Americanization and Anti-americanism

Alexander Stephan (1946-2009) was Professor of German, Ohio Eminent Scholar, and Senior Fellow of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University, where he directed a project on American culture and anti-Americanism in Europe and the world.

“This is a great book. Instead of simplifying the topic or getting lost in details, it presents a logical structure and a strong argument nuanced by local peculiarities… At best, an edited volume turns its reader overnight into an international expert in the field. Stephan's volume on the Americanization of as well as anti-Americanism in Europe since World War Two is such a book.”  ·  H-Net“In many respects, all of the essays in this collection are individual gems…The various pieces contribute to a clearer understanding of the interactions between American culture and anti-Americanism in a European context. They also highlight the key roles played by the Vietnam War and Hollywood in both the acceptance and the rejection of American culture. Overall, this study is a very welcome addition to the literature on the American role in the wider process of globalization.”  ·  European History Quarterly“Alexander Stephan’s well-edited collection of 15 essays dealing with anti-Americanism in a country where the U.S.’s standing was once high and has now dropped so sharply is indeed timely. The book may be helpful as well in searching for explanations of anti-Americanism in other countries, because it deals with so many aspects of this phenomenon, ranging from the political to the cultural.”  ·  German Quarterly

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionAlexander StephanPART I: THE POLITICS OF CULTUREChapter 1. Anti-Americanism and AmericanizationRussell BermanChapter 2. Counter-Americanism and Critical Currents in West German Reconstruction 1945-1960: The German Lesson Confronts the American Way of LifeMichael ErmarthChapter 3. Saigon, Nuremberg, and the West: German Images of America in the Late 1960sBernd GreinerPART II: POPULAR CULTUREChapter 4. Resisting Boogie-Woogie Culture, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art: German Highbrow Objections to the Import of "American" Forms of Culture, 1945-1965Jost HermandChapter 5. From Nightmare to Model? Why German Broadcasting Became AmericanizedKaspar MaaseChapter 6. Learning from America: Reconstructing "Race" in Postwar GermanyHeide FehrenbachPART III: FILMChapter 7. Cinematic Americanization of the Holocaust in Germany: Whose Memory Is It?David BathrickChapter 8. Anti-Americanism and the Cold War: On the DEFA Berlin FilmsSabine HakeChapter 9. German Cinema Face to Face with Hollywood: Looking into a Two-Way MirrorThomas ElsaesserPART IV: EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVESChapter 10. Double Crossings: The Reciprocal Relationship between American and European Culture in the Twentieth CenturyRichard PellsChapter 11. Anti-Americanism and Anti-Modernism in Europe: Old and Recent VersionsRob KroesChapter 12. California Blue: Americanization as Self-AmericanizationWinfried FluckChapter 13. Awkward Relations: American Perspectives on Europe, European Perspectives on AmericaVolker R. BerghahnPART V: OUTLOOKChapter 14. Crisis or Cooperation? The Transatlantic Relationship at a WatershedKarsten D. VoigtChapter 15. Germans and Americans: Understanding and Managing ChangeBowman H. MillerNotes on ContributorsBibliographyIndex