Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Framing the past : the historiography of German cinema and television / edited by Bruce A. Murray and Christopher J. Wickham.

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c1992.ISBN:
  • 0809317567
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 791.43750943 20
LOC classification:
  • PN1993.5.G3
Contents:
Introduction / Bruce A. Murray -- 1. History in the Making: Weimar Cinema and National Identity / Thomas J. Saunders -- 2. Lubitsch's Period Films as Palimpsest: On Passion and Deception / Sabine Hake -- 3. Imagining History: Weimar Images of the French Revolution / Marc Silberman -- 4. Eros, Thanatos, and the Will to Myth: Prussian Films in German Cinema / Jan-Christopher Horak -- 5. Leni Riefenstahl's Feature Films and the Question of a Fascist Aesthetic / Linda Schulte-Sasse -- 6. Television as History: Representations of German Television Broadcasting, 1935-1944 / William Uricchio -- 7. Generational Conflict and Historical Continuity in GDR Film / Barton Byg -- 8. The Disposal of Memory: Fascism and the Holocaust on West German Television / Michael E. Geisler -- 9. On the Difficulty of Saying "We": The Historians' Debate and Edgar Reitz's Heimat / Eric L. Santner -- 10. The New German Cinema's Historical Imaginary / Thomas Elsaesser -- 11. History and Film: Public Memory in the Age of Electronic Dissemination / Anton Kaes.
Summary: This remarkable new book is a collection of selected essays whose theses first came together in October 1988 at a conference sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, "Concepts of History in German Cinema." The contributors include notable historians, film scholars, and German studies specialists who explore the complex network of social, psychological, and aesthetic factors that have influenced the historiography of German cinema and television. Over the past decade, media specialists have engaged in a variety of projects that address many questions concerning the historiography of film and television. Through their discussions they have reassessed conventional histories of cinema, examined the influence of cinematic and television narration in constructing history, and contemplated the role of media in historical development. Germans began to employ the medium of film to represent the past before the turn of the century, when, among other things, they attempted to document their Prussian heritage. Since then, German cinema and television have promoted history as a component of individual, cultural, and national identity by consistently and prominently treating historical subjects. Although it is relatively easy to document changes in the selection and handling of these subjects, it is more difficult to determine what motivated those changes. Assessments of the link between German cinema, television, and history have primarily developed around three interrelated issues: the reception of Weimar cinema, the inscribing of fascism in cinema and television, and the nature of, and potential for, alternatives to mainstream cinema and television. This extraordinary collection presents a provocative dialogue by distinguished authors employing a diversity of methods, theoretical premises, and styles. It is a book that will appeal to scholars and students of German culture and media in the fields of history, political science, film, and German studies.
Holdings
Item type Home library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Two Week Loan Two Week Loan de Havilland Learning Resources Centre Main Shelves 791.43750943 FRA (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 4403692269
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Bruce A. Murray -- 1. History in the Making: Weimar Cinema and National Identity / Thomas J. Saunders -- 2. Lubitsch's Period Films as Palimpsest: On Passion and Deception / Sabine Hake -- 3. Imagining History: Weimar Images of the French Revolution / Marc Silberman -- 4. Eros, Thanatos, and the Will to Myth: Prussian Films in German Cinema / Jan-Christopher Horak -- 5. Leni Riefenstahl's Feature Films and the Question of a Fascist Aesthetic / Linda Schulte-Sasse -- 6. Television as History: Representations of German Television Broadcasting, 1935-1944 / William Uricchio -- 7. Generational Conflict and Historical Continuity in GDR Film / Barton Byg -- 8. The Disposal of Memory: Fascism and the Holocaust on West German Television / Michael E. Geisler -- 9. On the Difficulty of Saying "We": The Historians' Debate and Edgar Reitz's Heimat / Eric L. Santner -- 10. The New German Cinema's Historical Imaginary / Thomas Elsaesser -- 11. History and Film: Public Memory in the Age of Electronic Dissemination / Anton Kaes.

This remarkable new book is a collection of selected essays whose theses first came together in October 1988 at a conference sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, "Concepts of History in German Cinema." The contributors include notable historians, film scholars, and German studies specialists who explore the complex network of social, psychological, and aesthetic factors that have influenced the historiography of German cinema and television. Over the past decade, media specialists have engaged in a variety of projects that address many questions concerning the historiography of film and television. Through their discussions they have reassessed conventional histories of cinema, examined the influence of cinematic and television narration in constructing history, and contemplated the role of media in historical development. Germans began to employ the medium of film to represent the past before the turn of the century, when, among other things, they attempted to document their Prussian heritage. Since then, German cinema and television have promoted history as a component of individual, cultural, and national identity by consistently and prominently treating historical subjects. Although it is relatively easy to document changes in the selection and handling of these subjects, it is more difficult to determine what motivated those changes. Assessments of the link between German cinema, television, and history have primarily developed around three interrelated issues: the reception of Weimar cinema, the inscribing of fascism in cinema and television, and the nature of, and potential for, alternatives to mainstream cinema and television. This extraordinary collection presents a provocative dialogue by distinguished authors employing a diversity of methods, theoretical premises, and styles. It is a book that will appeal to scholars and students of German culture and media in the fields of history, political science, film, and German studies.