‘Amerrrika ist wunderrrbarrr’: promotion of Germany through Radio Goethe’s cultural export of German popular music to North America

Popular Music ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Till Krause
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Radio Stations ◽  
Modern Germany ◽  
College Radio ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Group Interviews

AbstractMuch has been written about the cultural, social and political impact of German popular music within the country, but the role of German popular music outside of Germany has not been sufficiently examined. The research presented here is designed to investigate an example of Germany’s export of contemporary popular music as state-sponsored promotion of its national (pop) culture. San Francisco’s weekly radio programme Radio Goethe – The German Voice, which distributes popular music from German-speaking countries to English-speaking audiences, is explored. The main purposes of this programme are to portray a modern Germany to a foreign audience and to arouse interest in the country. The weekly 60-minute series began airing in 1996 and is sponsored by the German federal government. Radio Goethe is carried by over thirty college radio stations in the USA, Canada and New Zealand, and in 2004 the German creator and host of the series received a Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) for his intercultural work. This article briefly documents the history of the series and critically examines the presentation, style and language of the music. The results of qualitative research on the meanings that listeners assign to the music – based on questionnaires and focus group interviews with American members of the show’s audience – are presented. This case study is framed within existing debates about the relationships between popular music, national identity, cultural representation, and state-supported music export. Data from interviews with the founder of the show and the cultural ambassador of Germany in San Francisco are analysed to clarify the goals of and assumptions behind the radio series.

Authoritarianism in Modern Germany History

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Michael Meng
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
German History ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Global History ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Modern Germany ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
History Of

Why study the history of modern German-speaking Central Europe? If pressed to answer this question fifty years ago, a Germanist would likely have said something to the effect that one studies modern German history to trace the “German” origins of Nazism, with the broader aim of understanding authoritarianism. While the problem of authoritarianism clearly remains relevant to this day, the nation-state-centered approach to understanding it has waned, especially in light of the recent shift toward transnational and global history. The following essay focuses on the issue of authoritarianism, asking whether the study of German history is still relevant to authoritarianism. It begins with a review of two conventional approaches to understanding authoritarianism in modern German history, and then thinks about it in a different way through G. W. F. Hegel in an effort to demonstrate the vibrancy of German intellectual history for exploring significant and global issues such as authoritarianism.

Monasticism in Early Modern Germany

2020 ◽  
pp. 461-470
Author(s):  
Edeltraud Klueting
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Holy Roman Empire ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
Modern Germany ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right

The chapter addresses the history of monasticism in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Whether the Reformation movement unleashed by Martin Luther represented a continuation of late medieval monastic reforms or, rather, an abrupt departure from them, is a contentious issue. In the Catholic parts of Germany, after the Council of Trent, monasteries became significant agents in the renewal of the Church, especially in the areas of education and social and charitable activity. On the other hand, the Enlightenment, with its narrow conception of utility, called into question the very basis of monastic life, and hence the right of monasteries to exist. The fallout of the French Revolution and the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine led to a great wave of monastic dissolutions. It was only under the influence of German Romanticism that monasticism experienced another revival.

scholarly journals “SIBERIAN SCYTHIA” IN THE WORKS OF WESTERN SCHOLARS. PART 1. 1913–1980S

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 172-182
Author(s):  
A. SUBBOTIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern China ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Southern Siberia ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
History Of ◽  
Insurmountable Obstacle ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Sea Area ◽  
Archaeological Cultures

This article gives a general idea of the most significant scientific contacts and discussions between Western and Russian (Soviet) archaeologists about the era of early nomads: the origin of the “animal style”, the balance and interaction between the Scythian cultures of Siberia, Greater Black Sea area, Mongolia and Northern China, the chronology and ways of spreading of these cultures. Whereas Soviet scholars could at least read the works of their English-speaking and German-speaking colleagues, for most Western researchers the language barrier remained an insurmountable obstacle. Most authors of generalizing and popular works on “Scythias” had to use the publications of those few scientists who somehow knew the Russian language. This work is an attempt to fill to some extent this gap in the history of the study of archaeological cultures of Southern Siberia and Altai.

scholarly journals Englisch - die universelle Wissenschaftssprache des 20. Jahrhunderts. Alphonse de Candolle's Prognose von 1873

Gesnerus ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 188-193
Author(s):  
Huldrych M. Koelbing
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
English Language ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Histoire Des Sciences ◽  
Great Responsibility ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Demographic Evolution

With his «Histoire des sciences et des savants depuis deux siècles», the Geneva botanist Alphonse de Candolle published, in 1873, the first social history of science. He added to it, among other things, an essay on the necessity of one dominating language suitable to be used by scientists all over the world, and he predicted that, in the 20"" century, English would be this language. This, he writes, is sure to happen, above all on account of the previsible demographic evolution. By 1970, the English speaking peoples will greatly outnumber the French and German speaking ones, who are the two other communities prominent in scientific research. By an amiable characterization of the English language, de Candolle makes the inevitable more acceptable to his francophone readers. Finally, he stresses the great responsibility incumbing particularly on the Americans for maintaining their language on a high standard.

Global Geography of ‘Little Italy’: Italian Neighbourhoods in Comparative Perspective

Modern Italy ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna R. Gabaccia
Keyword(s):  
British Empire ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Northern European ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Other World ◽  
World English ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
Little Italy

Between 1870 and 1970 the migration of 26 million people from Italy produced an uneven geography of Little Italies worldwide. Migrants initially clustered residentially in many lands, and their festivals, businesses, monuments and practices of everyday life also attracted negative commentary everywhere. But neighbourhoods labelled as Little Italies came to exist almost exclusively in North America and Australia. Comparison of Italy's migrants in the three most important former ‘settler colonies’ of the British Empire (the USA, Canada, Australia) to other world regions suggests why this was the case. Little Italies were, to a considerable extent, the product of what Robert F. Harney termed the Italo-phobia of the English-speaking world. English-speakers’ understandings of race and their history of anti-Catholicism helped to create an ideological foundation for fixing foreignness upon urban spaces occupied by immigrants who seemed racially different from the earlier Anglo-Celtic and northern European settlers.

Hong Kong Cantopop

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiu-Wai Chu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Critical Account ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Insight Into

Cantopop, the most representative genre of Hong Kong popular music, is a major part of the popular cultural phenomenon of Hong Kong. Once the leading pop genre of Chinese popular music across the world, Cantopop has a history that needs to be written, which is especially important for the present and the future of Hong Kong, a city whose citizens have been witnessing the decline of not only its popular cultures but also core values. Toward this end this book aims to contribute the first full-length study of Hong Kong Cantopop in English. First, the book offers a critical account of the development of Hong Kong Cantopop in a readable style. Second, it is useful for refreshing English-speaking readers’ understanding of Cantopop and its cultural and social significance. Third, it provides insight into the issue of local culture widely discussed in the relevant debates in the field of cultural studies. This book shows how the rise of Cantopop is related to an upsurge of Hong Kong culture in general, and how its decline since the 1990s is connected to changes in the music industry as well as geopolitical landscape. As such, this book is not only a concise history of Cantopop but also of Hong Kong culture.

74TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY ATLANTA, GA 14–17. XI. 2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-222
Author(s):  
Ewa M. GUZIK-MAKARUK ◽  
Emil W. PŁYWACZEWSKI
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Annual Meeting ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
American Society

The 74th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) in Atlanta gathered as many as 3681 participants (including 388 from outside of the USA) from 42 countries, of which a signifi cant proportion (1583) were students and PhD students. This confirms the global interest in this criminological forum for years. At the previous three ASC conferences, the threshold of four thousand participants was exceeded. The proceedings of the 74th ASC Conference were held in 935 sessions and 81 thematic categories. Among the new topic areas, the new themes included complicity, cybercrime, deterrence, law, mental health, sex work and human traffi cking, fear of crime, and the media. For the fi rst time in the almost 80-year history of ASC, the Polish criminological community was represented at this Conference by a record-breaking delegation from Poland of 9 persons. All Polish representatives came from the Białystok School of Criminology, as at the previous ASC conference in Philadelphia. The venue for the next 75th annual ASC Conference in November 2019 is San Francisco, and its main theme will be ‘Criminology in the New Area: Confronting Injustice and Inequalities’.

Reading the charts – making sense with the hit parade

Popular Music ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Parker
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Radio Stations ◽  
Record Industry ◽  
The Past ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
History Of ◽  
Top 40

One of the formations which helps to shape the meaning of modern pop music is the charts. In theory, the charts define the most popular of popular musics, the goal, the pinnacle of success. Both professionals and audience dedicate large amounts of time and money to producing and consuming this series of comparative market histories produced at rapid and regular intervals. Technology is bent to the service of the research in order that the figures be produced more quickly and with the appearance of accuracy. But why should we be interested in the Top 40 itself rather than its music? Writers on pop have provided us with some detailed descriptions of the charts (Frith 1978; Harker 1980; Wallis and Malm 1984; Street 1986), but few have noted that this level of consumer obsession with sales figures is almost unique to the record industry. Consumers of other commodities do not usually consult a specialist book or magazine in order to discover the past sales history of their favourite brand, nor do they listen to particular radio stations in order to ascertain the best selling product of the week. Why then should the sales results of EMI, Polygram, WEA and others be of interest to their consumers when the same data about multi-national corporations in other market sectors are primarily of interest to market insiders and analysts? An important caveat needs to be added in that popular music is now not the only type of cultural production that foregrounds sales figures. More recently popular literature (the ‘Bestsellers List’), video and films have all begun to use this format but in none of these cases is the chart as central as it is with pop music.

The Predictive Validity of Assessment Centers in German-Speaking Regions

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Becker ◽  
Stefan Höft ◽  
Marcus Holzenkamp ◽  
Frank M. Spinath
Keyword(s):  
Predictive Validity ◽  
Target Group ◽  
Assessment Centers ◽  
Credibility Interval ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Intelligence Measures ◽  
Meta Analyses

As previous meta-analyses have focused almost solely on English-speaking regions, this study presents the first systematic meta-analytical examination of the predictive validity of assessment centers (ACs) conducted in German-speaking regions. It summarizes 24 validity coefficients taken from 19 studies (N = 3,556), yielding a mean corrected validity of ρ = .396 (80% credibility interval .235 ≤ ρ ≤ .558). ACs with different purposes and different kinds of criterion measures were analyzed separately. Furthermore, target group (internal vs. external candidates), average age of the assessees, inclusion of intelligence measures, number of instruments used, AC duration, as well as time elapsed between AC and criterion assessment were found to moderate the validity.

Craft Beer's Unlikely Alchemist

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
Theresa McCulla
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Assembly Line ◽  
The United States ◽  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Intellectual Curiosity ◽  
Brewing Industry ◽  
Washing Machine ◽  
Craft Beer ◽  
History Of

In 1965, Frederick (Fritz) Maytag III began a decades-long revitalization of Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, California. This was an unexpected venture from an unlikely brewer; for generations, Maytag's family had run the Maytag Washing Machine Company in Iowa and he had no training in brewing. Yet Maytag's career at Anchor initiated a phenomenal wave of growth in the American brewing industry that came to be known as the microbrewing—now “craft beer”—revolution. To understand Maytag's path, this article draws on original oral histories and artifacts that Maytag donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History via the American Brewing History Initiative, a project to document the history of brewing in the United States. The objects and reflections that Maytag shared with the museum revealed a surprising link between the birth of microbrewing and the strategies and culture of mass manufacturing. Even if the hallmarks of microbrewing—a small-scale, artisan approach to making beer—began as a backlash against the mass-produced system of large breweries, they relied on Maytag's early, intimate connections to the assembly-line world of the Maytag Company and the alchemy of intellectual curiosity, socioeconomic privilege, and risk tolerance with which his history equipped him.

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