ABSTRACT
It was the purpose of the previous two chapters to analyse how the process of rewriting operated and how reader-reception was steered (this was achieved by identifying those categories, according to which texts were selected) and to explore how these categories were employed by publishers in their quest to make books acceptable for publication. It has been found that, commensurate with the codifi cation of the East German poetics, positive and negative motifs were in use which had the function of classifying (children’s) books as suitable or not. These classifi cations have been elaborated based on the discourse in the documents applying for a print permit, where the publishers’ argumentation was crucial for swaying the censor in favour of a publication. The concepts and motifs established have been shown to play a signifi cant role in the decision-making process. It has also been discussed that the inclusion of afterwords was a key factor for the publication of certain books, i.e. books in which the censor found minor shortcomings that needed to be clarifi ed for the reader. Indeed, the record shows that there was explicit direction on the use of prefaces/afterwords by the authorities. By inference, it can be assumed that the same poetics also took a central role in the production of these afterwords that accompanied books for young people.
