Werner Sollors Reader

by Werner Sollors, Daniel G. Williams (editor)

Born in Silesia, raised in the Frankfurt area and educated in Berlin, Werner Sollors has spent most of his career at Harvard University in the United States and is regarded, in Cornel West's words, 'as one of the finest scholars that we have on race and cultural hybridity in both this country and the world'. This Reader offers the first comprehensive overview of the work of a central figure in the field of ethnic studies. The pieces collected here range from Puritan New England to contemporary Germany, from 'Exodus' to Mary Antin's Promised Land, from the 'Curse of Ham' to Teju Cole. They attest to Sollors' deep historical sensibilities, his attention to textual detail and his awareness of the costs and opportunities of both cosmopolitan ideals and particularist commitments, whilst addressing a central why does modernisation take the form of ethnicisation in many places around the globe?The collected essays are complemented by a detailed introduction by Daniel G. Williams which foregrounds some of the key emphases and tensions in Sollors' writings.

Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2025

About the author

Werner Sollors is a professor of Afro-American studies at Harvard. He was born in Germany and lives in the United States since 1978. He has been studying and writing about the history of American interracial relationships since 1986.