Description:
- Opens up new field of study (popular histories) which promises to contribute in major way to investigation of broader historical cultures
- Intertextuality and interdisciplinarity point the way for future research in the area
- Explores popular histories in different media and popular historiography as part of memory culture
Brief description:
Sylvia Paletschek has been Professor in Modern History at the University of Freiburg (Germany) since 2001 and was Visiting Fellow at St. Antony's College at Oxford University in 2006-2007. Her research interests include women's and gender history, history of universities, memory culture, and history of historiography. Her publications include Women's Emancipation Movements in the 19th Century: A European Perspective (with Bianka Pietrow-Ennker, Stanford University Press, 2004) and The Gender of Memory. Cultures of Remembrance in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Europe, (with Sylvia Schraut, Campus/Chicago University Press, 2008).
Review Quotes:
"This volume of essays provides a fine overview of research on popular history, one of the most methodologically innovative and exciting areas of research on German history...The authors maintain a high level of reflection in their articles, but also seem to have learned from popular history that historians must express themselves clearly, cogently, and in an enjoyable prose style. Specialists and students alike will find this volume highly useful." - Central European History
"... an important attempt within the German context to bridge this gulf [between popular and academic history] -- or at least to bring popular historiographies under academic scrutiny -- and to recognize their highly significant contribution to the development of modern culture. This interdisciplinary collection of uniformly impressive essays explores a wide range of topics...reinforces the degree to which history, in its myriad forms, shapes our identities and our understanding of the world in which we live." - German History
"These 12 contributions analyze topics ranging from soccer to world history, in the new spirit of popular historiographies. With their wide range of topics and publics, the essays can be seen as a democratization of the understanding of history." - Choice
"This book opens up an important new field of study (popular histories) which promises to contribute in a major way to the investigation of broader historical cultures. Its intertextuality and interdisciplinarity point the way for future research in this area." - Stefan Berger, University of Manchester