- Summary
- "Redeeming Objects traces the afterlives of things. Out of the rubble of World War II and the Holocaust, the Federal Republic of Germany emerged, and with it a foundational myth of the 'economic miracle.' In this narrative, a new mass consumer society based on the production, export, and consumption of goods would redeem West Germany from its Nazi past and drive its rebirth as a truly modern nation. Turning this narrative on its head, Natalie Scholz shows that West Germany's consumerist ideology took shape through the reinvention of commodities previously tied to Nazism into symbols of Germany's modernity, economic supremacy, and international prestige. Postwar advertising, film, and print culture sought to divest mass-produced goods--such as the Volkswagen and modern interiors--of their fascist legacies. But Scholz demonstrates that postwar representations were saturated with unacknowledged references to the Nazi past and older German colonial fantasies. Drawing on a vast array of popular and highbrow publications and films, Redeeming Objects adds a new perspective to debates about postwar reconstruction, memory, and consumerism"-- Provided by publisher.
- Series
- George L. Mosse series in the history of European culture, sexuality, and ideas
George L. Mosse series in the history of European culture, sexuality, and ideas.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Scholz, Natalie, 1972- author.
- Published
- Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2023]
©2023
- Locale
- Germany (West)
Allemagne (Ouest)
- Contents
-
Introduction : a West German mythology and the ghosts of the past
1. Stranded objects : the political beneath the rubble
2. Miraculous objects : the Volkswagen as imperial debris
3. Timeless objects : good modernity and its other
4. Expanding objects : at home in globalizing Germany
Epilogue : Postwar mythologies and their ghosts.
- Biography
- Natalie Scholz is a professor of modern and contemporary history at the University of Amsterdam.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction : a West German mythology and the ghosts of the past -- 1. Stranded objects : the political beneath the rubble -- 2. Miraculous objects : the Volkswagen as imperial debris -- 3. Timeless objects : good modernity and its other -- 4. Expanding objects : at home in globalizing Germany -- Epilogue : Postwar mythologies and their ghosts.
