"Sick society" and "Buschzulage" - images of the East German transformation

Abstract

"This text explores the history and conditions of origins of two very popular metaphor-fads in the context of the German transformation process. Moreover it analyses the impact of the changing contexts on the meaning of metaphors. Two theses are illuminated: 1. The early transformation period required a strong and shared believe that the far-reaching political actions started made a good economic and social sense with regards to the initial situation. Thus the discoursive construction of the GDR as an 'sick society' served eastern as well as western definitions and postulations. 2. The diversifying interests between East and West as well as the wide-ranging process of deindustrialisation with all its problematic consequences led to a development of more elaborate and distinguishing metaphors such as 'Buschzulage' that are not quite emphasizing the common beliefs but the separating elements. The research is carried out by an analysis of data banks containing nationwide German newspapers." (author's abstract)