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Chapter 4 - Spying and Knowledge

The Stasi and the File of Carlos Cerda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2022

Daniel Noemi Voionmaa
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Boston
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Summary

This chapter begins with a brief introduction to the origins and organization of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi) in the German Democratic Republic. It continues with an analysis of Timothy Garton Ash’s memoir The File: A Personal History, where he writes about his own file found in the Stasi’s archives. Using files from the Stasi, the chapter discusses the case of Chilean writer Carlos Cerda, who was exiled in the GDR from 1973 to 1985, and was approached by the Stasi to become an “Unofficial Collaborator” (IM). Next, it analyzes how the short stories “Ferrobádminton” and “Splendor and Agony of the Horses,” written by Cerda during his time in East Germany, engage with the subject of surveillance and exile. Finally, it examines To Die in Berlin, a novel that Cerda finished writing in Chile after his exile.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Spying and Knowledge
  • Daniel Noemi Voionmaa, Northeastern University, Boston
  • Book: Surveillance, the Cold War, and Latin American Literature
  • Online publication: 18 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009153591.005
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  • Spying and Knowledge
  • Daniel Noemi Voionmaa, Northeastern University, Boston
  • Book: Surveillance, the Cold War, and Latin American Literature
  • Online publication: 18 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009153591.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Spying and Knowledge
  • Daniel Noemi Voionmaa, Northeastern University, Boston
  • Book: Surveillance, the Cold War, and Latin American Literature
  • Online publication: 18 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009153591.005
Available formats
×