今日看料

May 2023


By William Glenn Gray
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Recommended by Nick Ostrum

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, Germany has stepped forward as a major regional power. Its military advancement鈥攁ttested in the delivery of items ranging from underwhelming gasmasks early in the war to Leopard II tanks recently provided to Ukraine鈥攊s once again becoming a topic of international discussion. Although William Glenn Gray could not have foreseen these recent developments over the more than a decade he has dedicated to researching and writing Trading Power: West Germany鈥檚 Rise to Global Influence, 1963-1975, his examination of West Germany鈥檚 path from relative international seclusion to economic and geopolitical (though non-militaristic) prominence could not have emerged at a more apropos time. In a sense, this book analyzes the reasons that Germany is such a relevant power today and does it through a deep dive into a decade of German foreign economic policy.

The book starts with the waning days of Adenauer鈥檚 Atlanticism in the early 1960s and concludes with the 鈥渘ew multilateralism鈥 of 1974/5, wherein the Federal Republic bore the fruits鈥攆avorable trade balances, a strong currency, and international influence鈥攁nd weathered the shocks鈥攖he collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the oil crisis, the devaluing of the dollar, and two economic recessions鈥攖hat accompanied its new global standing. Indeed, as Gray notes, this was a period of 鈥渃reative experimentation in German foreign relations,鈥 wherein administrations of various political stripes learned how to abandon military hard power (something denied the country after WWII) and how to exercise their economic and industrial clout to actively shape the global political system. Trading Power stands out in part because of the effective way Gray addresses the globality of Germany鈥檚 activities. He studies Germany鈥檚 relations with the Soviet east and the American-led west, as well as the tensions within that western bloc, namely those between France and the United States. He also analyzes West Germany鈥檚 changing strategies of engagement with the Global South, using the Arab-Israeli conflict and, maybe most notably, Latin American countries such as Brazil as his entry points. This is a formidable book and one that promises to make an impact.

 


By Antony Kalashnikov
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Recommended by Oksana Ermolaeva

Today’s Russian society constitutes a relic of that of the Soviet era; therefore, the cultural and ideological mechanisms by which the Communist state imposed its power over people in the past remain relevant for historical research. As Nikolai Ssorin-Chaikov, a Russian scholar, put it, 鈥淭he Soviet state鈥檚 true power lay not in its presumed centralizing tendencies nor in its repressive actions, but rather in its ability to gradually and slowly penetrate even the places (and spaces) in which it was perceived not to exist.鈥 Antony鈥檚 Kalashnikov book, Monuments for Posterity Self-Commemoration and the Stalinist Culture of Time, is devoted to one of the most powerful ideological tools in this process and a very important part of the Soviet cultural imposition upon society: architecture. This greatly interdisciplinary book focuses on the role of Stalinist architecture (mainly based on an analysis of the prominent Soviet architectural projects in Moscow) in the regime鈥檚 social engineering project. This project was an important tool to harness and minimize the effects of the Soviet people鈥檚 exacerbated feelings of uncertainty and insecurity during an 鈥渦nabating whirlwind of change during the regime鈥檚 modernization projects.鈥 The author explores how anomie, disorientation, and social alienation, which were widespread in Soviet society during the time of 鈥淗igh Stalinism鈥 and beyond, were to be counteracted by assurances of constancy, stability, and mighty collective identity based on a rising national imaginary emanating from the 鈥渕onuments to posterity.鈥

Together, cultural, social, anthropological, and aesthetic approaches allow us to explore new ways of thinking about Stalinist temporality and collective immortalization projects as well as about national imagination under authoritarian regimes. In Russia, Stalin-era architectural projects not only 鈥渟till stand prominently, having weathered iconoclastic campaigns,鈥 but they have acquired a new power to make social, cultural, and ideological impacts precisely because they have preserved their association with Stalinism. Defying reinterpretation, these constructions 鈥渃ontinue to support contemporary nationalist, imperialist, and statist commemorative discourses in Russia.鈥 The book paves the way for future explorations of 鈥渕onuments to posterity鈥 that might open new and until now carefully concealed pages of the history of these monuments. What was the role of the Gulag鈥檚 prisoners in erecting these monuments within a grand social and cultural engineering project? How were these monuments received by different categories of people in Soviet society? 聽How did these projects influence the process of acculturation of new cultural and social norms during the time of Soviet urbanization? For people, living near 鈥渕onuments to posterity,鈥 contributed to the creation of new collective elite imaginaries and fantasies, and these monuments were not only an instrument of 鈥渃ollective amnesia鈥 but also an everlasting, albeit elusive, representation of the 鈥淪oviet dream鈥 for millions of provincials flooding into Moscow.

 


By James Douet
Publisher: Liverpool University Press and Historic England Publishing
Recommended by H茅l猫ne B. Ducros

In The Architecture of Steam: Waterworks and the Victorian Sanitary Crisis, James Douet takes readers on a tour of exceptional buildings that bring together mechanical engineering inventiveness, architectural design, the history of industrialization and urbanization, and water heritage. Douet not only offers a guide to a wide selection of buildings erected to house pumping stations in Victorian England, but also explains the motivations of architects, engineers, and designers for creating these special places deliberately with the public in mind. Beyond revealing the intricate ways in which these installations inscribed themselves in infrastructural systems of watercourses, reservoirs, and basins, the author shows how they also served as pedagogical institutions to promote civic engagement.

Through a dual thematic and chronological approach, Douet lays out how steam pump buildings contributed answers to social crises as part of wider sanitation policies. As ground-breaking as the technology inside them stood, these buildings, whose primary function was to encase pumping stations, were also designed to dazzle and impress. Architects, in their quest for a unique style for these special places, were stimulated by different trends influential at the time, for example borrowing from Gothic Revival or drawing inspiration from the canons of the Italian Renaissance. Moreover, as the history of these buildings tells us about water management and water governance, the book also addresses water access rights in industrializing England. By lifting the veil of anonymity off these extraordinary buildings, the book displays them as testimonies of industrial water development and serves as a model for the retracing of the history of other industrial landscapes, giving new life and meaning to abandoned, recycled, reused, or reinvented structures once symbolic of modernity and progress.

 


By P谩draig 脫 Liath谩in
Publisher: Cl贸 Iar-Chonnacht
Recommended by Sorcha de Br煤n

One of the most exciting publications in Irish language academic scholarship of 2023 is Se谩n 脫 R铆ord谩in: Na Dialanna, 1 & 2: 1940 (Se谩n 脫 R铆ord谩in: The Diaries, 1 & 2, 1940). Edited by Irish language scholar P谩draig 脫 Liath谩in of Dublin City University, Ireland and published by Cl贸 Iar-Chonnacht based in Indreabh谩n, Galway, Ireland, this beautifully edited and designed book comprises the first volume of diary entries from 1940 of Irish language poet Se谩n 脫 R铆ord谩in. Born in 1916, the year of the Irish 鈥淩ising鈥 and a year of revolution and uprising which ultimately overthrew British rule in Ireland and secured Irish independence, 脫 R铆ord谩in was a prolific Irish language poet from Baile Bh煤irne (Ballyvourney) in the Cork Gaeltacht, or Irish speaking area.

This first published volume of 脫 R铆ord谩in鈥檚 diaries offers an entirely new perspective for academics, scholars, and students on 脫 R铆ord谩in as the major Irish language writer that he was. In reading the entries in 脫 Liath谩in鈥檚 superbly edited tome, this reader cannot help but be struck by the manner in which the quotidian nature of the diary genre clearly afforded 脫 R铆ord谩in a vehicle with which to explore emotional ambiguity through the medium of prose writing. A complex individual, 脫 R铆ord谩in employs a variety of styles to describe his inner thoughts and the workings of his art. Indeed, the poet sometimes uses lightness of touch, an almost carefree sensibility, to express his young life鈥檚 darker moments. This edited collection will function as fascinating reading not only for scholars of 脫 R铆ord谩in鈥檚 poetry but also for historians. For example, 脫 R铆ord谩in鈥檚 entries on the war raging in Europe show how engaged the young poet was with events of the time. Moreover, while 脫 R铆ord谩in cannot be said to be necessary typical of young Irish men of his day, the diaries shine a light into the life of this young Irish-speaking male poet. As 脫 Liath谩in himself notes in the online Irish language newspaper of Dublin City University, 蝉肠谩迟丑谩苍, the diaries are not without their sadness, and there is pathos in 脫 R铆ord谩in鈥檚 terse entries on his tuberculosis, from which he died in 1977. Overall, such a wealth of autobiographical material provides context and depth for some of 脫 R铆ord谩in鈥檚 most challenging poetry, as well as providing fresh forays into his more accessible work.

Of central importance to Se谩n 脫 R铆ord谩in: Na Dialanna, 1& 2: 1940 is that, in editing these diaries, 脫 Liath谩in has produced a fascinating book that highlights the diary in the Irish language as genre in its own right and as a vehicle for the formation of the creative writer. While the centrality of diary writing to creativity has a long record in English and American literary scholarship in relation to writers such as Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, this is the first time that the diary鈥檚 importance in Irish, and to Irish, is significantly showcased. The publication of the diaries results from much scholarship, artistry, and imagination. A landmark in Irish language literary studies, Se谩n 脫 R铆ord谩in: Na Dialanna, 1 & 2, 1940 is the fruit of 脫 Liath谩in鈥檚 editing and emanates from the vision of modern Irish scholar Breand谩n 脫 Buachalla (1936-2010), whose purchase of the Se谩n 脫 Riord谩in papers for University College Dublin in 1984 forms part of this story.

 

Published on May 1st, 2023.

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