Are the arguments of the Frankfurt School still relevant? Modern Culture and Critical Theory investigates this question in the context of important issues in contemporary cultural politics: neoconservatism and new social movements, discontents with modernity and debates on postmodernism, the political hegemony of Ronald Reagan, and the cultural hegemony of structuralism and poststructuralism. Russell Berman thoughtfully explores the theories of Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, Lyotard, and Foucault and their relevance to both historical and contemporary issues in literature, politics, and the arts.

Modern Culture & Critical Theory

Literature & Fiction

BERMAN, RUSSELL A.

History & Criticism

University of Wisconsin Press

Cultural Studies Of Modern Germany: History, Representation, And Nationhood

Examines the representation of German nationhood in the country's aesthetic culture from the first stirrings of nationalism at the beginning of the 19th century to the reunification at the end of the 20th. The 11 essays, many previously published, discuss the poetry of Heine, Rousseau in Weimar, primitivism, Heinrich B÷ll, postmodernism, the debates about the Gulf War, and other aspects. Paper edition (unseen), $14.95. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Cultural Studies of Modern Germany: History, Representation, and Nationhood

History

Europe

Univ of Wisconsin Pr

The opening of the Berlin Wall reopened a host of political, cultural, and historical concerns. The German past, which seemed frozen beneath the divisions of the Cold War, has reemerged, eliciting both enthusiasm and apprehension. Russell A. Berman argues that, for the Germans, national unity will mean either encompassing democracy or exclusionary politics—a dilemna that is far from new in German history. With his characteristic wit and originality, Berman probes the ambiguities of German nationhood. Taking the theoretical perspective of Cultural Studies, he looks at literature, painting, and film from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to consider how nationhood is constituted and how it can be represented, what holds a citizenry together and what separates it from other populations, and how the legacy of a past history frames the definition of identities and institutions in the present. Berman offers a thoughtful discussion of the methods of the emerging school of Cultural Studies and of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, showing how they diverge in their treatment of cultural issues. He then applies the framework of Cultural Studies to representations of the German nation. He offers definitions of Germany in the nineteenth century: in the poetry of Heinrich Heine (contrasted with Walt Whitman), in a visual representation of Jewish emancipation, and through a contrast with Italian unification. Berman explores nationhood and modernism through discussions of cinema, expressionist painting, and the politics of deconstruction. The final chapters of Marking Time span post-war literature from Heinrich Böll to Peter Handke and conclude with a discussion of the post-unification debate on the Gulf War. Throughout, Berman demonstrates how Cultural Studies can uncover the cultural assumptions in politics as well as the political agenda of culture.

First published in 1951, The Holy Sinner explores a subject that fascinated Thomas Mann to the end of his life―the origins of evil and evil's connection with magic. Here Mann uses a medieval legend about 'the exceeding mercy of God and the birth of the blessed Pope Gregory' as he used the Biblical account of Joseph as the basis for Joseph and His Brothers―illuminating with his ironic sensibility the notion of original sin and transcendence of evil.

The Holy Sinner

Lowe-Porter, H. T.

MANN, THOMAS

Literary

University of California Press

The Road into the Open

A finely drawn portrayal of the disintegration of Austrian liberal society under the impact of nationalism and anti-semitism, The Road into the Open (Der Weg ins Freie, 1908) is a remarkable novel by a major Austrian writer of the early twentieth century. Set in fin-de-siècle Austria―the cafés, salons, and musical concerts frequented by the Viennese elite―Schnitzler's perceptive exploration of the creative process and the private lives and public aspirations of urban Jewish intellectuals ranks with the highest achievements of Karl Kraus and Robert Musil. The novel's central character, Baron Georg von Wergenthin, is a handsome young composer whose troubled relations with women, musical collaborators, and representatives of the old social order make Schnitzler's book a revealing investigation of individual psychology and social allegory. In his comprehensive introduction, Russell Berman situates the book within the literary and political history of Central Europe and analyzes its relation to psychoanalysis, Marxism, musical aesthetics, and the legacy of European modernism.

SCHNITZLER, Arthur

Byers, Roger

Contemporary

The Rise of the Modern German Novel: Crisis and Charisma

Harvard University Press

Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture (Modern German Culture and Literature)

Enlightenment or Empire is a crucial contribution to our understanding of the culture of European colonialism. The book opens with a bold reconsideration of the relationship between the Enlightenment and colonialism, at the heart of which is an examination of two parallel texts—Captain James Cook’s and Georg Foster’s accounts of Cook’s voyage of 1773. Berman then examines geography, religion, gender, and fiction in the writings of nineteenth-century travelers in Africa. He concludes with a discussion of the alternative anti-colonial traditions of Germany and France. Berman’s book is a provocative contribution to current debates about the Enlightenment and its political legacy. In opposition to contemporary critics who argue that the Enlightenment is fully implicated in structures of domination, including colonialism, Berman argues for a more subtle, complex understanding of the political and cultural consequences of the Enlightenment.

University Of Nebraska Press

Enlightenment or Empire is a crucial contribution to our understanding of the culture of European colonialism. The book opens with a bold reconsideration of the relationship between the Enlightenment and colonialism, at the heart of which is an examination of two parallel texts—Captain James Cook’s and Georg Foster’s accounts of Cook’s voyage of 1773. Berman then examines geography, religion, gender, and fiction in the writings of nineteenth-century travelers in Africa. He concludes with a discussion of the alternative anti-colonial traditions of Germany and France. Berman’s book is a provocative contribution to current debates about the Enlightenment and its political legacy. In opposition to contemporary critics who argue that the Enlightenment is fully implicated in structures of domination, including colonialism, Berman argues for a more subtle, complex understanding of the political and cultural consequences of the Enlightenment.

In his analysis of Europe's ambivalence toward jihadist terror and the spread of aggressive Islamism, with particular emphasis on the European responses—or lack thereof—to this violent anti-modernism, Russell A. Berman describes how some European countries opt for appeasement and apologetics, whereas others muster the strength to defend their way of life and stand up for freedom. He describes a complex continent of different nations and traditions to further our understanding of the range of reactions to Islamism.

Freedom or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

World

Hoover Institution Press

Explaining how the U.S. withdrawal from the Middle East could have long-term consequences as other forces come forward to fill the gap, Russell A. Berman details how the retreat began and how the reduction of the U.S. commitment has, in turn, set off a wave of repercussions. He analyzes what motivates such a retreat, how much it is a choice of the Obama administration, and how much it is rooted in U.S. cultural leanings that could outlast the administration. In Retreat warns not only about changing evaluations about this specific corner of the globe but also about predispositions to retreat from politics altogether, from the burden of leadership, and from the advocacy for democracy.

In Retreat: America's Withdrawal from the Middle East (The Great Unraveling: The Remaking of th)

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by BERMAN, RUSSELL A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by BERMAN, RUSSELL A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by BERMAN, RUSSELL A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Modern Culture & Critical Theory

Cultural Studies of Modern Germany: History, Representation, and Nationhood

Cultural Studies Of Modern Germany: History, Representation, And Nationhood

The Holy Sinner

The Road into the Open

The Rise of the Modern German Novel: Crisis and Charisma

Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture (Modern German Culture and Literature)

Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture (Modern German Culture and Literature)

Freedom or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

In Retreat: America's Withdrawal from the Middle East (The Great Unraveling: The Remaking of th)