Nationalism

Abstract

This chapter analyzes how human nature proved less malleable than expected as workers rebelled against communist rule in East Germany and Poland, often targeting cultural symbols. It describes spaces of art that turned into outlets for political critique and nationalist sentiment and are used by state officials to tout their willingness to change and advertise a new, inclusive form of rule. It also talks about how cultural matrix, which is built to mold publics to the plan, came to function as a public sphere. The chapter delves into the co-opting symbols of national culture that became a way to show that state officials had changed their stripes. Revamped cultural policies were a key form of communist legitimation after Joseph Stalin, as Eastern Bloc regimes worked to develop more inclusive forms of rule.