A Wall of Our Own - (Studies in United States Culture) by Paul M Farber (Paperback)

About the Book

"The Berlin Wall is arguably the most prominent symbol of the Cold War era, demarcating real and figurative divisions between east and west, Communism and capitalism, oppression and freedom. Its fall in 1989 is broadly understood as a pivotal moment in the history of the last century. For years afterward, tourists, locals, and even private businesses shipped fragments from the concrete structure around the world, turning it into a collectible commodity and cultural signifier for the triumph of Western democracy. As Paul Farber argues in framing this book, as the Wall was broken apart, it also solidified itself in the American imagination. But what was the nature and significance of this imaginary? In A wall of our own, Farber addresses this question from the moment of the Wall's creation to the present. He reveals how it has been both a literal and metaphorical presence in American culture, particularly influencing our discourse and ideas about breaking down barriers of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation"--

Book Synopsis

The Berlin Wall is arguably the most prominent symbol of the Cold War era. Its construction in 1961 and its dismantling in 1989 are broadly understood as pivotal moments in the history of the last century. In A Wall of Our Own, Paul M. Farber traces the Berlin Wall as a site of pilgrimage for American artists, writers, and activists. During the Cold War and in the shadow of the Wall, figures such as Leonard Freed, Angela Davis, Shinkichi Tajiri, and Audre Lorde weighed the possibilities and limits of American democracy. All were sparked by their first encounters with the Wall, incorporated their reflections in books and artworks directed toward the geopolitics of division in the United States, and considered divided Germany as a site of intersection between art and activism over the respective courses of their careers. Departing from the well-known stories of Americans seeking post-World War II Paris for their own self-imposed exile or traveling the open road of the domestic interstate highway system, Farber reveals the divided city of Berlin as another destination for Americans seeking a critical distance. By analyzing the experiences and cultural creations of "American Berliner" artists and activists, Farber offers a new way to view not only the Wall itself but also how the Cold War still structures our thinking about freedom, repression, and artistic resistance on a global scale.

Review Quotes

"More than just a Cold War travelogue shadowing the times spent by legendary American cultural figures Leonard Freed, Angela Davis, Shinkichi Tajiri, and Audre Lorde in Berlin during the second half of the twentieth century, the book interweaves history with critical visual analyses to draw comparisons and contrasts across national borders."--ARTMargins