Youth literature within the German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially
enjoyed equal status with adult literature, with authors often writing for both
audiences. Such parity of esteem pre-supposed that youth literature would also
adopt the cultural-political frameworks designed to nurture the establishment
of socialism on German soil. In their quest to forge a legitimate national
literature capable of transforming the population, politicians and writers drew
repeatedly upon the cultural heritage of Weimar Classicism and the Bildungsroman, Humboldtian educational traditions
and Soviet-inspired models of socialist realism. Adopting a script theory
approach inspired by Jean Matter Mandler, this article explores how directive
cultural policies lead to the emergence of multiple scripts which inform the
nature and narrative of individual works. Three broad ideological scripts within
GDR youth literature are identified which underpin four distinct narrative
scripts employed by individual writers to support, challenge and ultimately
subvert the primacy of the Bildungsroman
genre. A close reading of works by Strittmatter, Pludra, Görlich, Tetzner and
Saalmann reveals further how conceptual blending with classical and fairytale
scripts is exploited to legitimise and at times mask critique of education and
transformation inside and outside the classroom and to offer young protagonists
a voice often denied their readers.