“Trash,” Censorship, and National Identity in Early Twentieth-Century Germany
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- Synopsis
- Convinced that sexual immorality and unstable gender norms were endangering national recovery after World War One, German lawmakers drafted a constitution in 1919 legalizing the censorship of movies and pulp fiction, and prioritizing social rights over individual rights. These provisions enabled legislations to adopt two national censorship laws intended to regulate the movie industry and retail trade in pulp fiction. Both laws had their ideological origins in grass-roots anti-'trash' campaigns inspired by early encounters with commercial mass culture and Germany's federalist structure. Before the war, activists characterized censorship as a form of youth protection. Afterwards, they described it as a form of social welfare. Local activists and authorities enforcing the decisions of federal censors made censorship familiar and respectable even as these laws became a lightning rod for criticism of the young republic. Nazi leaders subsequently refashioned anti-'trash' rhetoric to justify the stringent censorship regime they imposed on Germany. Examines the connections between youth protection, social welfare, and censorship in late Imperial and Weimar Germany. Locates Weimar Germany's two censorship laws in post-war anxieties about gender and the new constitution's prioritization of social rights over legal rights. Uses anti-'trash' campaigns to examine national identity in late Imperial and Weimar Germany.
- Copyright:
- 2016
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- Book Size:
- 326 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9781316719008
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Date of Addition:
- 11/10/17
- Copyrighted By:
- Kara L. Ritzheimer
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Politics and Government
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.