Adapting the Heroic German in Post-1990 World War Two Films: from "Schindler's Ark" to "Valkyrie"."
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_________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses "Adapting the Heroic German in post-1990 World War Two Films: From "Schindler's Ark" to "Valkyrie"." White, Anna Victoria How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ White, Anna Victoria (2015) "Adapting the Heroic German in post-1990 World War Two Films: From "Schindler's Ark" to "Valkyrie".". thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42361 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. Please link to the metadata record in the Swansea University repository, Cronfa (link given in the citation reference above.) http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ Adapting the Heroic German in post-1990 World War Two Films: from Schindler s Ark to Valkyrie Anna Victoria White Submitted to Swansea University in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Swansea University 2015 ProQuest Number: 10798069 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10798069 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract This thesis argues that since unification, contemporary popular Hollywood and German films encourage public debate and commemoration of the Holocaust and National Socialism. This thesis builds on the established Hollywood and German dynamic that was revealed in the debate surrounding Holocaust (Dir. Marvin J. Chomsky. 1978) and Heimat (Dir. Edgar Reitz. 1984) to examine the contemporary differences and debates between these two film industries’ representation of the Holocaust and the National Socialist past through popular film. Specifically, the focus of this thesis is the interpretation of the morally ambiguous heroic German character, as portrayed in German and Hollywood film. The films chosen are adaptations of popular texts, remakes of other films, and/or based on historical figures and include: Schindler's List (Dir. Steven Spielberg. 1993), The Pianist (Dir. Roman Polanski. 2002), Aimee & Jaguar (Dir. Max Farberbock. 1999), The Reader (Dir. Stephen Daldry. 2008), Amen. (Dir. Costa-Gavras. 2002), John Rabe (Dir. Florian Gallenberger. 2009) and Valkyrie (Dir. Bryan Singer. 2008). All feature a heroic German character, for which Schindler is the prototype. The way in which contemporary issues surrounding popular representations of the Holocaust and National Socialism are negotiated through this characterisation in German film reveals a nuanced approach to national narratives, while Hollywood discusses specifically American or universal values through the portrayal of German history. The trope ‘the heroic German’ has become acceptable in contemporary popular culture on both sides of the Atlantic, and as such has transformed into the heroic Nazi trope. This thesis also concludes that these films reflect the needs of contemporary audiences by acting as a prosthetic and cultural memory and that Vergangenheitsbewaltigung is truly a process without a foreseeable end. Table of Contents Introduction Unravelling Representations of Germany’s National Socialist Past: From Perpetrator to The Heroic German....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Vergangenheitsbewaltigung ................................................................................................................................................1 2. Appropriation/Ownership of History Debates................................................................................................... 3 2.1 History through Film: Processes o f Adaptation........................................................................................11 2.2 New Character Tropes, from Heroic German to Heroic N azi............................................................ 13 3. Transnational Revisionism of the National Socialist Period in Films.................................................... 20 3.1 Identity: From National to International and from Institutional to the Personal......................... 22 4. Analysing Shifts in the Adaptation Process.....................................................................................................24 4.1 Beyond The Good German............................................................................................................................. 26 4.2 Criteria of Film Selection................................................................................................................................27 Chapter One Facilitating Appropriation and Revisionism of Memory and History.............................................................. 31 1. History on F ilm ..........................................................................................................................................................31 2. German Memory and Identity Contests: Vergangenheitsbewaltigung after Reunification.............35 2.1 The ‘Double Burden’ of the Past and the Use of M emory.................................................................. 35 3. Americanisation of the Holocaust since 1959.................................................................................................38 4. Transnationalism.......................................................................................................................................................42 4.1 Universalising the H olocaust..........................................................................................................................42 4.2 Universalising Narratives in Film................................................................................................................44 4.3 Transnationalising the Film Industry...........................................................................................................49 4.4 Audience Homogeneity?................................................................................................................................. 53 5. Methods of Analysis................................................................................................................................................. 53 5.1 Fidelity and Adaptation ....................................................................................................................................56 5.2 Changing Master Narratives...........................................................................................................................58 5.2.1 Mythic Past .................................................................................................................................................. 59 5.2.2 The First Good German Figure............................................................................................................ 60 5.2.3 The Anti-hero and the Ambiguous H ero...........................................................................................60 5.3 New Master Narrative based on Heroic Figure....................................................................................... 62 Chapter Two Flawed and Ambiguous Holocaust Heroes: Oskar Schindler and Wilm Hosenfeld.....................................64 1. The Shift from Perpetrator to the German Hero...........................................................................................65 1.1 Transnational - v -Hollywood Versions of German Heroes............................................................ 65 2. From Schindler to S c h in d le r ’s A r k ......................................................................................................................67 2.1 From S c h in d le r’s A rk to Schindler’s List ................................................................................................... 68 2.2 Oskar Schindler: Unknown Hero?.............................................................................................................. 69 2.2.1 Controversies and Official Rrecognition of Heroic Status..........................................................73 3. From Novel to Film: ‘Hollywoodising’ the Schindler Story......................................................................77