In Pursuit of German Memory

The collective memories of Nazism that developed in postwar Germany have helped define a new paradigm of memory politics. From Europe to South Africa and from Latin America to Iraq the German case has been studied to learn how to overcome internal division and regain international recognition. In Pursuit of German Memory: History, Television, and Politics after Auschwitz examines three arenas of German memory politics - professional historiography, national politics, and national public television - that have played a key role in the reinvention of the Nazi past in the past sixty years. Wulf Kansteiner shows that the interpretations of the past proposed by historians, politicians, and television makers reflect political and generational divisions and an extraordinary concern for Germany's perception abroad. At the same time, each of these theaters of memory has developed different dynamics and formats of historical reflection. Kansteiner's interrelated essays offer a comparative analysis of the German scene that reveals a complex and contradictory social geography of collective memory. In Pursuit of German Memory underscores the truth that, while all memory may be local, German memories of Nazism are highly mediated and part of a global exchange of images and story fragments. Wulf Kansteiner is an assistant professor of history and director of graduate studies at the State University of New York at Binghampton.