Lorenz, Robert: Brusnica und Brunica. Thoughts on the History of Mental Attitudes in the Lusatian Mining Area
Lětopis Abstract 2014 2: Lorenz, Robert: Brusnica und Brunica. Thoughts on the History of Mental Attitudes in the Lusatian Mining Area
In 1924 the first settlement in Central Lusatia, Neu-Laubusch/Nowy Lubuš, fell victim to open-cast mining for lignite. Thus arose a conflict about
cause and effect in an industrial society, and the history of discourse relating to this extends into the present day, developing as a result into an
important element in individual identity in this area. This essay uses selected examples from fiction, poetry and functional literature to trace some
dominant features of this discourse.
This process results in a division into three parts, which coincide with historical turning points. Up to 1945 a basic narrative pattern develops,
which oscillates between welcoming progress and melancholy over the loss of the traditional rural homeland. In the GDR period this bipolar narrative
structure is continued against the background of the construction of socialism, in which the search to locate “the Sorbian component” together with
that for a new image of the homeland appear as additional facets. The period after 1990, which was initially characterised by a reduction in
industrial activity, and finally a discussion over the future energy policy of Germany, resulted in a diffuse picture of narratives, which were partly
competing with each other, and which reveals a broken, shifting identity landscape for Lusatia.
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