Back to the Future: Tradition and Innovation in German Studies

In the course of the 1970s, interdisciplinary German studies emerged in North America, breaking with what many in the field saw as a suffocating and politically tainted tradition of canon-based philology by broadening both the corpus of texts and the framing concept of culture.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 278 pages
Publication date: 29 March 2018
Publisher: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers

In the vibrant decade of the 1970s, a groundbreaking movement emerged within the realm of German studies in North America. This transformative endeavor sought to break free from the stifling and politically charged tradition of canon-based philology, embracing a broader perspective that encompassed a diverse range of texts and a more inclusive framing concept of culture. While these innovative impulses initially sparked a response to the legacy of Germanistik, they have gradually solidified into enduring traditions. The essays collected in this volume critically explore a selection of past attempts at renewal, aiming to assess our current position and chart a course for the future. These essays delve into profound themes such as exile and forced migration, race and identity, humanism and utopian thought, solidarity and global inequality. A new generation of scholars is at the forefront of this endeavor, demonstrating how revisiting and refining the questions of the past yield fresh insights into literary and theatrical texts, fundamental philosophical and political ideas, and the intricate structure of memory in ethnographic performance and photography. Looking back into the future is a self-reflexive gesture that prompts us to explore the interplay between tradition and innovation. It provides compelling evidence for the invaluable role of historically informed cultural research in the field of German studies.

Weight: 420g
Dimension: 151 x 225 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781788743037
Edition number: New ed