Acknowledgements
Books are never written alone, and certainly not one with such a
sweepingcompassofthematicconcerns.Inthelongyearswhichittook
toputthistexttogether,Ihavesoughtandreceivedvaluableadvicefrom
colleagues and friends. Testing my ideas in conversations and at
conferences, I have learned much from Carmen Birkle, Mirosława
Buchholtz, Timothy Brennan, Thomas E. Cole, Ricca Edmondson,
Brigitte and Winfried Fluck, Kornelia Freitag, Keya Ganguly, Margaret
Gullette,Jens-MartinGurr,HeikeHartung,AlfredHornung,UdoHebel,
Bernd-Peter Lange, Klaus Lösch, Günter Lenz (+), Gesa Mackenthun,
Roberta Maierhofer, Ulla Kriebernegg, Frederike Offizier, Heike Paul,
Marc Priewe, Willy Raussert, John Carlos Rowe, Ariane Schröder,
Markus Woerner, Kathleen Woodward, to name only a few. Their
suggestions, their critical comment and their intellectual integrity are
behind many lines of this book, even though its shortcomings and
mistakes are entirely my own. I have enjoyed the cooperative spirit in
our department, represented by Lars Eckstein, Anja Schwarz, Nicole
Waller and Dirk Wiemann. During various stages of writing this book
and preparing its publication, I have received valuable aid from my
secretary Simone Heinze, and graduate student staff, Mirjam Grewe-
Salfeld, Philipp Kneis, Juliane Strätz, and especially from Johanna
Heide and Hannah Klümper. I cannot thank them enough. The most
importantsupport,withoutwhichmyprojectwouldhaveneverseenthe
light of day, has however been coming from my wife, Eva. To her I
dedicatethisbook.