Different Germans, Many Germanies: New Transatlantic Perspectives / Edition 1

by Konrad H. Jarausch, Harald Wenzel, Karin Goihl

Overview

As much as any other nation, Germany has long been understood in terms of totalizing narratives. For Anglo-American observers in particular, the legacies of two world wars still powerfully define twentieth-century German history, whether through the lens of Nazi-era militarism and racial hatred or the nation’s emergence as a “model” postwar industrial democracy. This volume transcends such common categories, bringing together transatlantic studies that are unburdened by the ideological and methodological constraints of previous generations of scholarship. From American perceptions of the Kaiserreich to the challenges posed by a multicultural Europe, it argues for—and exemplifies—an approach to German Studies that is nuanced, self-reflective, and holistic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785334306
Publisher:	Berghahn Books
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Karin Goihl is Academic Coordinator of the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. She holds an M.A. in North American Studies and Linguistics from the Freie Universität Berlin and has served the Berlin Program since 1998.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

Preface Karin Goihl viii

Introduction Konrad H Jarausch Harald Wenzel 1

Part I Responses to Modernity

1 A Modern Reich? American Perceptions of Wilhelmine Germany, 1890- 1914 Scott H Krause 25

2 The Dual Training System: The Southwest's Contributions to German Economic Development Hal Hansen 53

3 The German Forest as an Emblem of Germany's Ambivalent Modernity Jeffrey K Wilson 70

4 Health as a Public Good: The Positive Legacies of Volksgesundheit Annette F Timm 87

Part II Democratic Transformation

5 Antifascist Heroes and Nazi Victims: Mythmaking and Political Reorientation in Berlin, 1945-47 Clara M Oberle 107

6 The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword? Student Newspapers and Democracy in Postwar West Germany Brian M Puaca 137

7 Human Rights, Pluralism, and the Democratization of Postwar Germany Ned Richardson-Little 158

8 African Students and Racial Ambivalence in the GDR during the 1960s Sara Pugach 178

Part III Searching for a New Model

9 The German Model in Renewable Energy Development Carol Hager 201

10 Germany's Approach to the Financial Crisis: A Product of Ordo-Liberalism? Mark K Cassell 220

11 Dreams of Divided Berlin: Postmigrant Perspectives on German Nationhood in Die Schwäne vom Schlachthof Jeffrey Jurgens 239

Part IV Global Implications

12 Inventing the German Film as Foreign Film: The Origins of a Fraught Transatlantic Exchange Sara F Hall 259

13 Atlantic Transfers of Critical Theory: Alexander Kluge and the United States in Fiction Matthew D Miller 278

14 Nation and Memory: Redemptive and Reflective Cosmopolitanism in Contemporary Germany Michael Meng 298

Index 315

Editorial Reviews

"Although the book is not intended as a history of modern Germany, advanced students will discover many tantalizing perspectives in what outsiders see as German as well as the German response. With this publication, Berghahn Books remains the strongest source for quality academic publications addressing all aspects of German studies... Highly Recommended." - Choice

"The trajectories and transformations examined in this ambitious and thought-provoking volume deserve a wide readership." - German History

"Creative dialogue is palpable in the pages of this rich collection. Together, its chapters make important scholarly contributions to twentieth-century German history and to transatlantic history." - Michael Kimmage, Catholic University of America

From the Publisher