Volker Zimmermann, Marcin Wiatr (ed.): „Amerika“ als Projektionsfläche. Die USA in Schulbüchern und Populärkultur im tschechisch-deutschen Kontext.

Images and knowledge about America are a topic that greatly influence current European societies’ understanding of themselves – and therefore also that of Germany and the Czech Republic. From a political point of view this can be traced back to the dominance of the USA in the twentieth century, especially as the largest Western victor of the Second World War, but also to its role as the leading power of the western alliance in the Cold War. It had an influence over entire generations as both a (democratic) role model and the representation of the enemy, and was viewed by some – such as the political left in western Germany – as both things simultaneously: unbridled capitalism and the civil rights movements of the 1960s were two sides of the same coin. The influence exerted by the USA over popular culture was just as significant, especially in terms of music, fashion and film, which fascinated people across global borders and political systems, and continue to do so. Another powerful testimony to this influence, dating back to before the twentieth century, are the great waves of overseas emigration– particularly to the United States – which featured strongly in the imaginations of people living in Europe and represented the hope of a more tolerable life. America was and still is one of the most powerful projection screens for European societies, whose own wishes, hopes and desires, as well as criticisms and insecurities can be superbly addressed through the perception, discussion and reflection of images and knowledge about America. A close observation of the ‘friends’ or ‘foes’ on the other side of the Atlantic can help promote self-assurance, not least because the process brings one's own identity construction sharper into focus (for parts of society certainly). The joint German-Czech Textbook Commission address this subject in this edited volume, which features selected papers from the XV German-Czech Textbook Conference, held in Bad Sachsa from 15 to 17 November 2018, and which discussed the subject of images of America and the transatlantic relationship in textbooks and popular culture in Germany and the Czech Republic.

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