Art outside the lines : new perspectives on GDR art culture / edited by Elaine Kelly and Amy Wlodarski.

Many of the essays in this volume were solicited from the conference Reconsidering the role of the arts in the German Democratic Republic, held in 2007 at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary material / Editors Art Outside the Lines -- Introduction / Elaine Kelly and Amy Wlodarski -- In the Crucible: Bernhard Heisig and the Hotel Deutschland Murals / April A. Eisman -- The Invisible Uprising: Filmmaking and East Germany's 'Day X' / Skyler J. Arndt-Briggs -- Quid pro quo: Assessing the Value of Berlin's Thälmann Monument / Kristine Nielsen -- Beyond Socialist Realism: Alternative Painting in Dresden / Sigrid Hofer -- Reading Transnationally: the GDR and American Black Writers / Sara Lennox -- The Legacy of GDR Directors on the Post-Wende Opera Stage / Joy H. Calico -- Music and Discourse / Matthias Tischer -- Gender Discourse and Musical Life in the GDR / Nina Noeske -- 'Monopol der Diskussion?': Alternative Voices in the Verband Deutscher Komponisten und Musikwissenschaftler / Laura Silverberg -- German Art Collections and Exhibits since 1989: the Legacy of the GDR / Jonathan Osmond -- Re-introducing GDR Art to Germany: the Kunstfonds in Dresden / Silke Wagler -- 'GDR on the Pacific': (Re)presenting East Germany in Los Angeles / Justinian Jampol -- Select Bibliography / Editors Art Outside the Lines -- Notes on Contributors / Editors Art Outside the Lines -- Index / Editors Art Outside the Lines.

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This collection of essays, written by leading scholars in the fields of East German art, film, literature, music, and museum studies, seeks to renegotiate the artistic legacy of the German Democratic Republic. Combining a range of theoretical and practical perspectives, the volume challenges the narrow frameworks of totalitarianism and Ostalgie that have dominated discussions of art produced in the GDR. It explores the diversity of art produced in the state and contests the long-held perception that socialist realism and artistic innovation were mutually exclusive. Crucially, the collection puts art itself to the fore; GDR art is considered not simply as a political by-product, as is so often the case, but as an entity of innovation and aesthetic value in its own right.