Martin Blumenthal-Barby
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801478123
- eISBN:
- 9780801467394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801478123.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter focuses on the 1978 film Germany in Autumn, an omnibus film that was shot in immediate response to the events of the so-called “German Autumn,” a series of terrorist attacks by the Red ...
More
This chapter focuses on the 1978 film Germany in Autumn, an omnibus film that was shot in immediate response to the events of the so-called “German Autumn,” a series of terrorist attacks by the Red Army Faction (RAF). The film is about two funerals: that of the industrialist hostage Hanns-Martin Schleyer, and the joint funeral of RAF leaders Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, and member Jan-Carl Raspe. The significance of mourning and the public act of grieving evident in Schleyer’s funeral becomes apparent in contrast to the funeral of Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe, which is contested with respect to both its legitimization and its legitimacy. The chapter then examines how the question of humanization or dehumanization is confined to the question of presentation; and it is the task of cinematic presentation that the film pursues.Less
This chapter focuses on the 1978 film Germany in Autumn, an omnibus film that was shot in immediate response to the events of the so-called “German Autumn,” a series of terrorist attacks by the Red Army Faction (RAF). The film is about two funerals: that of the industrialist hostage Hanns-Martin Schleyer, and the joint funeral of RAF leaders Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, and member Jan-Carl Raspe. The significance of mourning and the public act of grieving evident in Schleyer’s funeral becomes apparent in contrast to the funeral of Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe, which is contested with respect to both its legitimization and its legitimacy. The chapter then examines how the question of humanization or dehumanization is confined to the question of presentation; and it is the task of cinematic presentation that the film pursues.
Martin Blumenthal-Barby
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801478123
- eISBN:
- 9780801467394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801478123.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This introductory chapter discusses the significance of studying different genres such as political theory (Hannah Arendt), fiction (Franz Kafka), cultural criticism (Walter Benjamin), film (Germany ...
More
This introductory chapter discusses the significance of studying different genres such as political theory (Hannah Arendt), fiction (Franz Kafka), cultural criticism (Walter Benjamin), film (Germany in Autumn), and drama (Heiner Müller). The book aims to relate these works through certain political, juridical, and, particularly, ethical questions, as each of them deals with a specific ethical concern within the confines of a “medium.” This medium follows no purpose or goal other than its own mediatic force—that ethical force that forges itself in relation to explicitly discussed conceptions of ethics and displaces them. The links of between genres and media here are of proximity rather than integration, of contact rather than synthesis. The book examines how the differences among media are played out within each work as an inherent conflict of structures.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the significance of studying different genres such as political theory (Hannah Arendt), fiction (Franz Kafka), cultural criticism (Walter Benjamin), film (Germany in Autumn), and drama (Heiner Müller). The book aims to relate these works through certain political, juridical, and, particularly, ethical questions, as each of them deals with a specific ethical concern within the confines of a “medium.” This medium follows no purpose or goal other than its own mediatic force—that ethical force that forges itself in relation to explicitly discussed conceptions of ethics and displaces them. The links of between genres and media here are of proximity rather than integration, of contact rather than synthesis. The book examines how the differences among media are played out within each work as an inherent conflict of structures.
