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In an era of rapidly increasing technological advances and international exchange, how did young people come to understand the world beyond their doorsteps? Focusing on Germany through the lens of the history of knowledge, this collection explores various media for children-from textbooks, adventure stories, and other literature to board games, museums, and cultural events-to probe what they aimed to teach young people about different cultures and world regions. These multifaceted contributions from specialists in historical, literary, and cultural studies delve into the ways that children absorbed, combined, and adapted notions of the world.
List of contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Children, the Nation, and the World
Simone Lässig and Andreas Weiß PART I: OFFICIAL KNOWLEDGE Chapter 1. New Words and the New World: Language and the Transnational Legacy of Joachim Heinrich Campe's
Robinson der Jüngere Kirsten Belgum Chapter 2. Images of Land and Sea: Experiencing the World as Adventure through Theodor Dielitz's Travel Anthologies for Young Readers, 1841-1862
Matthew O. Anderson Chapter 3. World Knowledge in Textbooks for French Language Teaching in the Nineteenth Century in Germany
Regina Schleicher Chapter 4. The World at War in German Textbooks: Knowledge of the World Conveyed in Representations of War
Andreas Weiß Chapter 5. When Nippon Became Prussian: The German Image of Japan in Nineteenth-Century Textbooks
Maik Fiedler PART II: LITERARY KNOWLEDGE Chapter 6. Thrilling Hearts and Winning Minds: The Representation of Monarchy, Navy, and Empire in Nineteenth-Century Juvenile Adventure Fiction
Miriam Magdalena Schneider Chapter 7. Knowing Others as Selves: German Children and American Indians
H. Glenn Penny Chapter 8. "Don't you take pity on your little brothers and sisters in China?" Missionary Literature for Children and the Distribution of Relational Knowledge in Imperial Germany
Katharina Stornig PART III: KNOWLEDGE IN ENTERTAINMENT Chapter 9. Around the World in a Jiffy: Humorous Treatments of Around-the-World Travel in German Children's Books and Games
Emer O'Sullivan Chapter 10. The Rise of the Trading Card: Collecting the World before World War I
Judith Blume Chapter 11. A World Made for Exploration: Germans and Their Toys, 1890-1914
David Hamlin Conclusion: Kaleidoscope and Lens: Re-envisioning the Past through the History of Knowledge
Simone Lässig Index
About the author
Simone Lässig, since 2006 Professor for Modern History at Braunschweig University, has been the Director of the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, since 2015. Prior to that, she was the director of the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig, Germany.
Andreas Weiß is a historian based in Berlin. A former research fellow of the Georg Eckert Institute in Braunschweig, Germany, he was also a research fellow at University College London from October 2016 to April 2017.
Summary
In an era of technological advances and rapidly increasing international exchange, how did young Germans come to understand the world beyond their doorstep? This is a fascinating kaleidoscopic exploration of the ways that children absorbed, combined, and adapted notions of the world in their own ways.
