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Rammstein and Ostalgie : Longing for Yesteryear

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 33; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03007760802332714

1740-1712

John Littlejohn, Michael T. Putnam,

Musicology and Musical Analysis

Abstract Ostalgie, former East Germans' desire for the time before German reunification, has played a growing part in the lives of citizens of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). This article examines whether and to what extent this theme is present in the works of Rammstein, the world-famous German band whose members all grew up in the GDR. Our analysis reveals the thematic prominence of Ostalgie in this band's works, and further that this theme has not diminished—indeed, it appears to have expanded—over the course of Rammstein's career. Acknowledgements We would like to express our thanks to Angelika Kraemer, Richard Gray, and Jeff Love for their help during the writing of this paper. The core arguments of this paper were presented as an invited colloquium talk in the German Studies Colloquium Series at Carson-Newman College; we would like to recognize the constructive comments we received from the participants at this colloquium. This paper also benefited from comments from two anonymous reviewers. Lastly, we would especially like to thank Stephen Hennel for his insightful discussions and in-depth comments on earlier drafts. All remaining shortcomings and weaknesses remain our own.