Kurt Lang

Collective memory and political generations: A survey of German journalists

Abstract In 1989, just before German reunification, 498 German journalists were asked to indicate which, from a list of 34 major historical events, such as the end of World War II, the 1949 German currency reform, the building of the Berlin wall, the student movement, and the Chernobyl disaster, they vividly remembered, which still oriented their political thinking, and their political reaction to these events. While some events stand out for all ages, younger journalists, having no memory of World War II and its aftermath, focused more exclusively on such recent events as Chernobyl and the discovery of the AIDS virus. The dominant thrust from recent historical experiences on all age groups was toward the left, even though some events, such as cold war experiences, have caused some backlash. The influence of time of birth on memory, on intergenerational discontinuity, and on sensitivity to specific types of historical experiences are analyzed in relation to the concept of generations.

Banishing the past: The German avant-garde and Nazi art

How do radical changes in cultural policy affect artistic reputations? Nazi policy to control memory—through the stigmatization of artists and the confiscation of their art—was less than fully successful for two main reasons: (1) Refugees and the German need for foreign exchange carried many pieces into the international market, where they escaped destruction from bombing raids; and (2) in post-war Germany a considerable effort was made not only to connect with a “broken” tradition but also to locate victims and to salvage as much of their work and reputations as possible. Allied efforts to banish Nazi-approved art from the collective memory have been far more successful. Many works that survive still rest in repositories not open to the public and, while work by a few Nazi favorites are still in demand, public commemoration remains politically controversial. Whether the reputation of an artist survives such sharp breaks in the political culture depends not only on the physical preservation of prior work but also on decisions as to who merits a place in the archives accessible to posterity.

On the Development of Communication Theory Some Reflections

This chapter reflects on various efforts to theorize about mass communication processes and effects, spanning an era that ranges from early paradigms to contemporary technologies. A number of theoretical approaches are presented and assessed for their emphases, limitations, and potential for increasing understanding of fundamental human and social communications phenomena.