Sonja Longolius – författare

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1, University of Hamburg (Amerikanistik), course: Hauptseminar, language: English, abstract: In the first decade of the 20th century, when Lewis W. Hine took his first photo series at Ellis Island, 7 million immigrants came to the United States of America. In 1907 immigration's peak was reached, when almost 3.000 immigrants, most of whom came from Southern and Eastern Europe, entered the New World on a daily basis. After Ellis Island had re-opened its gates for the immigration procedure in 1900, more than 75 percent of all immigrants who came to the United States entered the country through the port of New York City. In regard of these immigration numbers, one needs to ask how the inhabitants of New York City and American citizens in general reacted towards this mass immigration. In comparison to former immigrants, who mostly came from Northern and Western Europe, these "e;new"e; immigrants were not welcomed at all. Severe prejudices had already developed towards persons from countries which many native-born Americans seemed to consider as "e;undesirable"e; ones at that time. Mainly people's fear resulted from ignorance, because to them these immigrants seemed to be an indistinguishable mass which overcrowded America. Many people feared that these immigrants would take away their jobs and living-space. There seemed to be little sympathy for those needy homeless, whose foreign appearance and different customs irritated the citizens of New York and elsewhere in the country. When Lewis W. Hine went to Ellis Island to portrait those huddled masses , he must have had all those fears and prejudices against these newly arrivers in mind. Undoubtedly, there was a great public interest in the issue of immigration when he started his project in 1904 and Hine was by no means the first, or only, photographer to work at Ellis Island. Nevertheless, his approach seems to differ from the ones of other photographer of his time. Interestingly, something had happened at Ellis Island to make the teacher Hine want to become a professional photographer. I will try to reveal Hine s personal opinion towards the social problem of immigration as well as his approach for betterment. Furthermore, I will discuss his photographic aims and goals by examining selected photographs of his first photographic series at Ellis Island.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, Free University of Berlin (John-F.-Kennedy Institut), language: English, abstract: For a thorough understanding of the development of the American art scene in the 1950s and 1960s, it is essential to have a close look on the early work of the forerunner Robert Rauschenberg whose art bridged the way between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. In this context, it is equally important to analyze Susan Sontag's essays on art and style from the mid-1960s which had a precursory function in the art critic world and promoted a new kind of sensibility to the audience. To understand the development of Rauschenberg s art concept, which was breathtakingly new at its time, it is inevitable to look at his artistic career and the different influences on his work from artistic models, teachers, and fellow artists. Additionally, an analysis of the 1950s and 1960s art scene and the change of the audience s reception are equally necessary to recognize the significance of Rauschenberg s work for its time and beyond. Sontag was one of the first critics to fully acknowledge the importance of Rauschenberg s ideas for the development of the American art scene. Her essay collection is thus in itself a pioneer work of a new kind of art criticism. Rauschenberg s artwork as well as Sontag s essays on the arts challenged people s perspective on art and its functions. Even though Sontag only directly refers twice to Rauschenberg s artwork in her essay collection "e;Against Interpretations"e;, her ideas of the new kind of art of the late 1950s and early 1960s nevertheless strongly correspond to Rauschenberg s art concept. The artist and the art critic thus paved the way for a new understanding of art and its reception.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1, Free University of Berlin (John-F.-Kennedy Institut), language: English, abstract: Much has been written about the homosexual and political playwright Tony Kushner. Interestingly, not so much has been said about his Jewish background and its impact on his dramatic work. Especially, his most acknowledged play "e;Angels in America - A Gay Fantasia on National Themes"e; which is mainly set in New York City "e;this strange place, in the melting pot where nothing melted"e; as Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz observes in the first scene of "e;Millennium Approaches"e;, is highly concerned with Judaism in general and American Jewry in particular. Naturally, different readings of Kushner's two-part play are possible. Nevertheless, it is crucial to reveal and analyze the importance of the Jewish tone and setting in "e;Angels in America"e; to fully understand Kushner's complex work. Kushner picks out the topic of religion and traditional heritage in our secular, modern world as one of his central themes. As Hilary de Vries wrote in her Chicago Tribune critique, "e;Kushner credits much of his interest in religion to his family background as part of the little known but thriving Jewish community in [Lake Charles] Louisiana."e; When Kushner moved to New York City in 1974, the Jewish population of the city was over one million making it the largest Jewish community in the world. Even though "e;Kushner struggles with an ambivalence toward Judaism due to homophobic traditions within his faith,"e; as James Fisher stated, he nevertheless strongly connects to his own Eastern European roots. Kushner's ambivalence is that of American Jewry in general, being torn between the modern, secular society and historical ties to ethnic and religious identity. This dilemma is put forward through the play's fine-nuanced Jewish characters. Furthermore, the play circles around general religious allegories, which origins can be traced back to writings of Judaism, such as the Old Testament and the Kabbalah, as well as to Christian traditions.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2, Free University of Berlin (John-F.-Kennedy Institut), language: English, abstract: When the 52-year-old Walt Whitman published his essay "e;From Democratic Vistas"e; in 1871, the end of the Civil War was only six years ago. The wounds of this five-year-war of brother against brother were certainly not healed and the question of re-unification was still un-answered. During the 1860s and 1870s the United States were changing tremendously. Due to the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era and the following Gilded Age, America was turning into a modern, industrialized country where materialism seemed to be the finite answer. Though Whitman fully acknowledged this materialistic development of his country, he nevertheless saw beyond the simple answers of wealth and prosperity. Whitman realized that the United States found themselves at a turning point, which was to decide upon their democratic future. At this point in time, Whitman wrote his essay From Democratic Vistas on the outlooks of America s future democracy. According to him, this future lied in a democratic nationality and a spiritual union that could only be achieved through a national literature. The call for a national literature led by the American poet was not something new in Whitman s written work. Already in his Preface 1855 Leaves of Grass, published six years before the beginning of the Civil War, he had formulated that America with veins full of poetical stuff most need[s] poets. Nevertheless, there is a noticeable difference between the general role of the poet in his 1855 preface and the urgent need of national literary figures in times of re-unification that Whitman put forth in his 1871 essay. While Whitman s poet in the 1855 preface obtained the role of an observer of the country and her common people, the poet s role in From Democratic Vistas changed into an active builder of democracy. This change of role is due to Whitman s personal experiences during the war. The healing process of re-unification after the war was not simply a materialistic or institutional reunion for him, but rather an act of forming a sense of nationhood within the American people. This was the poet s task. Being no longer an observer from the outside, Whitman s challenged poet was forced to take up an active stand in the nation-building process after the Civil War.

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1, University of Hamburg (Kunstgeschichtliches Institut), course: Hauptseminar, language: English, abstract: "e;If I perish, don't let my paintings die, exhibit them!"e; While speaking these words in his Belgian exile in 1942, Felix Nussbaum did not know that he had only two more years to live until the terror regime of National-Socialism would murder him and his wife, Felka Platek, in Auschwitz. Being only forty years of age when murdered, the artist seemed to have abandoned all hope after being forced to live in exile and under constant threat of discovery since 1933. Nevertheless, this personal hopelessness did not include the destiny of his artwork, for which Felix Nussbaum cared as long as possible. "e;The unpainted paintings of Felix Nussbaum demand nothing less than to become visible to the contemplating eye"e; and so Daniel Libeskind built a museum in Osnabruck to house the largest collection of Nussbaum s paintings as well as to create "e;a profound place for the encounter of the future and the past and not only a testament to an impossible fate."e; In July 1998, 54 years after Felix Nussbaum s deportation to Auschwitz, the museum opened its gates to the public. "e;The Museum without an Exit"e;, as Daniel Libeskind coined his building, challenges the traditional idea of museums as Temples of Contemplation. Libeskind insists on emotional and physical experiences evoked when entering the museum s space. His difficult building does not allow visitors to be passive spectators, since the museum does not simply offer space for distributing works of art. Rather, Libeskind s building urges people to get closer to the experience of Felix Nussbaum and hence sets new standards in regard of museum-building.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, Free University of Berlin (John-F.-Kennedy Institut ), course: 'The Subaltern Speaks': Minority Literature in the USA, language: English, abstract: Around World War One, two American authors from different minority backgrounds published their seemingly unlike novels. In 1912, the African American diplomat and writer James Weldon Johnson published his narrative "e;The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man"e; anonymously, and in 1917, the Jewish American editor and journalist Abraham Cahan put out his novel "e;The Rise of David Levinsky"e;. Despite all differences obvious between the authors and their protagonists, both novels nevertheless describe at their core the need to assimilate, the search for an American identity and the costs of assimilation. In their quest for an American identity, both protagonists, the former Orthodox Jew from Russia and the anonymous, light-skinned African American, chose to escape white Anglo-Saxon Protestant hostility towards their minority status by assimilating respectively by passing as far as possible into the dominant culture of white American society. The need to assimilate derives from the fear of marginalization and the hostility shown towards minority groups in America. It is precisely this threatening attitude in combination with a longing to take part in the dominant culture of American society that finally forces these characters to assimilate respectively to pass entirely. Despite their minority backgrounds, both protagonists manage to enter the dominant culture at last. But even though both men live up to a life of financial and social success at the end of the novels, their narratives are not simply average American success-stories, but rather tragic tales on the high costs of assimilation. Levinsky and the Ex-Colored Man live the classical American dream from rags to riches , but in the end, both must nevertheless realize that wealth and a high social status alone do not guarantee true inner happiness. The conclusion seems bitter: one s marginality and minority status must be overcome in order to take part in the American success story . But even though ethnic and racial backgrounds can be denied and essential parts of one s own identity can be ignored, full assimilation can never be achieved. The successful economic and social rise of the two men cannot be separated from the tragic personal failure to find their true identity and inner happiness. In their novels, Cahan and Johnson thus voice the dreadful loss of individual identity that full assimilation and passing ask for.