The Book Pippi Longstocking in the GDR 1975 and 1988: Possibilities and Limitations of Materiality

The aim of this presentation is to examine the complex reception history of Astrid Lindgren's classic children's book “Pippi Longstocking” in the GDR based on the appearance and paper quality of the various editions. “Pippi Longstockning” was published in two different editions in 1975 and 1988 by the East Berlin Children's Book Publishing House (Kinderbuchverlag Berlin). The differences between the two GDR books, the BRD-license edition, and the Swedish original are interesting because they shed new light on the cultural recoding at work in the processes of transnational media exchange in the Baltic Sea Region.

Our interest in the material aspects of books has to do with a joint interest in defining concrete examples of how children’s books were modified in the totalitarian society of the GDR to promote its view on children and childhood. The question is: Why was the books about Pippi Longstocking published this way and not differently? How do both Eastern publications fit into the publishing practice? What was the texture of the books like? How did the print quality and the layout of the books relate to the economic power of the children's book publishing house? What were the possibilities and limitations for publication? Economic data of the GDR paper industry and the files on the approval of Astrid Lindgren's book will be evaluated.