There are a number of parallels that can be drawn between the social and political landscapes
of Britain and Berlin during the 1970’s. Like the Germany of the post-war period, Britain was
seen to be in decline – the model of capitalism that the British government had used was now
failing after initially being used in an attempt to modernise the economy during the post-war
period. Initially, the British economy was seen as one of the most modern of economies in the
world – an economy in which Karl Marx believed showed less developed, in terms of capitalist
structures, countries an image of their own potential future 1 – This was not the case, Britain was
seen as the sick man of Europe during the 60’s and 70’s.
There is often a rather negative view of the Britain of the 1970's in the popular imagination. It
is often seen as a decade unworthy of commemoration in which everyone appears to be stuck
in the past. I feel that one shouldn’t try to personify a decade as it warps the ways in which the
past is remembered. However, if you consider the cultural production of the era you begin to
see that the political and economic hardships of the time reflected in such images and in our
own distorted perception of the era itself. I would that argue that Bowie had attempted to
reflect the social and political landscape of Britain in the 1970’s through his characterisation of
Berlin. He explores a vast and desolate landscape that is unnamed and instead, alluded to
within the fabric of the songs. David Bowie has always been an artist who has detached himself
from any formative identity. We see how Bowie had begun to model himself in a number of
different literary sources in order piece together and reflect upon his experience of German life
and culture, whilst simultaneously commenting on a similar political rising in Britain. His focus
had shifted to Isherwood while in Berlin. As Jon Savage says in his essay David Bowie: The
1
Karl Marx, Das Kapital ([Miami, FL]: Synergy International of the Americas, 2006).