Article:

Der Heikodysseus. ‘Reparieren’ als Prozessor sozialistischer Bildung

This essay examines the GDR magazine practic, which was particularly concerned with repair, life hacks, and ways to resourcefully handle product defects, through the lens of its concept of repair. It finds a guide in the tentatively introduced figure of Heikodysseus, an East German variant of the eponymous Greek mythical hero, as modeled by Adorno and Horkheimer for their theory of education. The historical focus of the study is the end of the GDR and the months following the Wende. The analysis shows how Heikodysseus as a figure typical of the GDR—and with him, more generally, "repair knowledge", DIY, and the productive handling of crises within the journal—increasingly come under the pressure of new social and political conditions.