Teilw. zugl.: Berlin, Freie Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2005

Univ., Diss.--Münster, 2003. / Literaturverz. S. XIII - XXXI.

This dissertation examines the roles played by Catholicism on the German Home Front during the Second World War. It analyses to what extent German Catholics supported their nation’s war effort, and how they sought to reconcile their religious convictions with Nazism and its conduct of the conflict. The thesis examines the oscillations of morale within the Catholic ‘milieu’ during the war years, and analyses its responses to German defeats from 1943 onwards. In addition to these overtly political themes, this dissertation analyses the social history of religion during this period. In order to focus its analysis on a manageable scale, this thesis focuses on the experiences and activities of Catholics from the Rhineland and Westphalia. Its concluding chapter uses its findings concerning Catholicism during the war years to revise current understandings of the formation of a conservative ‘restoration’ in West Germany after May 1945. Many existing works concerning German Catholicism during this period provide a monolithic portrayal of the confession’s internal coherence, and domination of its adherents’ political beliefs. This thesis, by contrast, argues that profound divides existed amongst German Catholics during the Second World War. Younger clergymen were frequently more sympathetic to völkisch nationalism than their older colleagues, and desired a more pro-Nazi stance from the German episcopate. The Catholic laity, moreover, was similarly often frustrated by the conservatism of episcopal Neo-Scholastic theology, and wanted sermons and pastoral letters that would endorse the German war effort in more unambiguous terms. The war years witnessed a complex negotiation of religious, political and national loyalties amongst Catholic communities, ensuring the thesis provides a nuanced picture of the confession’s place in German society during this period.

Thesis advisor: Devin Pendas / Ernst Juenger lived through almost the entire 20th century. This longevity has placed him at the center of many of the most defining moments of modern German history. It is not, however, simply his longevity but his attitudes that have caused such a controversy to grow up around him. A staunch nationalist and one might venture to say, war-monger, during the First World War and a virulent enemy of the Weimar Republic, many historians have classified him as a Nazi author. This thesis explores the relationsihp of Ernst Juenger to the National Socialists in the context of his writing and political leanings between the First World War and the end of the Second. Without understanding the integral differences between his ideology and that of the NSDAP (namely their divergence on the issues of racial purity, parliamentarianism, communism, the use of power, and the position of art)one cannot appreciate his place in history and his perspective on Germany. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: John Michalczyk / Although the National Socialists' ultimate intentions in regard to religion were concealed from the pubic under layers of political rhetoric, their objectives were nonetheless clear. The National Socialists sought the destruction of the Christian religion, whose teachings and values were seen as inimical to those of the State, and the establishment of a Reichskirche that would preach the doctrines of National Socialism. The German government during the Third Reich was a totalitarian regime, but there was one matter in which the Nazi Party did not have carte blanche, religion, which made it an intrinsic threat to the authority of the State. Many Nazi officials saw Christianity as the inherent and irreconcilable enemy of National Socialism, but they knew they risked losing the support of the German people if they instantly dissolved the Christian Churches. Instead of vehemently attacking the Christian confessions the way they did in Poland, in Germany the National Socialists set up a mirage of support for and acceptance of religious institutions, all while working to undermine the Christian tradition that they considered of greatest detriment and danger to their State. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Visual artist Frank Stella (b. 1936) said about his work, “What you see is what you see.” A member of the visual art movement known as minimalism, he is famed for his repeating black -stripe paintings. There are noticeable parallels between the concept of these visual works and Steve Reich’s (b. 1936) minimalist music, particularly Nagoya Marimbas (1994). This Honors thesis will explore the roots of minimalism in the visual arts and music, Reich’s compositional voice, the repetitive rhythmic components of minimalist music, and the challenges of arranging a percussion piece for a flute ensemble leading up to the final arrangement, Nagoya Flutes.

Steve Reich’s music has had a profound effect on the contemporary percussionist’s repertoire. More recently, his Mallet Quartet (2009) has been one of the most performed works in the rising genre of mallet-keyboard quartets, which was featured in Third Coast Percussion’s 2017 Grammy-winning album Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich. With Mallet Quartet, Reich codified this type of ensemble into the contemporary repertoire of percussion as evidenced through current commissions in progress by groups such as Sō Percussion and Third Coast Percussion. The purpose of this document is to delineate the trajectory (past and present) of the mallet-keyboard quartet and highlight the most important compositional characteristics found within Mallet Quartet. These characteristics include the use of canonical augmentations, large-scale tonal shifts, rhythmic modification, and developing variation. After this analysis, this dissertation provides a performance guide to Mallet Quartet which specifically address the practicalities necessary for a successful performance. Topics such as the setup of instruments, mallet considerations, approaches to challenges in part-reading, and common ensemble issues are discussed.

The thesis is an attempt to reconcile contradictions and devise historical meaning from a problematic text. The book is Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis, first published in 1933. This influential psychoanalytic work embodies both a radical social theory and disturbing authoritarian attitudes. The thesis uses a variety of methodologies, in particular Roland Barthes' techniques for ascribing historical meaning to certain formal qualities of writing. The thesis proceeds from a summary of methodological studies in intellectual history and criticism, including those of I. A. Richards, R. G. Collingwood, and Dominick LaCapra, as well as Barthes, to a description of Character Analysis and its various historical contexts - biographical, social, and intellectual. The thesis relies on the authoritative biography of Reich, by Myron Scharaf, on autobiographical accounts by Reich's wife and son, on other texts in psychoanalytic social theory by Erik Erikson, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Georges Bataille, and Max Horkheimer, and on secondary scholarship on the origins of National Socialist ideology. The thesis argues that despite the influence of reactionary tendencies in Reich's personality and cultural and social milieu, Character Analysis remains a valuable work in the development of a convincing theory of liberation.

This thesis focuses on the concept of cultural national identity during the Third Reich and how the Nazis attempted to shape an image of Germany to their liking. By specifically examining musical culture and restrictions, this thesis investigates the methods the Nazis used to define Germany through music by determining what aspects of Germany’s culture were not “traditionally” German—namely those of the Jewish minority in Germany. Therefore, this study follows the Nazi restrictions on the German population who participated in the creation and performance of music and is then contrasted with those imposed upon the corresponding Jewish population. The resulting conclusion is that the Nazis created a place for exclusion and oppression, but managed to, ironically, create a place of refuge for Jewish musicians in the Third Reich. Music was, in the end, an unstoppable force which the Nazis could not control or fully regulate.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--Universität Göttingen, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 597-634. Index.