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Civil Cold War Aviation as Television Drama: The Popular Miniseries Treffpunkt Flughafen (GDR 1986)

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Media and the Cold War in the 1980s

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media ((PSHM))

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Abstract

Television played an important part in representing life and culture on both sides of the Iron Curtain. GDR television, particularly, was under significant pressure. As a medium under tight supervision, it was expected to be popular and to conform along party lines. GDR television, thereby, had to find niches for creative freedom and compete with West German channels that were readily available throughout almost all of East Germany. One way of doing so, as this chapter illustrates, was to copy successful Western shows and align their cultural-political message with socialism. Looking at one of the most ambitious and popular 1980s’ primetime miniseries, Treffpunkt Flughafen, reveals how GDR fictional television emulated Western models and toyed with new modes of production at the time of glasnost and perestroika.

I am indebted to Dr. Jörg-Uwe Fischer at the DRA for his thoughts and help. All translations in this chapter, if not stated otherwise, are my own.

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Archival Sources

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kiel University of Applied Sciences, Kiel, Germany

    Tobias Hochscherf

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  1. Tobias Hochscherf
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Correspondence to Tobias Hochscherf .

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  1. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Henrik G. Bastiansen

  2. New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Martin Klimke

  3. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Rolf Werenskjold

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Hochscherf, T. (2019). Civil Cold War Aviation as Television Drama: The Popular Miniseries Treffpunkt Flughafen (GDR 1986). In: Bastiansen, H.G., Klimke, M., Werenskjold, R. (eds) Media and the Cold War in the 1980s. Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98382-0_5

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