National Socialist Cultural Policy

by Glenn R. Cuomo

Overview

For many years Nazi cultural policy has been a taboo subject among historians, but the success of several recent books and exhibitions has opened up an extremely interesting area of research. This collection of essays by German and American scholars studies the official Nazi attitude to theatre, film, architecture, art, and literature and shows how rapidly the vibrant and diverse culture of the Weimar period was torn to pieces in public campaigns of vilification and persecution, to be replaced by a notionally 'wholesome' official culture. The important part these campaigns played in the establishment of Nazi rule - and the high priority given to them by Hitler and his closest associates - make these essays essential reading for an understanding of the nature of the Nazi state.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312090944
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	10/12/1995
Edition description:	1995
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction - Nazi Cultural Politics: Intentionalism vs Functionalism; E.Bahr - Purification and Professionalization: The Reich Chamber of Culture and the Nazi Purge of Artists; A.Steinweis - The Nazi 'Seizure' of the Berlin Philharmonic, or the Decline of a Bourgeois Musical Institution; P.M.Potter - The Foundations of the Theater Policy in Nazi Germany; B.Drewniak - Nazi Film Policy: Control, Ideology, and Propaganda; D.Welch - A Guide through the Visual Arts Administration of the Third Reich; J.Petropoulos - Literary Policy in the 'Third Reich'; J-P.Barbian - The Diaries of Joseph Goebbels as a Source for the Understanding of Nazi Cultural Politics; G.R.Cuomo - Notes on Contributors - Index

Editorial Reviews

University of South Florida professor Cuomo gathers studies of the complex, sometimes contradictory cultural principles and practices of the Third Reich by scholars from four countries. UCLA's Ehrhard Bahr, consultant on the 1992 "`Degenerate Art'" exhibit, uses "intentionalist" and "functionalist" analyses to explore "Nazi Cultural Politics" ; Alan Steinweis of the University of Nebraska looks at "Cultural Eugenics," the interaction of Nazi social and economic objectives in purging Jews from German cultural institutions; University of Illinois musicology professor Pamela Potter considers the Nazi "seizure" of the Berlin Philharmonic; Jonathan Petropoulos of Maryland's Loyola College studies the Nazis' "Visual Arts Administration" ; and editor Cuomo assesses the value of Goebbels' diaries as a historical source. Boguslaw Drewniak of Gdansk University in Poland covers theater policy. David Welch of the University of Kent at Canterbury offers a study of film policy. And Jan-Pieter Barbian of the Volkshochschule in the City of Duisberg comments on Nazi literary policy. Well-documented, sometimes provocative essays; appropriate for larger history collections.

Mary Carroll

German and American scholars describe the official Nazi attitude to theatre, film, architecture, art, and literature, and how it was established through public campaigns vilifying the vibrant and diverse culture of the Weimar period. The eight essays also discuss intentionalism vs. functionalism, cultural eugenics and the purge of Jews, and the diaries of Joseph Goebbels as a source for cultural policies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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