This book focuses on one of the most visible and important consequences of total defeat in postwar Germany: the return to East and West Germany of the two million German soldiers and POWs who spent an extended period in Soviet captivity. These former prisoners made up a unique segment of German society. They were both soldiers in the war of racial annihilation on the Eastern front and then suffered extensive hardship and deprivation themselves as prisoners of war. The book examines the lingering consequences of the soldiers' return and explores returnees' own responses to a radically changed and divided homeland. Historian Frank Biess traces the origins of the postwar period to the last years of the war, when ordinary Germans began to face the prospect of impending defeat. He then demonstrates parallel East and West German efforts to overcome the German loss by transforming returning POWs into ideal post-totalitarian or antifascist citizens. By exploring returnees' troubled adjustment to the more private spheres of the workplace and the family, the book stresses the limitations of these East and West German attempts to move beyond the war. Based on a wide array of primary and secondary sources, Homecomings combines the political history of reconstruction with the social history of returnees and the cultural history of war memories and gender identities. It unearths important structural and functional similarities between German postwar societies, which remained infused with the aftereffects of unprecedented violence, loss, and mass death long after the war was over.
German Angst analyses the relationship between fear and democracy in postwar West Germany. While fear and anxiety have historically been associated with authoritarian regimes, Frank Biess demonstrates the ambivalent role of these emotions in a democratizing society: in West Germany, fear and anxiety both undermined democracy and stabilized it. By taking seriously postwar Germans' uncertainties about the future, this study challenges dominant linear and teleological narratives of postwar West German 'success', highlighting the prospective function of memories of war, National Socialism, and the Holocaust. Postwar Germans projected fears and anxieties that they derived from memories of a catastrophic past into the future. Based on case studies from the 1940s to the present, German Angst provides a new interpretive synthesis of the Federal Republic. It tells the history of the Federal Republic as a series of cyclical crises in which specific fears and anxieties emerged, served a variety of political functions, and then again abated. Drawing on recent interdisciplinary insights generated by the field of emotion studies, Biess's study transcends the dichotomy of 'reason' and 'emotion'. Fear and anxiety were not exclusively irrational and dysfunctional, but served important roles in postwar democracy. These emotions sensitized postwar Germans to the dangers of an authoritarian transformation, and they also served as emotional engines of new social movements, including the environmental and peace movements. German Angst also provides an original analysis of the emotional basis of right-wing populism in Germany today, and it explores the possibilities of a democratic politics of emotion.
Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most important and meaningful novels ofFrank Norriswhich areMcTeague and The Octopus. Naturalism describes the details of everyday existence, expressing the social milieu of the characters. Frank Norris concentrated on society's seamier side and the travails of the lower classes as the focal point of his writing. Novels selected for this book: - McTeague - The Octopus This is one of many books in the series Essential Novelists. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the authors.
A Deal in Wheat and Other Stories of the New and Old West" is a collection of short stories written by Frank Norris, an influential American author and journalist. The title story, "A Deal in Wheat," explores the volatile world of commodity trading, specifically focusing on the wheat market. Through a compelling narrative, Norris delves into the ruthless nature of speculation and its impact on farmers, laborers, and ordinary people. The story serves as a powerful critique of the unscrupulous practices and manipulation that occur in the pursuit of profit. In addition to "A Deal in Wheat," the collection features other stories that shed light on different facets of Western life. Norris vividly portrays the struggles faced by ranchers, the challenges of pioneers forging a new life in untamed territory, and the social and economic dynamics of the era. Through his masterful storytelling, Norris captures the spirit of the West and the complexities of human nature within its unique landscape. With his keen observations and sharp social commentary, Frank Norris continues to be celebrated as a significant voice in American literature. "A Deal in Wheat and Other Stories of the New and Old West" stands as a testament to his talent for storytelling and his exploration of the human condition in the context of the evolving American frontier.
While fear and anxiety have historically been associated with authoritarian regimes, Frank Biess demonstrates the ambivalent role of these emotions in the democratization of West Germany, where fears and anxieties about the country's catastrophic past and uncertain future both undermined democracy and stabilized the emerging Federal Republic.
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