Nationalisierung der Kindheit durch Kindermedien im Deutschen Kaiserreich

Abstract

This paper examines how childhood in the German Empire was nationalized through children’s media. Four objects from the collection “Kindermedienwelten” of the Institut für angewandte Kindermedienforschung (IfaK) of the Hochschule der Medien Suttgart (HdM) were analyzed, considering their role as media tailored for children and reflecting their placement in the nation. The embedding in a context of questions of history of nationalism, childhood and cultural history allows for a detailed analysis of the objects, both as standalone entities and within the context of their reception. They served two functions: As media, they disseminated (nationalist) content, but they also manifested content themselves. The objects eventually evolved into mass media accessible to a broader population and thus contributed to the construction of a perceived “imagined community” (Anderson). The intended or unconsciously conveyed contents, as well as the visual “community” transported through the objects’ media were frequently reinterpreted through children’s everyday use and interpretation, blended with individual preferences, and resulting in a combination of grand state history and small history of everyday life.