German Culture

The contributors to this volume pursue the standards of the cultural debate in German history, literature, visual arts, and language over a period of 300 years in sections devoted to History and the Canon, Visual Culture, Language and Power.

Following Germany's defeat in two world wars, the Weimar failure and Nazi disaster, Cold War division, and reunification, this book explores the issue in terms of four dimensions: Germany's identity, national unity, power, and role in world politics.

This series offers books on modern and contemporary Germany, concentrating on themes in history, political science, literature and German culture.

"A landmark study. . . . Widdig's energetic account uses an interdisciplinary approach to reveal how economic anxieties were powerfully symptomatic of larger social and cultural issues."--Maria Tatar, author of "Lustmord: Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany"

"Bernd Widdig displays sharp intelligence and uncommon wit in this brilliant study of culture and inflation. Following the explosions in politics and culture that the inflation detonated from the end of World War I to the rise of the Nazis, this book is a bold and original meditation on modernity and money and the trauma of oblivion. It is a masterful, illuminating analysis."--Peter Fritzsche, author of "Reading Berlin 1900 "

"Widdig's account of the cultural impact of the German hyperinflation adds an important dimension to the history of interwar Germany. He brings a unique perspective to the interaction between popular culture and political and economic decisions in the twentieth century. This fascinating book raises intriguing questions for economic,and political historians."--Peter Temin, author of "Lessons from the Great Depression

Jewish identity in German culture remains in a critical state of flux. Analyzing its construction and perception in public discourse, the contributors of this volume discuss the works of a number of authors--from Kafka to new writers such as Irene Dische and Maxim Biller. In addition, topics covered include: American-Jewish writers in Germany, minority culture, homosexuality, and Jewish magazines.

"All Power to the Imagination!" is a history of the West German counterculture and its immensely influential role in the nation's cultural and political life. Sabine von Dirke opens with an examination of nascent countercultural movements in West Germany during the 1950s. She then moves to a nuanced account of the student movement of the 1960s, describing its adaptation of the theories of Marcuse, Adorno, and Benjamin, then recounting its attack on "bourgeois" notions of the autonomy of art and culture. She next examines the subsequent development of a radical aesthetic and the effects of left-wing terrorism on Germany's political climate. Later chapters focus on die tageszeitung, the ecology movement, and the rise of the Green Party. Von Dirke concludes by asking whether the evolution that this book traces - from Marxist-influenced critiques of culture and society to more diverse, less doctrinaire left-wing positions - represents progress or a betrayal of radical ideals.