American Corner Innsbruck
Buchpräsentation
Amerikanischer Nordwesten und Kalifornien
Historische Spurensuche jenseits der Mythen
von Univ.-Prof. Dr. Arno Heller
April 21, 2010, 7.00 p.m., SR 50105/2 (Bruno-Sander-Haus, 1st floor)
Following words of welcome by University Vice-President Prof. Dr. Tilmann Märk and ACI Director Dr. Gudrun Grabher, who both congratulated Dr. Heller on his most recent publication, the audience was introduced to the fascinating history of the American Northwest and California.
Dr. Heller, shocked by the cliché-ridden perspectives on American culture he encountered in seminars and even among fellow academics, started an ambitious project: to write a book that not only considers the enormous regional differences of the American Northwest and California, but that transcends the narrow confines of academic audiences and makes his research accessible to other readers as well. Beginning with the deconstruction of common stereotypical conceptions of the American West and its denizens (created by Remington’s romanticized paintings as much as by Turner’s frontier thesis and thousands of dime novels), Dr. Heller presented his audience with the unvarnished and often unnoticed history of the American Northwest in a chapter-by-chapter approach. Whereas some sections of his work deal with such interesting historical episodes as the military annexation of California, the gold rush of 1849, and the vast railroad network established with the help of Chinese immigrant laborers, a considerable part is concerned with the fate of the numerous Native American tribes in the Northwestern and Californian region, which suffered the European scourges of introduced diseases, dislocation, and often brutal conversion in the wake of competitive turbo-expansionism.
Dr. Heller’s presentation certainly whetted the appetite of anyone with an interest in American history and demonstrated that his publication on the American Northwest and California is a detailed and insightful attempt to disenchant the persistent myth of glorious conquest and exploration, eventually yielding not one monolithic national, but diverse regional histories.
(text: Andreas Leisner)
Words of welcome by University Vice-President Prof. Dr. Tilmann Märk
Introdcution by ACI Director Prof. Gudrun Grabher
An engaging book presentation ...
... and an enchanted audience.
Prof. Arno Heller, Dr. Birgit Holzner (iup), VR Prof. Tilmann Märk
Die dramatische Geschichte der Eroberung und Erschließung des amerikanischen Nordwestens und Kaliforniens vom 16. Jahrhundert bis ca. 1900 steht im Mittelpunkt dieses Buches. Es hinterfragt die glorifizierenden Mythisierungen und Klischees der populären Massenkultur und bemüht sich um eine faktennahe, realistische, auch ethnische Randgruppen berücksichtigende Gesamtdarstellung.
Die Verbindung von geschichtlichen und kulturellen Nahaufnahmen, reichem Bild- und Kartenmaterial und persönlichen Erfahrungen vor Ort möchte nicht nur Spezialisten ansprechen, sondern alle an den USA Interessierten. Routenvorschläge und Ortsbeschreibungen geben Westreisenden Anregungen, sich selbst auf historische Spurensuche abseits der touristischen Trampelpfade zu begeben.
Arno Heller
Arno Heller ist Professor für Amerikanistik und lehrte Literaturund Kulturwissenschaft an den Universitäten Innsbruck und Graz sowie an deutschen und amerikanischen Hochschulen. Seine persönlichen Erfahrungen und Fotodokumentationen aus mehreren Forschungsaufenthalten verbindet er mit den Ergebnissen der neueren amerikanischen Westgeschichtsschreibung und Regionalforschung.
