The story:
Pells maintains that in spite of America's political, cultural and economic influence on Europeans in the 20th century, Europeans have not significantly changed their values or patterns of behavior. But still, Europeans have adopted American culture whenever they found it useful. So were Europeans largely attracted by American films made in Hollywood. On the other hand, were Americans influenced by European value, esp. after WWII when a great exodus of Europeans took place, notably of European Jews.
Conversely did American influence Germany's life dramatically through the American occupation after the war. This was a trend which turned into the contrary when esp. students from Berlin's Free University took to the streets against American foreign policies in the 1960s. America had tried to impose its democratic principles on Germany esp. through the Marshall Plan or the Fulbright exchange program, but mostly through music and pop culture which had a tremendous impact on young people. Until the mid-1960s Germany was the staunchest ally and most pro-American country in Europe (unike France).
Later in the century American impact on Europeans still increased, particularly due to mass consumerism and the English language in movies and television (Bonanza, Dallas, Baywatch).
On the other hand, European influence on Americans took place through the 'New Left' from England or 'the long march through the institutions' propagated by Germany's Rudi Dutschke. Even more materialistic item such as clothes, cars, or gourmet food entered American life. Both continents had to adapt to each other, and both learned from each other, but each also wants to maintain their identities.

Extract from book:

About the author:
Professor Richard Pells (Ph.D., Harvard 1969) is a specialist in 20th Century American cultural and intellectual history. His current interest is in the global impact of American culture, and the ways that foreign cultures have affected the United States. His books include Radical Visions and American Dreams: Culture and Social Thought in the Depression Years; The Liberal Mind in a Conservative Age: American Intellectuals in the 1940s and 1950s; and Not Like Us: How Europeans Have Loved, Hated, and Transformed American Culture Since World War II. He is now at work on a book, From Modernism to the Movies: The Globalization of American Culture in the 20th Century, to be published by Yale University Press. Prof. Pells has taught abroad at the universities of Sao Paulo, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Sydney, Bonn, Berlin, Cologne, and Vienna. He writes often for newspapers and magazines including the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He is a regular participant in conferences of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, and the European Association of American Studies. Prof. Pells has also won a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellowship. This is a new program designed to provide short-term grants for senior Americanists to lecture, teach courses, and consult with faculty at universities in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. Prof. Pells is holding a Visiting Professorship in the Department of History at the University of Vienna in June 2003.

Buchdaten:
NOT LIKE US by Richard Pells
Sprache: Englisch
Taschenbuch - 496 Seiten - Basic Books
Erscheinungsdatum: 1. April 1998
Auflage: Reprint
ISBN: 0465001637
Preis: € 21,90




More works from the same author:

hier online bestellen The Liberal Mind in a Conservative Age: American Intellectuals in the 1940s and 1950s	hier online bestellen Radical Visions and American Dreams: Culture and Social Thought in the Depression Years