A Reception History and Impact History of the Swastika Since the 19th Century

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies, grade: 8.5, Tilburg University (Liberal Arts and Sciences), course: The Impact of Colonialism on 19th-century European Culture, language: English, abstract: The colonialism of the 19th century has not only been the consequence and reason for the rapid industrialization, urbanization, socio-political and cultural changes, but also invoked a change in a way people would perceive the world around them. In other words, it is important to discuss how reception history entered people’s lives: its notion is important in itself not only as a concept, but as a method to investigate the dynamics of what is being ‘read’ in selected products from another culture. The paper will investigate the history of the swastika since its European discovery in the 19th century, how it was perceived then and now and what impact it had on the European society.