"The last Bridge" - The United German Olympic Teams in the East And West German Press 1956-1964

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis is to explore how the negotiations about the United German Olympic Teams (1956-1964) were represented in the West and East German press, specifically in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FRG) and Neues Deutschland (GDR). The United German Olympic Teams were the last bridge connecting the two Germanys, continuing to exist even after the construction of the Berlin wall. The thesis is based on the assumption that sport played an important role in the construction of post- war German identities. Moreover, it will be argued that the two German states relied heavily on ideological demarcation from the respective "other" for legitimization. Thus, the thesis will argue that the discourses about the constitution of the team reflect on questions of identity, unity, and division. In order achieve this, Fairclough's method of Critical Discourse Analysis will be used to examine ideological and symbolic content in the discourses on the negotiations between the two National Olympic Committees. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)