German Studies Symposium
University of South Carolina - Columbia
April 5-7, 2001

Contact: Dr. Agnes Mueller , Symposium Director
Description and Focus:

"America" and its iconography have, for better or worse, been instrumental in defining German political and aesthetic culture, especially since WWII. Images of fast food, Hollywood, and Andy Warhol, as well as the Bomb and cultural imperialism remain part of the German daily experience. Within this well established paradigm, questions of the role and place of a "popular" German culture continue to trigger heated debate. Embraced by some as a welcome means to break out of the German monocultural, elitist, and conservative mind-set, "pop" culture is rejected by others as "polluting" established values, leveling necessary differentiation, and ultimately being driven by a capitalist consumer society rather than by moral or aesthetic standards. 

   
The goal of the symposium was to assemble a diverse group of scholars, writers, and journalists from Germany, the U.S., and Canada to engage in a focused exchange on the issue of German popular culture and the extent to which it is or is not "Americanized." The symposium was preceded by an extensive publicity campaign including a mass mailing of 800 posters/flyers to peer institutions and colleagues in related fields as well as announcements in leading scholarly journals such as PMLA.
From left to right: Gerd Gemuenden, Dartmouth College and Thomas Meinecke, writer from Eurasburg,Germany
   
  The issue of Americanization has so far been investigated either by historians (recently at the German Historical Institute in Washington DC), or from the perspective of German Studies (in 1999 at U of Pennsylvania). The USC symposium explored this question for the first time not only in an interdisciplinary setting, but also with an added focus on popular culture. To mark the occasion, a major German daily newspaper (Süddeutsche Zeitung 98, [2001], 16) printed an article on German-American relations by Matthias Politycki, which included extensive commentary on the symposium. 
   
 
From left to right (front row): 
Sabine von Dirke, University of Pittsburgh; Eckhard Schumacher, Universitaet Koeln (Germany), Tom Saunders, University of Victoria (Canada)
   
  The success of the event exceeded all expectations. There were eight panels each with two 25-minute papers and 40 minutes for discussion. Connecting the discussion periods were continuous references to key methodological and terminological issues such as "Americanization" vs. "globalization," "Germanness," "pop" and "popular" culture in Germany and in the U.S. The cumulative effect of the animated and vigorous exchanges was evident at the concluding roundtable session on Saturday afternoon when participants, moderators, and audience alike once again touched on all of these aspects. By the end, it was clear that the theme of "Americanization" could not easily be replaced with the newer category of "globalization," 
  but that on the other hand the term as such was no longer sufficient to describe the hybrid cultural spaces that define German youth and popular culture today. The symposium was also framed by two writers from Germany (Thomas Meinecke and Matthias Politycki) reading from their recent works, both of which negotiated between "German" and "American" perspectives. 
From left to right:
Frank Trommler, University of Pennsylvania, Ted Fiedler, University of Kentucky
   
  The presenters, moderators, and audience members unanimously emphasized their delight with the organization and intellectual framework of the event; some even expressed their appreciation in writing. Participants frequently remarked on the fact that USC's carefully conceived German Studies Symposia are serving as a model for conferences at their respective institutions. The readings by both writers were enthusiastically received, adding a concrete textual dimension to the proceedings.
   
 
From left to right:
Peter Hoeyng, University of Tennessee, Lutz Koepnick, Washington University, Matthias Politycki, writer from Hamburg (Germany)
   
  A forthcoming anthology with select and revised articles from the symposium will provide the scholarly community with the most relevant findings. Publication of the volume, for which major U.S. university presses have already expressed interest, is planned for fall 2002.