Redeeming Objects : A West German Mythology / Natalie Scholz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scholz, Natalie, 1972- author.

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 Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consumer goods--Germany (West).

Consumer goods.

Consumers--Germany (West)--History.

Consumers.

National socialism.

Germany (West)--Economic conditions--20th century.

Germany (West).

Genre:

History

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 324 pages.) : illustrations.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2023]

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. 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.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

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

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based upon print version of record.

Other Format:

Print version: Scholz, Natalie Redeeming Objects

ISBN:

9780299344337 (electronic book)

OCLC:

1493707456