna Funder is an Australian writer who grew up in Melbourne. She studied creative writing at the University of Melbourne, also later studying at the Free University of Berlin as the recipient in 1994 of a DAAD Scholarship...
is a polyvocal text about individuals who resisted the East German
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
regime, and others who worked for its secret police, the Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
. It tells the story of what it was like to work for the Stasi, and describes how those who did so now come to terms, or not, with their pasts.
Funder, an Australian, found that Germans often resorted to stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s in describing the Ossis, the German nickname for those who lived in East Germany, dismissing questions about civil resistance. She used classified ads to reach former members of the Stasi and anti-Stasi organizations and interviewed them extensively.
Reception
Chris Mitchell of Spike MagazineSpike Magazine
Spike Magazine is an internet cultural journal which began in 1996, founded by its editor Chris Mitchell in Brighton, England. Updated monthly, its motto is "picking the brains of popular culture", though it has an intellectual inclination.-Description:...
called it "an essential insight into the totalitarian regime". Giles MacDonogh
Giles MacDonogh
Giles MacDonogh is a British writer, historian and translator.He has worked as a journalist most notably for the Financial Times , where he covered food, drink and a variety of other subjects. He has also contributed to most of the other important British newspapers, and is a regular contributor...
wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that the culture of informants and moral capitulations "comes wonderfully to life in Funder's racy account".
Stasiland has been published in fifteen countries and translated into a dozen different languages. It was shortlisted for many awards in the UK and Australia, among them the Age Book of the Year Awards, the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, the Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award, issued before 1999 as Guardian Fiction Prize or Guardian Fiction Award, is awarded to new writing in fiction and non-fiction.-History:...
2003, the South Australian Festival Awards for Literature (Innovation in Writing) 2004, the Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2004, and the W.H. Heinemann Award 2004. In June 2004 it was awarded the world’s biggest prize for non-fiction, the Samuel Johnson Prize
Samuel Johnson Prize
The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction is one of the most prestigious prizes for non-fiction writing. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award and based on an anonymous donation. The prize is named after Samuel Johnson...
.
Stasiland is being developed for the stage by The National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in London.
Further reading
- Funder, Anna. Why Germany can’t get over the Wall, November 3, 2009.