ABSTRACT
After reviewing the book’s main arguments and findings, this final chapter arrives at a mixed verdict. On the one hand, the long-term trend appears to bespeak a progressive assimilation of former GDR citizens as “mere Germans” (Deutsche or Gesamtdeutsche). On the other hand, expressions like Ostdeutschland and die Ostdeutschen have become increasingly commonplace in referring to the former GDR and its native inhabitants. Consequently, even the excesses of gesamtdeutsch nationalism—recently exemplified by the electoral gains of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD)—are frequently attributed to ostensible peculiarities of ostdeutsch political culture. The chapter goes on to demonstrate that the AfD has indeed tailored its messaging to voters in eastern Germany—namely, by promising recognition precisely as Deutsche (rather than Ostdeutsche), but without the moral responsibility stipulated by prevailing canons of national remembrance. By way of conclusion, it is suggested that an alternative form of solidarity, grounded in collective memories that foreground fractal complexity and moral hybridity, may offer the most potent antidote to xenophobic populism. Reminiscent of Michael Rothberg’s multidirectional memory, such fractal solidarity can lay the foundation for novel alliances among populations with quite distinct, yet analogous, experiences of marginality.
