Humanities & Social Sciences

Worlds of the ring

Nation and empire in the British and German circus

by Sabine Hanke

Description

Worlds of the Ring is a groundbreaking exploration of the interwar European circus scene, focusing on the German Sarrasani and British Bertram W. Mills' circuses. This study illuminates the correlation between the circus's evolution and imperialism/nationalism, revealing how these enterprises shaped national identities for popular audiences. Examining the years 1918-45, the book takes a transnational perspective, uncovering the interplay of international and national forces that influenced the modern circus. Through case studies, it delves into the lives of individuals in the industry, using diverse sources like newspapers, legal documents, and performer archives. The book introduces the concept of Orientalism to analyse how circuses depicted foreign worlds, and provides a fresh perspective on interwar popular culture, globalising forces, and the circus's ties to European imperialism in the early 20th century.

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Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo [DRC], Congo, Republic of the, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hongkong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, China, Macedonia [FYROM], Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Cyprus, Palestine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Dominican Republic, Myanmar, Monaco

Reviews

Circuses and their grand arenas shaped the entertainment industry between the wars and excited both small-town and big-city audiences. Worlds of the Ring makes an original and significant contribution to the history of popular culture by highlighting the correlation between the modern circus's evolution and modes of imperialism and nationalism. Through the cases of the German Sarrasani and the British Bertram W. Mills' circuses this study examines how these enterprises animated both the nation and its others for popular audiences. Circuses and performers constructed different worlds for their audiences and for themselves and the book looks at this cultural history of European circuses between 1918 and 1945 from a transnational perspective. The interwar era's interrelated international and national forces shaped the modern circus, which the book recovers through the lives of different people involved in this industry. Through the concept of Orientalism, it probes the mechanisms at play in depicting foreign and exotic worlds in the circus. It is based on a variety of sources including newspapers, legal documents, advertisements, economic correspondence, photographs, and performers' archives. Worlds of the Ring offers a new understanding of circus as a form of interwar popular culture, its globalisation, and anchoring in European imperialism at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Author Biography

Sabine Hanke is a Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Tuebingen.

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date January 2025
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526175090 / 1526175096
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages240
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions234 X 156 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 5968
  • SeriesStudies in Popular Culture
  • Reference Code15878

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