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[German Version] I. Folk/Folk Religion – II. Religious Studies – III. Judaism – IV. Christianity – V. Islam I. Folk/Folk Religion In the English-speaking realm, the adjective “folk” marks common cultural pheonomena as expressions of a peas-…

[German Version] (Mahala; Oct 26, 1911, New Orleans, LA – Jan 27, 1972, Evergreen Park, IL), an Afro-American singer. Raised as the daughter of a dock worker and Baptist pastor, Mahalia Jackson began singing in the choir of her church congregation already as a five-year-old. From 1927 onward, she worked as a domestic employee in Chicago, but increasingly earned her livelihood from singing in churches. After being discovered by T. Dorsey (1935), she attained international fame through concerts and …

[German Version] Hollywood, situated to the northwest of the city center and first planned as an alcohol-free district in 1887, has been a district of Los Angeles since 1910. Shortly after the first films were screened (1885), the film industry was attracted to the place by its mild, sunny climate, varied scenery and plentiful labor. The filming of …

[German Version] (Dec 10, 1830, Amherst, MA – May 15, 1886, ibid.) was an American poet who spent the last 30 years of her life in almost total seclusion …

[German Version] I. Greco-Roman Antiquity – II. Drama and Religion – III. Drama and the Christian Tradition I. Greco-Roman Antiquity 1. Concept The noun δρᾶμα…

[German Version] (May 11, 1894, Pittsburgh, PA – Apr 1, 1991, New York), an American dancer and choreographer who is considered one of the pioneers of modern dance. After the completion of her training in Los Angeles, she first appeared in reviews and on vaudeville shows, and founded the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in 1927 as well as the Dance Repertory Theatre in New York in 1930. She called for the involvement of the entire body and mind in the dramatic conception. Her more than 200 choreographies dealt with historical themes ( Frontier, 1935; Appalachian Spring, 1944), Gre…

[German Version] (Apr 24, 1905, Guthrie, KY – Sep 15, 1989, Stratton VT), American author, poet, and literary critic. His works, set primarily in the American South, center on interpersonal relationships and power struggles against the background of complex historical process. With the other members of the conservative literary group called the Fugitives, he was convinced of the need for a religious, political, and aesthetic counterpoise to a world dominated by technology and rationality. In works like his novels Night Rider (1939) and All the King’s Men (1946), which received th…

[German Version] began in the mid-1970s in New York as part of the complex, initially Afro-American and later international hip-hop movement, other expressions of which are DJing, breakdance, and graffiti. Rap (in the double sense of “utter vigorously” and “tap smartly”) is a rhythmic, mostly rhyming speech song with percussion accompaniment. It is thought to have arisen from Caribbean and African narrative traditions ( …

[German Version] (T.S.; Nov 26, 1888 St. Louis, LA – Jan 4, 1965 London). From a Unitarian family, Eliot became one of the pioneers of modern literature and a guiding figure of Anglo-American culture in the 20th century, (a) through his studies at Harvard (with a dissertation…

[German Version] ( Jul 14, 1904, Radzymin, Poland – Jul 24, 1991, Surfside, FL). Raised as the son of a Hasidic rabbi in Poland, Singer chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps but became a writer; in 1935 he emigrated to America. His short stories, novels, and children’s books, set in Polish shtetls ( Satan in Goray, 1935; The Family Moskat, 1950; The Slave…

[German Version] (Feb 27, 1902, Salinas, CA – Dec 20, 1968, New York), American writer and journalist. His realistic novels and short stories, mostly set in California, are characterized by incisive social criticism. His characters are caught between the poles of ethical idealism and materialism ( …

[German Version] (Nov 24, 1713, Clonmel, Ireland – Mar 18, 1768, London), novelist and Anglican clergyman. Initially he published sermons and pamphlets. After his …

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[German Version] (Jan 20, 1879, Newark, NJ – Jul 21, 1968, Hollywood, CA), dancer and choreographer. After initial success in vaudeville and on Broadway, she focused her style on ethno-religious themes and became a pioneer of modern American dance. Particularly interested in the traditions of Egypt and India, she created the dances “Radha” (1906), “The Ince…

[English Version] Sterne, Laurence (24.11.1713 Clonmel, Irland – 18.3.1768 London), engl. Landpfarrer und Schriftsteller, veröffentlichte zunächst Predigten und Pamphlete. Nach der umgehend verbotenen kirchenpolit. Satire »A Political Romance« (1759) erschienen 1760 die ersten beiden Bände des Hauptwerks »Tristram Shandy« (Bd.3–9 …

[English Version] . R. Music entstand Mitte der 70er Jahre des 20.Jh. in New York als Teil der komplexen, zunächst afroamer. und später internationalisierten Hiphop-Bewegung, deren andere Ausdrucksformen »DJaying«, »Breakdance« und »Graffiti« sind. R. (in der Doppelbedeutung von »vor sich hin red…

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[English Version] Singer, Isaac Bashevis (14.7.1904 Radzymin, Polen – 24.7.1991 Surfside, FL). Als Sohn eines chassidischen Rabbis in Polen aufgewachsen, wählte S. nicht den Beruf seines Vaters, sondern wurde Schriftsteller und wanderte 1935 nach Amerika aus. Gegenstand seiner im poln…

[English Version] Saint Denis, Ruth (20.1.1879 Newark, NJ–21.7.1968 Hollywood, CA), Tänzerin und Choreographin, die nach anfänglichen Erfolgen im Vaudeville und am Bro…

[English Version] Steinbeck, John (27.2.1902 Salinas, CA – 20.12.1968 New York), amer. Schriftsteller und Journalist, dessen meist in Kalifornien spielende Romane und Kurzgesch. von einem ausgeprägten sozialkrit. Realismus geprägt sind. Seine Charaktere leben im Spannungsfeld zw. ethischem Idealismus und Materialismus (The Pearl, 1947) und zw. biologischer oder sozialer Determination und freiem Willen (East of Eden, 1952). Immer wieder thematisierte S. das Leben der Zukurzgekommenen – so in »Of Mic…