Description
Berghahn Books Americanization and Anti-americanism The German Encounter with American Culture after 1945 2008 Edition by Alexander Stephan
The ongoing discussions about globalization, American hegemony and September 11 and its aftermath have moved the debate about the export of American culture and cultural anti-Americanism to center stage of world politics. At such a time, it is crucial to understand the process of culture transfer and its effects on local societies and their attitudes toward the United States.This volume presents Germany as a case study of the impact of American culture throughout a period characterized by a totalitarian system, two unusually destructive wars, massive ethnic cleansing, and economic disaster. Drawing on examples from history, culture studies, film, radio, and the arts, the authors explore the political and cultural parameters of Americanization and anti-Americanism, as reflected in the reception and rejection of American popular culture and, more generally, in European-American relations in the "American Century." Table of contents :- AcknowledgementsIntroductionAlexander StephanPART I: THE POLITICS OF CULTUREChapter 1. Anti-Americanism and AmericanizationRussell BermanChapter 2. Counter-Americanism and Critical Currents in West German Reconstruction 1945-1960: The German Lesson Confronts the American Way of LifeMichael ErmarthChapter 3. Saigon, Nuremberg, and the West: German Images of America in the Late 1960sBernd GreinerPART II: POPULAR CULTUREChapter 4. Resisting Boogie-Woogie Culture, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art: German Highbrow Objections to the Import of "American" Forms of Culture, 1945-1965Jost HermandChapter 5. From Nightmare to Model? Why German Broadcasting Became AmericanizedKaspar MaaseChapter 6. Learning from America: Reconstructing "Race" in Postwar GermanyHeide FehrenbachPART III: FILMChapter 7. Cinematic Americanization of the Holocaust in Germany: Whose Memory Is It?David BathrickChapter 8. Anti-Americanism and the Cold War: On the DEFA Berlin FilmsSabine HakeChapter 9. German Cinema Face to Face with Hollywood: Looking into a Two-Way MirrorThomas ElsaesserPART IV: EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVESChapter 10. Double Crossings: The Reciprocal Relationship between American and European Culture in the Twentieth CenturyRichard PellsChapter 11. Anti-Americanism and Anti-Modernism in Europe: Old and Recent VersionsRob KroesChapter 12. California Blue: Americanization as Self-AmericanizationWinfried FluckChapter 13. Awkward Relations: American Perspectives on Europe, European Perspectives on AmericaVolker R. BerghahnPART V: OUTLOOKChapter 14. Crisis or Cooperation? The Transatlantic Relationship at a WatershedKarsten D. VoigtChapter 15. Germans and Americans: Understanding and Managing ChangeBowman H. MillerNotes on ContributorsBibliographyIndex