Description
Book SynopsisA fundamental reevaluation of how the Nazi past shaped postwar German art and architecture. Paul B. Jaskot fundamentally reevaluates pivotal developments in postwar German art and architecture against the backdrop of contentious contemporary debates over the Nazi past and the difficulty of determining who was or was not a Nazi perpetrator.
Trade Review"Beginning with an analysis of the Nazis’ political uses of art, The Nazi Perpetrator shows how the idea of the Nazi criminal informs the art of successive postwar generations in a variety of different media. Paul B. Jaskot lucidly combines social and political history with close analyses of specific works of art and architecture as well as the history of postwar German art criticism. Meticulously researched, the book explores an important theme that has yet to receive a sustained book-length treatment in English."—Matthew Biro, University of Michigan
"The Nazi Perpetrator is a remarkable study of the way that postwar German art has responded to and helped shape debates about the Nazi dictatorship. Jaskot suggests fundamental changes in the way that scholars should look at postwar German art history, and a reconfiguration of the relationship between art history on the one hand and German Studies on the other. This makes for fascinating, and indeed gripping, reading."—Stephen Brockmann, Carnegie Mellon University
"The virtues of Jaskot’s book are many and various."—German Quarterly
"The novelty of Jaskot’s approach is that he seeks manifestations of grappling with the shifting conception of the “perpetrator” in places one would not normally think to look."—Monatshefte
"His painstaking research intertwines a range of political perspectives with the objects, individuals, and institutions of postwar culture. Jaskot’s book deserves to be counted among the richest recent scholarship on German art, but should also be considered a model for the valuable analysis the most precise histories of art can offer."—German Studies Review
"The greatest asset of The Nazi Perpetrator undoubtedly lies in the meticulous research Jaskot carried out."—The Art Bulletin
"An important contribution...recommended to anyone who is interested in a more in-depth discussion and artistic interpretation of the 'politics of memory' or 'dealing with the past'."—Sehepunkte
"Clearly written and offering rich historical detail."—Modern Philology
"The Nazi Perpetrator, carefully argued, clearly written, and based on a thorough mastery of both art historical and political material, is an important addition to our understanding of West German art and architecture, as well as the relationship among the arts and politics, trauma and cultural representation."—H-Net Reviews
Table of Contents
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction: Political History and Postwar German Art
1.National Socialists and Art: Becoming the Perpetrator
2.Gerhard Richter and the Advent of the Nazi Past: The Persistence of the Perpetrator
3.Anselm Kiefer and the Ascendance of Helmut Kohl: The Changing Perception of the Perpetrator
4.Daniel Libeskind and the Neo-Nazi Specter: The Resurgence of the Perpetrator
5.The Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds and Local Politics: The Historicized Perpetrator
Afterword: The Nazi Past in Postwar Germany’s Cultural History
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
