Popular Historiographies in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Sylvia Paletschek has been Professor in Modern History at the University of Freiburg (Germany) since 2001 and was Visiting Fellow at St. Antony’s College at Oxford University in 2006–2007. Her research interests include women’s and gender history, history of universities, memory culture, and history of historiography. Her publications include Women’s Emancipation Movements in the 19th Century: A European Perspective (with Bianka Pietrow-Ennker, Stanford University Press, 2004) and The Gender of Memory. Cultures of Remembrance in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Europe, (with Sylvia Schraut, Campus/Chicago University Press, 2008).

• List of Figures Introduction: Why Analyse Popular Historiographies?Sylvia PaletschekPart I: Popular and Academic Historiographies in the 19th CenturyChapter 1. Questioning the Canon: Popular Historiography by Women in Britain and Germany (1750–1850)Angelika EppleChapter 2. Popular Presentations of History in the 19th Century: The Example of Die GartenlaubeSylvia PaletschekChapter 3. Understanding the World around 1900: Popular Universal Histories in GermanyHartmut BergenthumPart II: Popular Presentations of History in Different Medias in the 20th Century Chapter 4. History for Readers: Popular Historiography 20th Century GermanyWolfgang HardtwigChapter 5. Between Political Coercion and Popular Expectations: Contemporary History in the Radio of the German Democratic RepublicChristoph ClassenChapter 6. Moving History: Fictional Films and the Nazi Past in Germany since the late 1970sFrank BöschPart III: Memory Culture and Popular Historiographies: Case StudiesChapter 7. Memory History and the Standardization of HistoryDieter LangewiescheChapter 8. The Second World War in the Popular Culture of Memory in NorwayClaudia LenzChapter 9. Sissi: Popular Representations of an EmpressSylvia SchrautChapter 10.  Scientists as Heroes? Einstein, Curie, and the Popular Historiography of ScienceBeat CeranskiChapter 11.  ‘Das Wunder von Bern’. The Football World Cup 1954, the German Nation and Popular HistoriesFranz-Josef Brüggemeier Notes on ContributorsBibliography

“This volume of essays provides a fine overview of research on popular history, one of the most methodologically innovative and exciting areas of research on German history…The authors maintain a high level of reflection in their articles, but also seem to have learned from popular history that historians must express themselves clearly, cogently, and in an enjoyable prose style. Specialists and students alike will find this volume highly useful.”  ·  Central European History“… an important attempt within the German context to bridge this gulf [between popular and academic history] — or at least to bring popular historiographies under academic scrutiny — and to recognize their highly significant contribution to the development of modern culture. This interdisciplinary collection of uniformly impressive essays explores a wide range of topics…reinforces the degree to which history, in its myriad forms, shapes our identities and our understanding of the world in which we live.”  ·  German History“These 12 contributions analyze topics ranging from soccer to world history, in the new spirit of popular historiographies. With their wide range of topics and publics, the essays can be seen as a democratization of the understanding of history.”  ·  Choice“This book opens up an important new field of study (popular histories) which promises to contribute in a major way to the investigation of broader historical cultures. Its intertextuality and interdisciplinarity point the way for future research in this area.”  ·  Stefan Berger, University of Manchester