Reading and Rebellion in Catholic Germany, 1770–1914

Interrogates the belief that the clergy defined German Catholic reading habits, showing that readers frequently rebelled against their church's rules.

Jeffrey T. Zalar (Author)

9781108472906, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 November 2018

398 pages, 1 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.68 kg

'Reading and Rebellion in Catholic Germany is a deeply researched and carefully organized book that makes a strong case not only for rethinking the reality of a disciplined Catholic milieu, but also for rethinking the importance, in general, of reading as a force for historical change. It will be of interest to historians of modern Germany, German Catholicism, the nineteenth century, reading, and commercial culture.' Kara Ritzheimer, The Journal of Modern History

Popular conceptions of Catholic censorship, symbolized above all by the Index of Forbidden Books, figure prominently in secular definitions of freedom. To be intellectually free is to enjoy access to knowledge unimpeded by any religious authority. But how would the history of freedom change if these conceptions were false? In this panoramic study of Catholic book culture in Germany from 1770–1914, Jeffrey T. Zalar exposes the myth of faith-based intellectual repression. Catholic readers disobeyed the book rules of their church in a vast apostasy that raised personal desire and conscience over communal responsibility and doctrine. This disobedience sparked a dramatic contest between lay readers and their priests over proper book behavior that played out in homes, schools, libraries, parish meeting halls, even church confessionals. The clergy lost this contest in a fundamental reordering of cultural power that helped usher in contemporary Catholicism.

Introduction
1. At the origins of Germany's book wars, 1770–1815
2. Gall and honey in the Catholic theology of cultural taste
3. Reading run amok in Prussia triumphant, 1815–1845
4. Book mischief in the 'papal monarchy', 1845–1880
5. Catholics and their 'deficit in education'
6. The tail wags the dog: the lay rebellion against Catholic libraries after 1880
7. Brave new world: lay reading in the libraries they want
8. An appetite for pleasure: private reading in Germania Profana
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Religion & beliefs [HR], European history [HBJD]