Document Type
Book Review
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
While the title of this nine-essay anthology focuses on the protest song from the 1960s and beyond, one of key elements of the book is an examination of the legacy of the Vormärz revolutionary songs and political cabaret of the Weimar Republic in the repertoire of West-German and East-German Liedermacher. The first two chapters by David Robb offer a differentiated analysis of how the Vormärz and early twentieth-century political song traditions were adopted and adapted in the FRG and the GDR and how the resulting high/low culture blend of the political song enhanced its appeal. The third chapter, also by Robb, addresses the use of narrative role-play in protest songs in both East and West, again with links to earlier traditions, particularly the twentieth-century Kampflieder of Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler.
Recommended Citation
Bower, Kathrin M. Review of Protest Song in East and West Germany since the 1960s by David Robb, Ed. German Studies Review 32, no. 1 (2009): 220-21.
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2009, The Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in German Studies Review 32:1 (2009), 220-221.
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