Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture (review)

As General Editor John Sandford writes in his Introduction, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture is intended as a response to the increasing interdisciplinary of academic scholarship, a condition that obtains particularly in German Studies today. As such, the Encyclopedia hopes to provide a useful tool for academics working both inside and outside the field of German Studies.

The terms “German” and “Culture” of the volume’s title are to be understood in the broadest sense. “German” includes not only West German culture, but the entire German-speaking domain: GDR, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland. Similarly, “Culture” encompasses both high or canonical culture and popular culture. Thus, although literature is still considered central—in the words of Sandford, “a cultural expression that links the German-speaking countries more than any other”—the numerous entries on German-speaking writers and literary trends are balanced by an equal number of contributions on other aspects of German culture, both high and everyday culture, ranging from music and visual arts to fashion, food, sports, leisure, and political life. The third key term in the title, “Contemporary,” is here defined as post-1945 to the present.

The Encyclopedia contains more than 1,100 entries, ranging in length from brief sketches to essays of two thousand words. General Editor Sandford is at the British University of Reading and accordingly the volume is substantially a product of British scholars. But there are nearly as many American contributors and a sprinkling of Germans as well. Entries are, on the whole, knowledgeable, well written, and cross-referenced; the longer essays provide suggestions for further reading. Overall, the editing of this substantial project (696 pages) is excellent. The paperback edition is both affordable and attractively formatted.

Germanists trained in literature will certainly find better lexicons than this for reference, but non-Germanists will use the Encyclopedia as a reliable source for quick orientations on contemporary writers. Germanists as well as non-Germanists will likely discover the entries on composers, filmmakers, architecture, and philosophers handy. Graduate and undergraduate students in particular can profit from this book, especially when researching minor aspects of culture. The Encyclopedia offers entries on everything from Abitur and the Austrian Arbeiterzeitung to Waldsterben and Zero Group. The articles on popular culture make interesting leisure reading for the knowledgeable browser and at the same time will undoubtedly be seriously useful to a novice or non-Germanist.