Cultural Visions: Essays In The History Of Culture.

This collection opens with an inquiry into the assumptions and methods of the historical study of culture, comparing the "new cultural history" with the "old." Thirteen essays follow, each defining a problem within a particular culture. In the first section, "Biography and Autobiography," three scholars explore historically changing types of self-conception, each reflecting larger cultural meanings; essays included examine Italian Renaissance biographers and the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Mohandas Gandhi. A second group of contributors explore problems raised by the writing of history itself, especially as it relates to a notion of culture. Here examples are drawn from the writings of Thucydides, Jacob Burckhardt, and the art historians Alois Riegl and Josef Strzygowski. In the third section, "Politics, Nationalism, and Culture," the essays explore relationships between cultural creativity and national identity, with case studies focusing on the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, the place of Castile within the national history of Spain, and the impact of World War I on work of Thomas Mann. The final section, "Cultural Translation," raises the complex questions of cultural influence and the transmission of traditions over time through studies of Philo of Alexandria's interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, Erasmus' use of Socrates, Jean Bodin's conception of Roman law, and adaptations of the Hebrew Bible for American children Truth And Meaning In Cultural History / Benjamin C. Sax -- Varieties Of Biography During The Italian Renaissance: Individuality And Beyond / James Michael Weiss -- Autobiography And American Identity: Another Look At Benjamin Franklin / Amy Apfel Kass -- The Autobiographer In Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's The Story Of My Experiments With Truth / Milton Eder -- Thucydides' Argument With The Facts / James Redfield -- An Acute And Practiced Eye: Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization Of The Renaissance In Italy, And The Problem Of Cultural History / Benjamin C. Sax -- Art History And Ideology: Alois Riegl And Josef Strzygowski / Margaret Olin -- Caesar Ludens: Emperor Maximilian I And The Waning Middle Ages / Larry Silver -- Spain As Castile: The Making Of A National Culture / E. Inman Fox -- Thomas Mann And World War I: Germanness Under Siege / Alcyone Scott -- The Dialectics Of Reward And Punishment In Philo Of Alexandria / Alan Mendelson -- O Sancte Socrate, Ora Pro Nobis: Erasmus On The Problem Of Athens And Jerusalem / Katy O'brien Weintraub -- Jean Bodin, Roman Law, And The Renaissance Conception Of The Past / Zachary Sayre Schiffman -- Making The Bible Modern: Translating Biblical Culture For Jewish American Children In The Early Twentieth Century / Penny Schine Gold. Edited By Penny Schine Gold And Benjamin C. Sax. Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Truth and Meaning in Cultural History Biography and Autobiography Varieties of Biography during the Italian Renaissance: Individuality and Beyond Autobiography and American Identity: Another Look at Benjamin Franklin The Autobiographer in Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth Historiography Thucydides' Argument with the Facts "An Acute and Practiced Eye": Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, and the Problem of Cultural History Art History and Ideology: Alois Riegl and Josef Strzygowski Politics, Nationalism, and Culture Caesar Ludens: Emperor Maximilian I and the Waning Middle Ages Spain as Castile: The Making of a National Culture Thomas Mann and World War I: Germanness under Siege Cultural Translation The Dialectics of Reward and Punishment in Philo of Alexandria O Sancte Socrate, Ora pro Nobis: Erasmus on the Problem of Athens and Jerusalem Jean Bodin, Roman Law, and the Renaissance Conception of the Past Making the Bible Modern: Translating Biblical Culture for Jewish American Children in the Early Twentieth Century Contributors