Deutschland 83.

Deutschland 83

1. Language

Semiotics – Barthes

Signification

Sign (iconic, symbolic, indexical), denotation, connotation, myth, anchorage

What are the key signifiers that create meaning in the episode?

In the episode, Barthes Semiotics theory can be used to describe the way Lenora looks at the main protagonist, Martin and also the way Mrs Werner looks at Martin, which is similar to how his aunt looks at him. The male gaze from the two women could signify their attraction towards Martin.

2. Narrative – Todorov

Equilibrium

Disruption

Resolution

Identify the elements of narrative in the episode?
Historical, based on the Berlin wall that split East Germany and West Germany.

3. Genre – Neale

Spy espionage thriller genre – examples?

What are the key generic elements of this drama? Locations, costume, props, camera, plot, sound, editing etc.
Genre: Historical period tv show

Locations: East Berlin and West Germany.

Costumes: 1980s clothing

Props: Weapons,

Camera: Dim in the East, brightened up in the West 

Sound:

Editing: 

4. Levi-Strauss – Structuraliam

Underlying structures

Binary oppositions

What are the ideological significance of binary oppositions in this episode?

5. Character – Propp

Hero

Villain

Princess

Can you apply character types to this narrative?

Hero - Martin

Villain - The East could be considered an enemy because they've drugged Martin and sent him to the West to be a spy and report back to the East. But also, America could be an enemy as they think they'll win the war by using nuclear weapons/bombs on Russia

Princess - Annette (Martin's girlfriend in the East), Yvonne (possible love interest of Martin in the West)

6. Representation

Representation Theory – Stuart Hall

Are their stereotypes by the powerful of excluded groups?

Identity – Gauntlett

How do we construct our identity out of this episode?
The identity here would be the fact that in this drama, people have to choose sides. e.g Martin has to take an identity of someone who is an enemy and therefore has to spy on the West.

Feminist Theory – Van Zoonen

Does the narrative objectify women?

I personally do not think that the narrative objectifies women as much, but it's the other way round instead. Men are sexualised/objectified, such as Martin; the way his aunt looks at him and also the way Mrs Werner looks at him. However, it could be said that some women are potentially objectified, such as Linda Seiler, who Martin is told to seduce to get information from her.

7. Gender Performativity - Judith Butler

Towards the end of the first episode, we can see Martin and his aunt, Lenora, behind him. She is standing behind him and looking down on him, which makes her seem like she is dominant, which is stereotypically a male quality, whereas Martin, looks quite innocent and submissive. 

Historical context of Deutschland 83.

What was the political situation in 1983 regarding East and West in 1983?

 The Wall physically cut off (by land) West Berlin from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989.

Create a historical timeline of the ‘cold war’ from 1945 to 1991. Try to identify 10 key events.

1945: The Allies agree in Potsdam to the fundamental conditions of the occupation of Germany. American nuclear bombs destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

1947: The Truman Doctrine: The US offers assistance to countries threatened by communism -- especially Greece and Turkey. US Secretary of State George C. Marshall announces a massive aid program for the reconstruction of World War II-torn Europe that will become known as the Marshall Plan.

1948: The Communists take power in Czechoslovakia.

1948: The Soviet blockade of West Berlin begins on June 24. Cut off from the outside world, provisions are delivered to the isolated city by the Americans in the Berlin Air Bridge action. This is the first major Berlin crisis during the Cold War. On May 12, 1949, Stalin lifts the blockade.

1949: On April 4, the NATO Treaty is signed in Washington.

1949: On May 23, the Federal Republic of Germany is established. Not long later, on Oct. 7, the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) is founded.

1949: On August 29, the Soviets detonate their first atomic bomb.

1949: After winning the country's civil war, the Communist Party under Mao Zedong establish the People's Republic of China.

1950-1953: The Korean War: After North Korea attacks South Korea, UN troops led by the United States invade the country. China and the Soviet Union back North Korea. The cease-fire leaves the two countries with the pre-war status quo.

1952: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin offers to hold negotiations on the reunification of Germany on the condition that a united Germany remain neutral. With the support of the West German parliament, the Western allied powers reject the offer.

1953: On June 17, 1953, a workers' uprising in East Germany is crushed by Russian tanks.

1955: The Federal Republic of Germany joins NATO and forms the Bundeswehr, the first Germany army to exist after Hitler's fall.

1956: The Hungarian uprising takes place, starting on Oct. 20, but it is ultimately crushed by the Russians.

1956: From Oct. 29 to Nov. 6, the Suez crisis takes place. After Egypt attempts to nationalize the Suez Canal, Israel, France and Great Britain occupy the canal zone and bomb Egyptian air fields. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatens London and Paris with nuclear war.

1961: The construction of the Berlin Wall begins on August 13.

1962: The Cuba crisis: After the Soviets position nuclear war heads in Cuba, the United States threatens war. The world is on the verge of nuclear war for days.

1963: The US, Great Britain and the Soviet Union agree to suspend surface and underwater tests of nuclear weapons.

1965: The first US combat forces land in South Vietnam. More than 2 million people will perish during the Vietnam War -- mostly civilians. The US withdraws its troops in 1973. Two years later the communist north conquers the southern part of the country.

1968: Troops from the Warsaw Pact, an organization of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe, stamp out the Prague Spring uprising.

1969: Negotiations between the United Nations and the Soviet Union begin on the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons. The talks end with several treaties in 1979, but the arms race continues unabated.

1970: The so-called Ostpolitik, a policy of rapprochement with the Eastern bloc championed by German Chancellor Willy Brandt, begins. His policy of "change through conciliation" bears its first fruits: The Germans and Russians agree to a treaty that renounces the use of force.

1979: The NATO Double-Track Decision is approved, enabling the US to station 572 "Pershing II" nuclear war heads in Western Europe if the negotiations with the Soviets over the dismantling of SS-20 mid range missiles fail. The deployment begins in 1983.

1980: Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the US imposes sanctions on the Russians and boycotts the Moscow Olympic Games.

1983: US President Ronald Reagan announces the development of a world-wide "Star Wars" missile defense system with his Strategic Defense Initiative.

1985: Kremlin chief Mikhail Gorbachev begins to reorient Soviet foreign policy.

1987: Gorbachev and Reagan agree to eliminate all land-based intermediate-range missiles.

1989: The Berlin Wall falls on November 9.

top 10 events:
1961: The construction of the Berlin Wall begins on August 13.

1983: US President Ronald Reagan announces the development of a world-wide "Star Wars" missile defense system with his Strategic Defense Initiative.

Who was President Reagan?

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. 

Who was the East German leader?

Erich Honecker

Who was the West German leader?

Konrad Adenauer

What were the social, economic and cultural issues?

Postmodernism on Deutschland 83.

What is postmodernism; 

1. Loss of Faith that things will get better - careers, economic status, romance : Acknowledgement of capitalism - Greed is Good! We live in an increasingly consumerist society
2. Loss of Faith in new technology and industry : We have so many tens, hundreds of ‘Friends’ on Facebook - how many of them do we actually speak to in a week? Are we actually more alone now than before?
3. Loss of Faith in the opportunities that Globalisation offered previously gated countries/communities to become interconnected : BREXIT!

types of postmodernism:

Intertextuality - meaning is given to a text by it referencing, knowingly, other texts

Pastiche - A light-hearted, tongue in cheek imitation of another’s style. Different to parody as it is usually good natured and respectful



Apply Baudrillard’s theory of postmodernism to stranger things and Deutschland 83

Consider the following questions to help you write an answer.

1.What is the basic reality represented by each drama? E.g. from drama

2.Does the representation mask a basic reality? E.g. from drama

3.Does the representation mask the absence of a basic reality (plays at being an appearance) E.g. from drama

4.Does the representation bear no relation to any reality, it is purely a simulation and becomes a hyper-reality. E.g. from drama





Essay 800 words.

•Identify key signifiers in episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things and explain how they help the audience understand the genre they are watching. 

Deutschland 83 = Bricolage introduction showing bombing, missiles, nuclear weapons, government,

Deutschland 83 =  Footage of President Reagan talking about the "evil empire" which suggest the genre is historical: 80s.

Stranger Things = Opens up in a starry sky, reference to E.T, already signifies its a sci-fi genre

Stranger Things = Lab

•What are the key generic elements of episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things and how do these help the audience understand the genre they are watching? 


•Identify key elements of narrative and underlying structure in episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things and, giving examples, explain how they shape meaning. 


•Identify key examples of intertextuality in episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things and explain how they help the audience understand what is going on. 


•Do episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things reinforce or challenge dominant ideology? 

HW.

•Who is the audience for episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things? (Research)
•“What effect do episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things have on the audience?”
•HW 800 words approx

Explain Effects theory, cultivation theory and reception theory and give examples from both episode 1 of D83 and Stranger Things in your response