Belonging in the Two Berlins: Kin, State, Nation (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 86) - Softcover

Book 52 of 95: Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology

Borneman, John

  • 3.67 out of 5 stars
    6 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780521427159: Belonging in the Two Berlins: Kin, State, Nation (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 86)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0521427150 ISBN 13: 9780521427159
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Belonging in the two Berlins is an ethnographic investigation into the meaning of German selfhood during the Cold War. Taking the practices of everyday life in the divided Berlin as his point of departure, Borneman shows how ideas of kin, state, and nation were constructed through processes of mirror-imaging and misrecognition. Using linguistics and narrative analysis, he compares the autobiographies of two generations of Berlins residents with the official version of the lifecourse prescribed by the two German states. He examines the relation of the dual political structure to everyday life, the way in which the two states legally regulated the lifecourse in order to define the particular categories of self which signify Germanness, and how citizens experientially appropriated the frameworks provided by these states. Living in the two Berlins constantly compelled residents to define themselves in opposition to their other half. Borneman argues that this resulted in a de facto divided Germany with two distinct nations and peoples. The formation of German subjectivity since World War II is unique in that the distinctive features for belonging - for being at home - to one side exclude the other. Indeed, these divisions inscribed by the Cold War account for many of the problems in forging a new cultural unity.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Book Description

This is an ethnographic investigation into the meaning of German selfhood during the Cold War. Borneman shows how ideas of kin, state, and nation were constructed through processes of mirror imaging and misrecognition. Using linguistics and narrative analysis he compares the autobiographies of two generations of Berlin's residents with the official versions prescribed by the two German states.

About the Author

John Borneman is professor of anthropology at Princeton University. His books include "Death of the Father: An Anthropology of the End in Political Authority" and "Settling Accounts: Violence, Justice, and Accountability in Postsocialist Europe" (Princeton)

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication date
1992
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0521427150
ISBN 13 
9780521427159
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
408
Rating
  • 3.67 out of 5 stars
    6 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780521415897: Belonging in the Two Berlins: Kin, State, Nation (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 86)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0521415896 ISBN 13:  9780521415897
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992
Hardcover