Abstract
Ernst Moritz Arndt's patriotic poem, "Des Deutschen Vaterland" (1813), written in response to the Wars of Liberation, is characterized by its anti-French rhetoric and call for a unified German nation. Widely published and performed in the German territories prior to the Revolution of 1848, the poem experienced renewed popularity during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871. This European conflict also resonated among German Americans, who published Arndt's poem in English translation to demonstrate their support of the German war effort. These publications evidence the process by which German cultural material was adapted to and also helped shape the immigrants' new national context.
Description
This book chapter is being made available with permission of the publisher.
Citation
Lorie A. Vanchena, 2007, "The Americanization of Ernst Moritz Arndt’s Political Poetry.” In Ernst Moritz Arndt (1796-1860): Deutscher Nationalismus—Europa—Transatlantische Perspektiven, ed. Walter Erhart and Arne Koch, vol. 112 of Studien und Texte zur Sozialgeschichte der Literatur. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, pp. 209-28.