The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption? [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

YA-Heller does a laudable job of providing the pre-20th-century history, the Nazi-associated infamy, and the punk-era appropriation of this graphical image. The clear, comprehensive, and cogent narrative is illustrated with abundant prints that range from symbol dictionaries and propaganda posters to photos of architecture and textile designs. The author brings into stark illumination how thoroughly the emblem has come to embody Nazi ideology and how its meaning has been changed for, seemingly, all subsequent generations. This is a book that is accessible in language and content to most readers, yet it will force even the most sophisticated to rethink and rework their ideas of how images work in the world. A valuable purchase for school and public libraries, as well as for art and design collections.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The mysteries and misunderstandings of the symbol of the swastika are explained in this book. It analyzes the swastika's pre-Nazi religious and commercial uses (in all of its varied permutations), the Nazi appropriation and misuse of the form, and its contemporary applications as both a racist and an apolitical icon. The book traces the symbol to its beginnings in antiquity, exploring its form and addressing the misunderstanding of its symbolic and utilitarian functions.

Steven Heller is editor of the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design and the chair of the MFA design department at the School of Visual Arts. He is the author or editor of more than seventy books on graphic design, and he is a contributor or contributing editor to nearly 25 magazines, including Print, U&lc, Eye Magazine, Communications Arts, ID magazine, Graphis, Design Issues, and Mother Jones. Since 1986 he has been senior art director of the New York Times, which he first joined as an art director in 1974. From 1967-1973, he served as art director for numerous publications, including Interview magazine, The New York Free Press, Rock Magazine, Screw magazine, Mobster Times, Evergreen Review, and the Irish Arts Center.

He was awarded three design grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, in 1986,1988, and 1990. In 1996, he received a Special Educators Award from The Art Director's Club of New York. He has been the curator of ten design exhibitions, including "The Art of Satire" at the Pratt Graphics Center and "Art Against War" at the Parsons School of Design. Since 1986, he has directed "Modernism & Eclecticism: A History of American Graphic Design," an annual symposium at the School of Visual Arts. He lives in New York.