Major changes have been taking place in the context of German Studies in both secondary and higher education, 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 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, the book features chronological sections on Imperial Germany, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the German Democratic
Republic, and the Federal Republic. The contributors chart the growth of modernization 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 a comprehensive bibliography, the volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in modern and contemporary German society and its
culture.
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).
Show moreMajor changes have been taking place in the context of German Studies in both secondary and higher education, 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 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, the book features chronological sections on Imperial Germany, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the German Democratic
Republic, and the Federal Republic. The contributors chart the growth of modernization 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 a comprehensive bibliography, the volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in modern and contemporary German society and its
culture.
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).
Show moreRob 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).
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
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