Martynkewicz:Amerika erzählen

There are many attempts to narrate America, gathered here and originating from around 1945. In that year, Jean-Paul Sartre, who made waves with his existentialism in Paris, came to America for the first time. A year later, Albert Camus embarked on his journey, and in 1947, Simone de Beauvoir set off on her lecture tour. America was a fascination, the land of the future. The stance towards America and democracy quickly became a hotly debated topic right after World War II. The majority of German intellectuals distanced themselves. Margret Boveri published her 'American Primer for Adult Germans' in 1946. It was primarily the French intellectuals who initiated a shift in perspective. No longer was the dualism of culture and civilization in the foreground, but rather racism. Here, Beauvoir noted, 'the gap between ideal and reality' of American democracy is revealed. This gap has not changed even in the times of Black Lives Matter - on the contrary.