The Political Songs of Gerhard Gundermann in an East German and International Context

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This research will investigate the work of a prominent East German protest singer about whom little is known outside of his own country. Gerhard Gundermann, from the Lausitz coal-mining region, was an open-pit miner and - simultaneously - a highly acclaimed musician who died prematurely in 1998 at the age of 43. Emerging out of the GDR state-controlled political singing movement in the 1970s Gundermann was particularly active in the peaceful revolution of autumn 1989. After German unification his record sales grew as he became the mouthpiece of culturally and politically disenfranchised East Germans. In this way he can be seen to be a critical songwriter who dealt with the contradiction between political ideals and reality, both during communism in the GDR and subsequently in capitalist Germany of the 1990s. My research is particularly timely in the wake of considerable new interest in this subject due to the release of the prize-winning film Gundermann (Dresen 2018) coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of his death. As part of a series of commemorative events, I and musicians from all over Europe translated lyrics of Gundermann into our own languages and recorded the songs for the CD Gundermanns Lieder in Europa, which was voted 'album of the month' by the magazine www.liederbestenliste.de in October 2019. Building on this international collaboration I now propose a substantial research project which will combine further recording and public-facing activities with my own academic work. I will demonstrate leadership in setting a new research agenda, by way of which I will reveal the significance of Gundermann in the history of German political song as well as in the wider international context of post-Cold War protest singers.The key aims are:1. to push the current boundaries of knowledge of Gundermann by publishing two peer-reviewed journal articles and one chapter in an edited volume. These outputs will deal with: (a) his work in the early 'Liedertheater' (song theatre) productions of the group Brigade Feuerstein in the GDR which provided the foundation for his later solo career; (b) the use of 'narrative role-play' in his songs where he becomes a figure of identification for his audience, and (c) his relationship to the tradition of workers' song and, latterly in his career, his treatment of more current themes such as deindustrialisation, globalisation and the environment;2. to lead an international network of scholars in shaping a new research agenda, by means of a conference in Belfast focussing on the social identity-shaping function of protest song in the globalised age; 3. to create a CD and a website with new recordings of his songs in English (performed by myself) to introduce Gundermann to a non-German-speaking and non-specialist audience. This website will also include video footage of studio performances and interviews on the subject as well as explanatory textual material and song lyrics;4. to develop leadership experience and significant research networks, to make the transition into the next phase of my career and to set a target of promotion to Professor by 2024.As all of Gundermann's GDR 'Liedertheater' output is unpublished, I will carry out the research in the Gundermann Archive in Hoyerswerda which hosts all material written by him. Taking an interdisciplinary approach I will analyse the manuscripts and audio recordings of the 12 most important 'Liedertheater' productions of Brigade Feuerstein from a lyrical, musical, performance, historical and political perspective. The CD and website will form a valuable point of reference for my research. They will be promoted at the following events open to the public: a performance in the Duncairn Arts Centre as part of the international conference on protest song, a concert in Hoyerswerda (following an academic workshop) and a concert in Berlin. These German events will be organised and financed by project partner Seilschaft