Germany as a Culture of Remembrance: Promises and Limits of Writing History / Edition 1

by Alon Confino

Overview

An acknowledged authority on German history and memory, Alon Confino presents in this volume an original critique of the relations between nationhood, memory, and history, applied to the specific case of Germany. In ten essays (three never before published and one published only in German), Confino offers a distinct view of German nationhood in particular and of nationhood in general as a product of collective negotiation and exchange between the many memories that exist in the nation.

The first group of essays centers on the period from 1871 to 1990 and explores how Germans used conceptions of the local, or Heimat, to identify what it meant to be German in a century of ideological upheavals. The second group of essays comprehensively critiques and analyzes the ways laypersons and scholars use the notion of memory as a tool to understand the past. Arguing that the case of Germany contains particular characteristics with broader implications for the way historians practice their trade, Germany as a Culture of Remembrance examines the limits and possibilities of writing history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807857229
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	09/30/2006
Edition description:	1
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Alon Confino is Pen Tishkach Chair of Holocaust Studies, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, and Director of the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the University of Massachusetts. He is author of the award-winning The Nation as a Local Metaphor: Wurttemberg, Imperial Germany, and National Memory (University of North Carolina Press) and coeditor of The Work of Memory: New Directions in the Study of German Society and Culture.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An avant-garde of memory-oriented historiography.—Journal of Modern History



[A] stimulating collection of essays. . . . [A] thought-provoking book.—Journal of Social History



[Confino's] masterful collection of 10 essays invites the reader to an unconventional, but theoretically and methodologically highly reflected journey into the construction of German nationhood via negotiations of locality and memory.—German Studies Review



Offers excellent intellectual fodder not only for Germanists, but also for a much broader audience. . . . [Will] launch scholars and students alike into explorations of the past that embrace both individual and collective identities as complicated and ever-changing.—The Historian



A well-written . . . provocative account that advances our understanding of national identity construction while also providing stimulating insights into the practice of writing history. . . . Outstanding.—CLIO



Alon Confino reminds us what a pleasure it is to be a historian because history links so uniquely wonderment and the craft of precise inquiry. His incisive journey through the web of remembrances that make up the German nation richly exhibits the wisdom that derives from this sensibility.—Michael Geyer, University of Chicago



The appeal of this book is that it refuses any easy categorization. Confino is comfortable doing many different sorts of history, and he does them all very well. He uses a broad range of sources, he effectively demonstrates that different sources may require different methodological approaches, and he moves with enviable ease from one type of material to another. This book is a pleasure to read.—Robert Moeller, University of California, Irvine

Editorial Reviews

"Beautifully written . . . offers many new insights into the themes of memory, history, and national identity. . . . Encourage[s] historians to try new methodological and conceptual approaches, especially integrating the study of memory with the history of society."
-- H-Net

"An avant-garde of memory-oriented historiography."
-- "Journal of Modern History"

"[A] stimulating collection of essays. . . . [A] thought-provoking book."
-- "Journal of Social History"

"Offers excellent intellectual fodder not only for Germanists, but also for a much broader audience. . . . [Will] launch scholars and students alike into explorations of the past that embrace both individual and collective identities as complicated and ever-changing."
-- "The Historian"

From the Publisher