Romanticism, Culture and Migration

This work links the large-scaled migrations of German-speaking people with their culture (art, music, literature,) and the presence of wanderlust in the German mind over many centuries and shows how culture is transferred from the country of origin to the settler culture through the migrant.

This work provides an understanding of the large worldwide migrations of the German-speaking people from the seventeenth to twenty-first century. By examining cultural aspects of the German-speaking diaspora such as art, music, literature, and work practices, a complex case is presented to understand wanderlust as it exists in the German mind, and its capacity to stimulate migration. The work also investigates the transfer of culture from the country of origin to the settler culture through the migrant and demonstrates the positive benefits of migration and the subtlety of cross-cultural transfer. The study uses the diary of Adolph Würfel to provide a detailed insight into the mind of one individual, his education and the culture he brings with him from Europe to his new country, Australia, in 1876. It shows in detail, with concrete examples, how the transfer of culture occurs between the confines of Würfel's own life and his new country over a forty-year period.

Autorentext

Kathrine M. Reynolds, author of The Frauenstein Letters (Peter Lang 2009), is an Australian scholar with a scientific, language and history background, working in migration research. She holds a BA and MSc from the University of NSW and a PhD from the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Sydney. She is currently a Research Associate in the Department of History. She is also a Councillor of the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Inhalt

Contents: Migration and colonial Australia - Migration theory - Migration psychology - German romanticism and migration - Cultural transfer.