Narratives of Power: Germany's Identity Under Siege

Over the past several years, a growing focus has crystallized in the sphere of reunification problems and the East-West gap in both the German political and cultural scene, and an ideological struggle inextricably linked to these issues. 

Main actors, like the bestseller author Dirk Oschmann and BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht, give expression to this polarization by assuming controversial positions and alliances.

The work of Oschmann "Der Osten: eine westdeutsche Erfindung" articulates that since reunification, the West has assumed hegemonic dominance over the East, culturally and politically "colonizing" the East. In a similar manner, Wagenknecht's political movement, the BSW, is increasingly viewed as toeing Russian narratives-most prominent in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and Germany's stance on international conflicts.

How these narratives are fabricated, framed, and at times manipulated in the media of Germany, political circles, and international influences to explain what this means for Germany's national identity and democratic discourse are what we are trying to understand here.

Reframing Germany's East-West Tensions

One of the books sparking debate across the political spectrum on how former East Germany was and is treated by the now-unified nation is written by Dirk Oschmann and entitled "Der Osten: eine westdeutsche Erfindung.".

In his thesis, Oschmann describes East Germans as marginalized through a "colonial" framework imposed by the Western elites-essentially male-which took over after reunification. It is an appeal addressed to all people, for in the call of East German identity and victimhood lay the challenge of entrenched perceptions.

Oschmann's message of discursive hegemony of the West over the East did find resonance, especially in circles that are skeptical toward Western-centric narratives.

However, as his book moved into the international market, its messages were rewritten. Most notably, the Russian translation seems to have gone through deliberate changes to align aspects of the text with that of Kremlin propaganda. 

Some passages that implicated Putin's involvement in geopolitical disasters have either been watered down or completely deleted; the narrative is thus changed into one inconsiderate of hostility to Russia and more inimical to Western influence.

These changes, either purposeful or ignored, situate Oschmann's work within a greater geopolitical discourse, wherein local grievances within Germany's East get recast for audiences with very different contexts. And in that process, his message is in danger of co-opting struggles of the German East for agendas that extend beyond Germany and start to influence public sentiment in ways that undermine democratic values.

When Words Become Weapons

It is in this translation into Russian that the political potency of Oschmann's narrative reached new dimensions. References to "Putin's war" were toned down to the more neutral "February 2022 events," and critiques of Russia's invasion of Ukraine were softened to "a conflict." These are much more in line with how the Kremlin describes war in Ukraine and are further examples of how translation can serve as one means to subtly but effectively shape a narrative.

Publishing giant Ullstein Verlag-which licensed the book to the Russian publisher-now disclaims any knowledge of the changes, claiming the original licensing agreement called for a faithful translation. The publisher has since pulled the license, but the incident speaks to one ongoing concern: authors and publishers can find their work manipulated in ways that serve foreign state interests.

In Russia, media and literary freedoms are tightly policed, and such an atmosphere ensures that any posture of criticism against the Kremlin is significantly watered down if not removed altogether. In consequence, the function of translation becomes one far more than linguistic in nature-the actions are those of ideological alignment, taking an author's meaning and rendering it almost unrecognizable yet potently useful for another set of readers.

Sahra Wagenknecht, the BSW, and "Newspeak" in German Politics

In addition and parallel to Oschmann's case, Sahra Wagenknecht has added to a similar narrative that fits some anti-Western sentiments. 

Wagenknecht, head of the BSW-Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, has so far been accused of being a "Putin Proxy" by furnishing a rhetoric of peace at the expense of Ukrainian sovereignty and implicitly supporting Russian narratives. Here, she uses a form of "Newspeak," as if taken from the pages of Orwell's book on dystopian speech: words like "peace" are code, a euphemism for not the absence of war but for the cessation of support for Ukraine.

The interpretation of "peace" by Wagenknecht means Germany stops its aiding of Ukraine, automatically putting her more on the side of Russia. With such rhetoric, she built a constituency that regulary opposes policies supporting Ukraine or the European Union. Critics argue that Wagenknecht's rhetoric does more than challenge the West's policies-it calls for a Germany which would finally dislodge itself from liberal democratic alliances, with an unspoken nod toward a world view of the authoritarian regimes.

One significant reason behind the allure that BSW has in the eastern German states is an amalgam of nostalgia for pre-reunification life and feelings of disempowerment from the post-1990 political order. Where communist governance has bitten hard, the recent notion of sovereignty by Wagenknecht mixed with criticism from the West has appeal. It is that sort of sovereignty against democracy, mainstream conception; local issues are linked with greater international tensions, especially within the triangle of NATO, the EU, and Russia.

The Role of Media: Influencing German and International Narratives

Media have a crucial role in amplifying and reframing complex narratives.

The line of portrayal of East Germans, as victims of domination from the West, has taken hold on people's imagination through media, most of those that are sympathetic to Wagenknecht's philosophy or the platform of the BSW. Other publications, sometimes influenced by the Russians, often reuse German discontent to fuel skepticism about Western alliances.

It is primarily the influence of publishers like the Berliner Zeitung, run by Holger Friedrich. Indeed, Friedrich's publication has come under criticism for reportedly spreading pro-Russian perspectives like trivializing the war in Ukraine and attacking German support for Kyiv. This kind of narrative, abetted by such media, muddles the debate between legitimate local concerns and the grand strategic interests of foreign actors, setting a scene in which the West remains culpable while democratic solidarity is pitted against it.

Ideological Proxies and Democratic Integrity

Cases of Dirk Oschmann and Sahra Wagenknecht, among others, are pathologies of the problem of ideological alignment across a politically contaminated horizon. 

Oschmann's case epitomizes how regional disgruntlement can be projected internationally as a weapon, with particular reliance on translation in order to fit foreign agendas better. The arguments of Wagenknecht function to shed light on the balance between the support of local self-determination and unwittingly-or not-furthering the policy interests of an authoritarian regime.

This is a challenge to Germany, which needs to develop a national discourse by which valid issues in the East are given air but without the dangers of those grievances becoming hijacked by outside forces.

Both authors' influence reflects broader struggles in Western democracies over questions of identity, ideological sovereignty, and the role of media. Safeguarding democratic integrity requires a commitment to transparency, critical examination of translated narratives, and vigilance against ideological proxies that blur the line separating local politics from international propaganda.

But Germany is a cautionary tale in the world of rapid dissemination and translation-driven adaptation. Democracy requires free discourse, but when voices and narratives are managed and co-opted for authoritarian ends, vigilance is the only protection. 

Germany still struggles to come to terms with East-West tensions, and the lesson from Oschmann's and Wagenknecht's stories is that freedom of expression always hangs in the balance against its ideological abuse.

(dpa)