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ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WHO CARES WHODUNIT? ANTI-DETECTION IN WEST GERMAN CINEMA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Yogini Joglekar, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor John Davidson, Adviser Professor Anna Grotans Adviser Professor Linda Mizejewski ic Languages and Literatures Graduate Program Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3059271 Copyright 2002 by Joglekar, Yogini All rights reserved. __UMI ___ __® UMI Microform 3059271 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Yogini Joglekar 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT George Bernard Shaw once quipped that Germans lack talent for two things- a successful revolution and good detective fiction. That sentiment, which has plagued the reception of German detective narratives ever since, may be valid for literature, but it hardly holds true for cinema. Crime films were popular from the beginning in Germany, and serialized detective films featuring Joe Deebs, Harry Piel, or the criminal mastermind Mabuse enthralled audiences in Weimar Germany (1919-1933) and beyond. While scholars have examined Weimar detective film and noted its absence in the Third Reich, the tremendous complexity of this genre in post-1945 Germany has remained unexplored. My study investigates the popularity and prevalence of detective cinema in West Germany, concentrating on anti-detective films that challenge social and generic limits. By anti-detective cinema I mean films in which the detective's investigations lead not to a successful solution, but instead to a core of doubt enhanced by genre-subversive means such as lack of closure and unresolved crimes. The formal idiosyncrasies exhibited by the genre’s development in West Germany raise the question, “who cares whodunit?” regarding the mystery format. My study demonstrates that the shift away from happy endings toward anti-detection is not merely a formal innovation, but also a reaction to contemporary political conditions, e.g., to debates about guilt and innocence in coming to terms with the Nazi past and West Germany’s troubled status in the postwar world. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Covering the lifespan of the Federal RepubUc, this study analyzes the employment of anti-detection in five representative films directed by Helmut Kautner, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, Reinhard Hauff, and Doris Dorrie. My findings indicate that these films achieve an anti-detective effect in two ways: (1) through their transgression of traditional detective film formulae, and (2) through a critical reflection on contemporary social issues. Anti-detective cinema moves away from a predominantly art-cinematic to a more commercial mode between the postwar West German and the post-Wall German context. The concern with political commentary, however, remains constant in West German anti-detective films, giving them a unique critical edge with which they symptomatically register the crises affecting a postwar society. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the cooperation of many people at OSU and home. My sincere gratitude goes to my adviser, John Davidson, for his tremendous support of my project and his valuable guidance in all matters. Anna Grotans has been a painstaking reader, and her inspiring teaching has set an example for me. Linda Mizejewski gave generously of her time and took interest in my work, offering important comments. The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and the Office of International Affairs at OSU provided financial support for my research trips to the National Film Archive in Berlin, and helped me make rapid progress on this study. My students in the German Literature in English Translation course at Rutgers-Camden during Spring Semester 2002 must be thanked for their lively discussions and interesting input on German detective fiction and film. I would like to thank members of the Works-in-Progress group for their carefol scrutiny of my work and their helpful suggestions. Nikhil Sathe and Jennifer William were always willing to read yet another work-in-progress and to offer extensive comments. Their good humor and friendship accompanied me on easy and hard days. Sai Bhatawadekar has been a true friend in any situation, and I thank her for her thoughtfulness and generosity. Ever since I have known him, Subodh Deshmukh has been the best friend and companion I could ask for. In the past five years, he saw more iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. than his fair share of German and English detective movies, and I am thankful for his brilliant insights into film and into everyday life. I dedicate this thesis to Aai and Baba, who inspired me in several ways over the years and provided physical and emotional support. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA August 21, 1974 .................................. Bom - Mumbai, India 1994.......................................................B.A. English Literature, University of Mumbai 1997...................................................... M.A. German Literature, The Ohio State University 1995-2001 ............................................ Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University Fall 2000............................................... Visiting Lecturer, University of Delaware Spring 2002..........................................Visiting Lecturer, Rutgers University Camden PUBLICATIONS 1. “Land without Nightingales? Kafka’s Vision of America inA me rilea,” The Image of America, ed. Will Wright and Steven Kaplan. Pueblo: University of Southern Colorado Press, 1999. 2. Zeppelin! by Alexander Hausser. Book review in Focus on Literatur 8 (Fall 2001). 3. World Cinema: Critical Approaches by John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, ed. Book review inFilm Quarterly 55/ 2 (Winter 2002). FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Germanic Languages and Literatures vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. iv V ita...................................................................................................................................... vi Chapters: 1. Introduction............................................................................................................. 1 2. Investigating Anti-Detection................................................................................. 15 2.1 Theorizing Detection............................................................................... 16 2.1.1 Detecting Social Malaise: Kracauer, Benjamin, and Brecht ................................................................................................. 18 2.1.2 From Detection to Anti-Detection: Bloch and Diirrenmatt................................................................................................ 27 2.2 Anti-Detection............................................................................................ 38 2.3 Anti-Detection on Screen.......................................................................... 46 3. Dead Ends: Epilog: Das Geheimnis der Orplid (Kautner 1950) and Nachts, wenn