Out of Line: Reading and Writing Protest in West Germany, 1968 (Social History, Popular Culture, And Politics In Germany) - Softcover

Schweppe, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0472058177 ISBN 13: 9780472058174

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2026

Synopsis

By analyzing how protest fused the politics of reading and writing in 1968 West Germany, author Peter Schweppe uncovers the vibrant history of an alternative literary form during a watershed moment of social upheaval. Out of Line interlinks the politics of reading and writing with the verve of Global Sixties’ protest, where fringe books, underground newspapers, incendiary flyers, and furtive graffiti galvanized readers and writers alike. The phrase “out of line” scrutinizes the emerging performative relationship between visual and textual media in the late 1960s as it metamorphosed modes of West German literary production, channeled the agenda of the protest movement, and, in doing so, shaped new kinds of textual meaning. Through its engagement with theories of materiality and “things,” Out of Line interrogates the dynamic ways that protest readers and writers pushed and broke conventional boundaries. Schweppe’s exploration of form discloses how reading and writing out of line implicates a textual and material history of protest and the lessons it offers protest histories to come.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Schweppe is Associate Professor of German Studies at Montana State University.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472058177
• ISBN 13: 9780472058174
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 270