The science of the swastika [[electronic resource] /] / Bernard Mees

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910793458103321
• Autore: Mees Bernard (Bernard Thomas)
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Budapest ; ; New York, : Central European University Press, 2008
• ISBN: 1-4356-6508-2; 615-5211-57-4
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (viii, 363 p., [8] p. of plates ) : ill.
• Disciplina: 929.9
• Soggetti: Swastikas; Symbolism (Psychology); National socialism; Nationalism - Germany - History - 20th century
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [285]-347) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Introduction: "Issues concerning the Teutons" -- The tradition of völkisch Germanism -- History and intuition -- The origins of ideographic studies -- Germanic resurgence -- National socialism and antiquity -- Intellectual prehistory -- Academic responses -- The expansion of the Ahnenerbe -- Into the academy -- Epilogue, aftermath -- Conclusion: The secret garden.
• Sommario/riassunto: The first theoretically informed study of the relationship between an academic discipline and what the Nazis termed their Weltanschauung. The first study of Sinnbildforschung, German ideograph or swastika studies, though more broadly it tells the tale of the development of German antiquarian studies (ancient Germanic history, archaeology, anthropology, folklore, historical linguistics and philology) under the influence of radical right wing politics, and the contemporary construction of 'Germanicness' and its role in Nazi thought. The swastika and similar symbols were employed by the ancestors of the modern day Germans. As these had also become emblematic symbols of the forces of German reaction, Sinnbildforschung became intrinsically connected with the National Socialist regime after 1933 and disappeared along with the Third Reich in 1945.