Rubble, Ruins, And Romanticism: Visual Style, Narration, And Identity In German Post-war Cinema (film Studies)

Traditional criticism on German post-war cinema tends to define rubble films as simplistic texts of low artistic quality which serve to reaffirm the spectator's image of him or herself as »a good German« during »bad times«. Yet this study asserts that some rubble films are actually informed by a type of visual and narrative Romantic discourse which aims at provoking a »critical discussion« on German national identity and its reconstruction in the aftermath of the Third Reich. Considering the lack of previous analyses with regard to the key aspects of Romantic visual style, narration and literary motifs in rubble films, this study points to a major gap in research. Long description: Carl von Clausewitz bestimmt den Krieg als Zweikampf. Bernd Hüppaufs Grundlegung einer Kulturgeschichte des Kriegs widerspricht: Es gibt keinen Krieg ohne Diskurs. Der Blick auf den Kriegsdiskurs von seinen Anfängen in Mesopotamien bis zu den intelligenten Waffen in Cyberwar und Drohnenkrieg zeigt, dass Krieg aus militärischem Kampf und kulturellem Diskurs besteht. Militärgeschichte fetischisiert die Fakten, die Kulturgeschichte des Kriegs dagegen baut sie in ein Netz aus Bedeutungen ein. Erst so geraten Begeisterung, Angst, Grausamkeit und Grauen als Elemente des Kriegs in den Blick. Und erst so wird das Netz aus Symbolen, Handlungen und Bedeutungen beschreibbar, aus denen jede Erinnerung die Wirklichkeit des Kriegs konstruiert. Es ist der Blick auf Erlebnis, Ethik, Subjektivität und Identität, der die Kontinuität von Krieg über 3000 Jahre Kriegsgeschichte bis in die Gegenwart erweist. Daraus ergibt sich nicht weniger als das Erfordernis einer zu schreibenden Gefühlsmoral um die Frage: Dürfen Soldaten überhaupt töten? Table of Contents Acknowledgements Table of Figures Introduction 1. The Neoformalist Approach: Questions of Form and Style Film as an Aesthetic System The Result of Construction: Meaning 2. German Romanticism: The Stylistic Origin of Rubble Films Leading Stylistic and Narrative Romantic Devices Ruins and Fragment: A Romantic Discourse on Crisis 3. The Romantic Discourse in a Selection of Rubble Films Rubble Films: Common Features and Main Differences The Romantic Discourse The Murderers Are Among Us (1946): A Break with Nazi Cinema? Film Without a Name (1947/48): Irony Shall Help Us! The Blum Affair (1948): Engel’s Critical View on the Past The ‘Last’ Illusion (1948/49): Double Views and Mistaken Perception Second Hand Destiny (1949): The Demonic Bourgeois The Lost (1950/51): No Escape? Conclusion Literature Traditional criticism on German post-war cinema tends to define rubble films as simplistic texts of low artistic quality which serve to reaffirm the spectator's image of him or herself as »a good German« during »bad times«. Yet this study asserts that some rubble films are actually informed by a type of visual and narrative Romantic discourse which aims at provoking a »critical discussion« on German national identity and its reconstruction in the aftermath of the Third Reich. Considering the lack of previous analyses with regard to the key aspects of Romantic visual style, narration and literary motifs in rubble films, this study points to a major gap in research. German Cinema,Rubble Films,Romantic Discourse,Ruins,Aesthetics of Opposition,Film,Memory Culture,German History,Media Studies La 4e page de couverture indique : "Traditional criticism on German post-war cinema tends to define rubble films as simplistic texts of low artistic quality which serve to reaffirm the spectator's image of him or herself as "a good German" during "bad times". Yet this study asserts that some rubble films are actually informed by a type of visual and narrative Romantic discourse which aims at provoking a "critical discussion" on German national identity and its reconstruction in the aftermath of the Third Reich. Considering the lack of previous analyses with regard to the key aspects of Romantic visual style, narration and literary motifs in rubble films, this study points to a major gap in research" Examines the so-called rubble films, usually seen as simplistic texts reaffirming "good Germans during bad times" views, finding in some of them visual and narrative romantic discourse which provokes critical discussion on German national identity in the wake of the Third Reich.