The Deutschland83 miniseries. Technological representation of the Cold War between Ostalgie, vintage mood and Vergangenheitsbewältigung

Abstract

The article analyzes the German television series Deutschland83 on air, not only in Germany, since 2015. The author wants to demonstrate how the use of representation in the eight episodes of the series of numerous technological objects from the Cold War period represents a way to tell in Germany's recent past before reunification to a new generation audience. From a methodological point of view, the article leans on semiotic and cultural studies themes, analyzing for each episode which type of technological object is highlighted by the plot and why. In the article neither the historical reconstruction nor the summary of the eight episodes of the series are left out.

The vintage technological objects present in the Deutschland83 series can be divided into objects of common use and objects not of common use: in the first case, the objects have the task of historically contextualizing the series, in the second case, the objects not of common use they have the task of influencing the whole plot centered on the espionage activities of the protagonist Martin / Mortiz and his attempt to thwart nuclear war.