Output details
30 - History
Queen Mary University of London
Ekel Alfred und die Kulturrevolution: Unterhaltungsfernsehen als Sprachrohr der "68er"-Bewegung?
‘Obnoxious Alfred and the Cultural Revolution: Television Entertainment as Catalyst of the ‘1968er’ Movement?
‘Obnoxious Alfred’ (‘Ekel Alfred’) was the main character of a hugely successful television sitcom in 1970s West Germany. The hit TV series, built around a racist, traditionalist anti-hero, accompanied but also shaped and accelerated the cultural revolution in the Federal Republic. This article traces the relations between television producers and the student protests of the late 1960s, and analyses how viewers received Alfred’s messages. In doing so, it highlights the schism between new Leftists and lifestyle rebels which characterised the West German variation of the Sixties cultural revolution.