Emblems served as significant cultural artifacts in early-modern Europe, intertwining art and literature across various mediums, including books, pottery, and metalware. These symbolic combinations of images and texts expressed complex ideas and values, influencing domestic, devotional, and political life. The book explores the multifaceted role of emblems in shaping societal norms and aesthetics during this vibrant historical period.
Images of Germany range from stereotypes, both positive and negative, to sophisticated statements. The articles in this volume reflect upon the diversity of images of Germany held within Germany, by Germans as well as by immigrants, and abroad, in countries such as France, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Canada. The authors are drawn from various professions and include diplomats and writers, Germanists, historians, political scientists, and sociologists. While some deal with the creation or dissemination of images of Germany, others examine images as reflected in public perceptions, speeches, postage stamps, textbooks, literature, film and TV programmes, and architectural monuments. This collection of essays on perceptions and conceptions of Germany focuses on the period from 1945 to the present.
No other Western European nation has experienced such a division and reunification of its peoples and lands within a single span of life. Five years after unification, we ask ourselves: what has been accomplished, what challenges remain, what problems have arisen? It is also now fifty years since Germans lived within one set of boundaries. To what extent have Germans come to terms with their past, both Nazi and communist? How do Europeans and North Americans view the newly unified Germany? The purpose of this volume is to explore some of the social, political, economic, ethical, and cultural results of unification, maintaining a wider historical perspective, hence the reference to fifty years as well as five years.
Peter M. Dalys Goethe’s ‚symbolische Bilderchen‘ setzt sich mit einer Serie von acht emblematischen Bildern auseinander, die zuerst in ‚Weimarisches Volksfest bei der Wiederkehr seines geliebten Landesvaters … am 1. September 1814‘, später in ‚Weimars Jubelfest am 3ten September 1825…‘ abgedruckt wurden. Zu jedem dieser Bilder fügte Goethe später im Sinne eines Kommentars ein Gedicht hinzu. Die Studie stellt Goethes symbolische Bilderchen und die zugehörigen Gedichte in den Kontext der Geschichte der Emblematik sowie in den Kontext der Zeit des zweiten Pariser Friedens. Alle Bilder und Gedichte werden eingehend beschrieben und besprochen. Ausgestattet mit Auswahlbibliographie und Registern wendet sich der Band nicht nur an das Fachpublikum
In 1999, two hundred and fifty years after Goethe’s birth, Weimar was named the European Capital of Culture. This collection of essays by German and North American specialists explores such topics as architecture, architectural history, art history, cultural studies, German studies, political science, religious studies, sociology, and social history in an assessment of Weimar’s legacy from Goethe to 1999. Why Weimar? offers critical reflections on Goethe and his involvement in politics; on the crucial stages in the social history of Weimar; on the uses and misuses of Weimar in the construction of a German cultural identity; on Weimar and its legacy in art history and in literature; on Holocaust memorials; as well as on other issues at the intersection of culture and politics from the Weimar Republic to the Berlin Republic.
During the Shoah countless human beings were murdered. In Europe the sites of killing are usually also the places of institutionalized memory. With the passing of survivors there is a risk that the events may fall exclusively into the domain of history. At stake is also an understanding of such terms as «Kristallnacht», because language filters experience. Since only the survivors know the reality of evil, direct testimony must be emphasized as well as misrepresentation through feature films. The Shoah must also be faced in schools. Educators write of their experience teaching issues related to the Shoah in Austria, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. The Shoah is also reflected in the graphic arts, music, film, and theatre. Political issues cannot be avoided. The reconciliation between Israelis and Germans was difficult. Pocking in Bavaria may prefer to forget its past. «Swiss neutrality» is revisited with reference to Swiss financial dealings during the war. The selective recollections of the Einsatzgruppen perpetrators are also analyzed.This book records a conference, held at Munich and Augsburg, November 8-14, 1997, that brought together educators, academics, artists, and government officials from Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, and the United States.
William S. Heckscher, a student of Panofsky and a prominent art historian, represents a generation of German scholars who emigrated in the 1930s, settling in England, the Netherlands, and the USA. His work, influenced by Aby Warburg's iconographic method, is recognized as quintessentially Warburgian, appearing in various international publications. A collection of his writings was published in 1985 by Egon Verheyen to commemorate Heckscher's 80th birthday, titled Art and Literature: Studies in Relationship. To celebrate his 90th birthday, a festschrift titled Emblematic Perceptions has been released, featuring contributions from various scholars. Virginia Woods Callahan opens with a tribute, followed by Michael Bath and Malcolm Jones discussing Thomas Combe and Ajax's metamorphosis. Other essays include Callahan's analysis of Alciato's Cypress Tree, Pedro F. Campa on Spanish and Portuguese adaptations of Hermann Hugo's Pia Desideria, and Peter M. Daly's exploration of Paradin in sixteenth-century England. G. Richard Dimler examines humanism and the Jesuit emblem, while Wendy R. Katz presents an American emblem book for children. Additional contributions include John Manning's reconsideration of Alciato's obscene emblem, Daniel Russell's insights into emblematics in sixteenth-century France, Anita Schorsch's exploration of body and soul imagery, Egon Verheyen on the Statue of Liberty, and Alan R. Young's discussion of George Wi
Part of a series of illustrated bibliographic catalogues which document printed books of the emblem tradition. Emblem books in the strictest sense as well as emblematically illustrated works are included, accompanied by theoretical discussions, which provide examples of actual impresa.