TV fiction and state fiction: Abseits/offside (1981), a socialist narrative of violence in East German football

This paper aims to analyse the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) regime's desire to control the public discourse about violence in GDR (German Democratic Republic) football and its wilful downplay as a non-political matter. The TV film Abseits (Offside), episode of the very popular series Der Staatsanwalt hat das Wort (The Prosecutor has the Floor)presented by state prosecutor Dr. Peter Przybilski and broadcast in prime time on DDR1 in December 1981, shall serve as example of this ideologized fiction building. Violence in GDR football was represented as a societal problem caused by adolescents and young adults with excessive alcohol consumption or psychological predisposition. Abseits/Offside confronts its audience with a filmic narrative centred around a non-football specific Rowdytum resulting of a love rivalry. Violence only erupts on the fringes of the stadium andAbseits (Offside)at least offers a fictional ellipsis and euphemism of reality in GDR football.