German Cultural Studies: An Introduction

German Cultural Studies: An Introduction

by RobBurns (Editor)

Synopsis

Major changes have been taking place in the context of German Studies in both secondary and higher eduction, with the focus shifting to a broader range of cultural forms. Based on the view that cultures are the products of class, place, gender and race, German Cultural Studies: An Introduction takes account of these changes and adopts an interdisciplinary approach in its wide-ranging study of German culture and society since 1871, emphasizing recent and contemporary developments. Chronological sections on Imperial Germany, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic chart the growth of modernisation and the culture industry in Germany, and examine the extent to which culture in any given period functions as an instrument of ideological manipulation or critical enlightenment. Throughout, the emphasis is on the interactions of culture, society and ideology, and the role of culture in both public and private consciousnesses. Copiously illustrated, and with guidance for further reading, the volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in modern and contemporary German society and its culture.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 392
Edition: First Edition - Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 16 Nov 1995

ISBN 10: 019871503X
ISBN 13: 9780198715030

Media Reviews
This is a highly polished, scholarly work to be read carefully, and line by line. It is not so much a wonderful book./Susanne B. Kimball/Germanic Notes and Reviews Volume 29, number 1 Spring 1998.
this book represents a timely attempt to present English readers with a lively and critical picture of the history of German cultural developments since 1870...This books represents a welcome, balanced, stimulating, and readable introduction to German cultural developments between 1870 and our time, whose usefulness to all readers is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of a chronological list of events, an alphabetical index, some helpful illustrations, and, in particular, a user-friendly referencing system including carefully selected and grouped texts for further reading. Its place on reading lists for courses on Germany in general and German culture in particular should be guaranteed./Gisela Shaw/MLR, 93.I, 1998.
The essays constitute a body of informed, detailed and lucid cultural history ... the essays included here will surely be a welcome addition to student bookshelves. They impressively combine a wealth of historical data, astute critical insight and great clarity of representation ... the weaving together of cultural, economic and political information presents the reader with a many-sided impression of the factors at play in Germany at almost any given point this century. Few people will fail to learn something from this collection, and it is easy to envisage a variety of uses for it in various areas of undergraduate teaching. * Journal of European Studies *
This book, like its companion volumes in French and Spanish, deserves a warm welcome. The strength of the present book lies in its new treatment of the history and sociology of culture. The volume is a mine of useful, even dispensable information and should be required reading for students of German. * Rodney Livingstone, German Politics *
This volume deserves to be warmly welcomed. Rob Burns and his team are to be congratulated on this splendid collaborative venture - not least for its thematic coherence and consistency ... for social and cultural historians of Germany this volume will be of great interest, but it will be especially warmly received by all Germanists with interests in the period, whether they are devotees of cultural studies or old-fashioned lettrists. Its sheer usefulness, as in the hints towards further reading after each chapter, will guarantee it a place on many reading- lists. * Jim Simpson, University of Liverpool, German History, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1997 *
Author Bio
Rob Burns has published studies on working-class culture, Arbeiterbewegung in der Weimarer Republik (with W. van der Will, 2 vols., Berlin-Ullstein, 1982) and on the political culture of the Federal Republic Protest and Democracy in West Germany (with W. van der Will, London, Macmillan, 1988).