EIHS Lecture: The Ethics of Blessed Entertainment: The Visual and Affective Fundraising Strategies of German Humanitarianism on Behalf of Ottoman Armenians (1890-1930)

“Should it be so that we simply get no more money if we do not set the mental engines of both the religious and sensation in motion, should it really be so? What an alarming, fatal pair of crutches, which is here so inseparable religion and sensation!"

In two sentences, Paul Schütz, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lepsius Deutsche Orient Mission in Berlin, summarizes and questions the primary humanitarian fundraising strategies of German humanitarians on behalf of Ottoman Armenians starting in the 1890s, namely the exploitation of the public’s religious sensibilities and a common taste for sensationalist stories and images. Examining the textual and visual fundraising material, the talk highlights the link between religious obligations and popular tastes and habits, illustrating how German humanitarians navigated state politics, public opinion, and the desires of a pietist counter-public to mobilize empathy and aid for Ottoman Armenians. The talk explores the intersection of media, performance, and humanitarianism by emphasizing the importance of visual and affective strategies in humanitarian work, the ethical considerations involved, and the historical evolution of these practices.

Melanie Tanielian is an Associate Professor in the History Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her monograph The Charity of War: Famine, Humanitarian Aid and World War I in the Middle East explores the political of provisioning in ameliorating wartime famine on the Ottoman home front. A historian of war and society, Tanielian’s research interests include the social and cultural history of WWI in the Middle East and the history of modern humanitarianism. She is currently working on a new book, Fantasies of Humanitarianism/Humanitarian Fantasies: Germany and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1896-1933 under contract with Cambridge University Press.

This event presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.