Description
Book Synopsis 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."
Trade Review “This is a great book. Instead of simplifying the topic or getting lost in details, it presents a logical structure and a strong argument nuanced by local peculiarities… At best, an edited volume turns its reader overnight into an international expert in the field. Stephan's volume on the Americanization of as well as anti-Americanism in Europe since World War Two is such a book.” · H-Net
“In many respects, all of the essays in this collection are individual gems…The various pieces contribute to a clearer understanding of the interactions between American culture and anti-Americanism in a European context. They also highlight the key roles played by the Vietnam War and Hollywood in both the acceptance and the rejection of American culture. Overall, this study is a very welcome addition to the literature on the American role in the wider process of globalization.” · European History Quarterly
“Alexander Stephan’s well-edited collection of 15 essays dealing with anti-Americanism in a country where the U.S.’s standing was once high and has now dropped so sharply is indeed timely. The book may be helpful as well in searching for explanations of anti-Americanism in other countries, because it deals with so many aspects of this phenomenon, ranging from the political to the cultural.” · German Quarterly
Table of Contents Acknowledgements
Introduction
Alexander Stephan
PART I: THE POLITICS OF CULTURE
Chapter 1. Anti-Americanism and Americanization
Russell Berman
Chapter 2. Counter-Americanism and Critical Currents in West German Reconstruction 1945-1960: The German Lesson Confronts the American Way of Life
Michael Ermarth
Chapter 3. Saigon, Nuremberg, and the West: German Images of America in the Late 1960s
Bernd Greiner
PART II: POPULAR CULTURE
Chapter 4. Resisting Boogie-Woogie Culture, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art: German Highbrow Objections to the Import of "American" Forms of Culture, 1945-1965
Jost Hermand
Chapter 5. From Nightmare to Model? Why German Broadcasting Became Americanized
Kaspar Maase
Chapter 6. Learning from America: Reconstructing "Race" in Postwar Germany
Heide Fehrenbach
PART III: FILM
Chapter 7. Cinematic Americanization of the Holocaust in Germany: Whose Memory Is It?
David Bathrick
Chapter 8. Anti-Americanism and the Cold War: On the DEFA Berlin Films
Sabine Hake
Chapter 9. German Cinema Face to Face with Hollywood: Looking into a Two-Way Mirror
Thomas Elsaesser
PART IV: EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Chapter 10. Double Crossings: The Reciprocal Relationship between American and European Culture in the Twentieth Century
Richard Pells
Chapter 11. Anti-Americanism and Anti-Modernism in Europe: Old and Recent Versions
Rob Kroes
Chapter 12. California Blue: Americanization as Self-Americanization
Winfried Fluck
Chapter 13. Awkward Relations: American Perspectives on Europe, European Perspectives on America
Volker R. Berghahn
PART V: OUTLOOK
Chapter 14. Crisis or Cooperation? The Transatlantic Relationship at a Watershed
Karsten D. Voigt
Chapter 15. Germans and Americans: Understanding and Managing Change
Bowman H. Miller
Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index
