GERM 313
The Mediation of Nationalism in Germany (1871-1918) Fall 2023 (also offered Spring 2024)
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

The German unification of 1871 was a fusion of different kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities and free cities that created a shared cultural identity. This course examines how nationalism was mediated to create, achieve, and sustain a German identity in the German Empire from 1871 until 1918 when it ended. This course surveys the role of the mass media, public art, and other forms of cultural expression in maintaining a sense of German community and resolving the tensions between different geographical, cultural and religious identities while also simultaneously mediating and juxtaposing a collective German identity against non-Germans. Our materials include literature, magazine publications, paintings, monuments and popular culture in the Empire. Some specific themes we will address include the aims of the agents and “architects” of nationalism and the roles of religion and geography in nationalism and of national heroes and legends, and the definition of national identity in opposition to a perceived Other (France and Africans). The course will proceed thematically, focusing on the relationship between nationalism and public figures, nationalism and the Other, as well as nationalism and visual culture. We also touch on the intersection between nationalism and children’s literature and some opposition to nationalism in the German Empire. We will conclude by considering how the nationalism of the German Empire still informs politics today. Reading and Discussion in German.