In Progress: Colonialism in Weimar Youth Culture

Published Articles
and Book Chapters

Much of my research deals with the youth culture
of the German Weimar Republic 1918-1933.

  1. “’Bleibt noch ein Lied zu singen’: Autobiographical and Cultural Memory in Christa Wolf's Novel Kindheitsmuster.” In: “einmal alles von Anfang an erzählen”: The Social, Political, and Personal Dimensions of Storytelling. Eds. Kristy Boney and Jennifer Marston Williams (Rochester: Camden House, 2018), 221-233.
  2. “Propaganda and Nostalgia: Constructing Memories about the German Democratic Republic for Young People.” Reinventing Childhood Nostalgia: Books, Toys, and Contemporary Media Culture. Ed. Elisabeth Wesseling. London and New York: Routledge, 2018. 122-134.
  3. "Africa in Ritual Practice and Mythic Consciousness in the Kulturfilm of the German Weimar Republic (1918-1933)." The Child Savage, 1890-2010: From Comics to Games. Ed. Elisabeth Wesseling. Surrey: Ashgate, 2016. 87-101.
  4. "Die Kinder- und Jugendliteratur der Weimarer Republik als Spiegel der gesellschaftlichen und politischen Situation in Deutschland." In: Die Kinder- und Jugendliteratur in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik. Ed. Norbert Hopster. Kinder- und Jugendkultur, -literatur und -medien 74. Vol. 2 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2012), 975-993.
  5. "Technik-Literatur für Kinder und Jugendliche." In: Die Kinder- und Jugendliteratur in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik. Ed. Norbert Hopster. Kinder- und Jugendkultur, -literatur und -medien 74. Vol. 1 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2012), 423-451.
  6. "Koloniale Kinder- und Jugendliteratur." In: Die Kinder- und Jugendliteratur in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik. Ed. Norbert Hopster. Kinder- und Jugendkultur, -literatur und -medien 74. Vol. 1 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2012), 229-267.
  7. "Exotic Attractions and Imperialist Fantasies in Weimar Youth Culture." In: Weimar Culture Revisited. Ed. John Williams. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2011. Pages 99-116.
  8. "Technikbegeisterung und nationale Machtphantasien: Science-Fiction und Sachliteratur in der Jugendliteratur der Weimarer Republik (Teil 2)." Jahrbuch Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung 2007/2008. Eds. Bernd Dolle-Weinkauff, Hans-Heino Ewers, Carola Pohlmann. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang (2008): 37-46.
  9. "Technikbegeisterung und nationale Machtphantasien: Science-Fiction und Sachliteratur in der Jugendliteratur der Weimarer Republik (Teil 1)." Jahrbuch Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung 2006/2007. Eds. Bernd Dolle-Weinkauff, Hans-Heino Ewers, Carola Pohlmann. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang (2007): 41-49.
  10. "The Disney Trap oder Erich Kästner im amerikanischen Kino." In: Erich Kästners weltweite Wirkung als Kinderschriftsteller: Studien zur Internationalen Rezeption des kinderliterarischen Werks. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang (2002): 68-76.
  11. "Children's Literature." Encyclopedia of German Literature. Ed. Matthias Konzett. Vol. 1. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn (2000): 188-192.
  12. "Monster Metaphors." Carver. Vol. 15, 1 (Spring 1998): 57-65.
  13. "Poisoned Hearts, Diseased Minds, and American Pimps: The Language of Censorship in the Schund und Schmutz Debates." The German Quarterly 4, 68 (1995): 408-429.
  14. "Historical Consciousness and Jewish Identity: Stefan Zweig and Wilhelm Speyer on the Way to Themselves." In: Insiders and Outsiders. Jewish and Gentile Culture in Germany and Austria. Ed. Dagmar C. G. Lorenz and Gabrielle Weinberger. (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1994): 155-174.
  15. "A 'Better Reality:' The Enlightenment Legacy in Erich Kästner's Novels for Young People." The German Quarterly 4, 64 (1991): 518-530.

Books

Comrades, Friends, and Companions

1989

Comrades, Friends and Companions provides the first critical analysis of classic German novels for young people of the late Weimar Republic. The author reveals how purportedly realistic portrayals of youth in groups projected a «better world» in the years of social and political crisis. These alternative realities in the German adolescent novel of the time evince the pedagogical and ideological struggles that were endemic in Weimar Culture. This study also confronts the early work of Erich Kästner and his restructuring of authority in the Enlightenment pattern of the «model child».

Carpe Mundum

2007

Carpe Mundum analyzes German Youth culture during the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). Each chapter addresses a distinct topic: sex educational materials for young people, the language of the censorship debates, novels dealing with war, historical narration, magazines, popular science and science fiction, radio, and sports. Together the themes illustrate the influence of nineteenth-century holistic thinking in popular culture in early twentieth-century Germany. Public policies and institutions governing German youth culture during the Weimar Republic, including education and social welfare, evince spiritual underpinnings of Naturphilosophie – a movement which promoted the unity of all things. As cultural modernity in Germany enabled young people greater participation in shaping their culture, elements of a modernity of youth emerged as distinct from that of the adult world and its ideologically laden system of values. The essence of youthful modernity in Germany as evident most clearly in popular magazines, radio, and sports rests primarily on spontaneity, ingenuity and camaraderie.

Imag(in)ed Hegenomies

in progress

Imag(in)ed Hegenomies interprets the codified interrelationships of texts and images in the movement to propagate a colonial consciousness among German youth during the Weimar Republic -- after Germany had irretrievably lost all of its claims to overseas possessions.

Schulatlan

Contact Information

  • Department of Languages and Cultures
    Bloomsburg University
    400 East Second Street
    Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania 17815
  • +1 570 389 4251
  • lspringm@bloomu.edu
  • Monday and Wednesday 12:00PM - 2:00PM; Friday 12:00PM -1:00PM