What is it about?
The ZAA consolidated in the GDR despite strict state control. By 1972, it was tightly supervised yet managed to grow more open, balancing state demands, scarce resources, and global scholarly exchange between East and West. The journal's institutionalization provided some leeway, which the scholars skillfully exploited, while carefully staying within the bounds of the official line.
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Why is it important?
Unlike earlier studies that focus mainly on the periodical itself, this chapter brings together archival documents, the journal’s content, and developments in the related fields of publishing and academia to reveal what happened behind the scenes of a scholarly journal operating in a highly restrictive political environment.
Perspectives
Research for this chapter uncovered some surprising findings, such as the drastic, but ultimately not very effective, attempts to install a “commissar” on the editorial board. Overall, I fear that understanding how such a journal and its related academic field functioned under such difficult political conditions is becoming increasingly important.
Michael Lörch
Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: 1972, Conclusion of a Slow Consolidation: Between ‘Hausorgan’ and Internationally Recognized Journal, October 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004739352_005.
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