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THE REPRESENTATION OF TERRORISM AS DEFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN VOLKER SCHLÖNDORFF’S DIE STILLE NACH DEM SCHUSS, GREGOR SCHNITZLER’S WAS TUN WENN’S BRENNT , LEANDER SCHOLZ’S ROSENFEST AND ULRIKE EDSCHMID’S FRAU MIT WAFFE: ZWEI GESCHICHTEN AUS TERRORISTISCHEN ZEITEN by SANDRA I. DILLON A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of German and Scandinavian and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2011 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Sandra I. Dillon Title: The Representation of Terrorism as Defective Communication in Volker Schlöndorff’s Die Stille nach dem Schuss , Gregor Schnitzler’s Was tun wenn’s brennt , Leander Scholz’s Rosenfest and Ulrike Edschmid’s Frau mit Waffe: Zwei Geschichten aus terroristischen Zeiten This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of German and Scandinavian by: Susan C. Anderson Chairperson Alexander Mathäs Member Dorothee Ostmeier Member Bonnie Mann Outside Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded December 2011 ii © 2011 Sandra Irene Dillon iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Sandra I. Dillon Doctor of Philosophy Department of German and Scandinavian December 2011 Title: The Representation of Terrorism as Defective Communication in Volker Schlöndorff’s Die Stille nach dem Schuss , Gregor Schnitzler’s Was tun wenn’s brennt , Leander Scholz’s Rosenfest and Ulrike Edschmid’s Frau mit Waffe: Zwei Geschichten aus terroristischen Zeiten The attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001 prompted scholars in a variety of fields, such as history, philosophy and literature, to re-examine the topic of terrorism, including the emergence of terrorism in West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. The challenges that arise when dealing with the topic of terrorism derive in part from a lack of consensus on a definition for terrorists and terrorist attacks. One element that I found in my research is that there is a connection between terrorism and communication. This dissertation examines that connection in Volker Schlöndorff’s film Die Stille nach dem Schuss (2001), Gregor Schnitzler’s film Was tun wenn’s brennt (2002), Leander Scholz’s novel Rosenfest (2001), and Ulrike Edschmid’s biographical narratives Frau mit Waffe: Zwei Geschichten aus terroristischen Zeiten (1996) in the context of Speech Act Theory . The films and texts show how West German terrorism is represented as a form of communication, through which fictional terrorists are trying to accomplish the impossible statement “I hereby persuade you.” The act of persuasion has an element of freedom, because one can either be persuaded or not. However, the terrorists represented in the works mentioned above want to eliminate the element of choice and force the interlocutor to be persuaded. In order to achieve this they introduce iv violence, which in turn causes them to be labeled as terrorists. The more they try to use violence to achieve their goals, the more they cement their condemnation as terrorists. This dissertation frames its investigation within ideas about performative speech acts, concepts of power, violence, identity and discussions about “terrorist” narratives in German literature and film. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Sandra I. Dillon GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene University of Colorado at Boulder Idaho State University, Pocatello DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, German, 2011, University of Oregon Master of Arts, German, 2002, University of Colorado at Boulder Bachelor of Arts, German and Spanish, 2000, Idaho State University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: The Representation of the Holocaust in film, literature and art Representations of terrorism in German literature and film PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Visiting Instructor, Idaho State University, 2006-present. GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS Graduate Teaching Fellow, German, 2003-2006 PUBLICATIONS: Dillon, Sandra I. “Audacious Rhetorical Devices in Paul Celan’s ‘Todesfuge’ and Nelly Sachs’s ‘O die Schornsteine.’” Rocky Mountain Review 64.1 (2010): 32-46. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to give special thanks to the members of my committee, Professors Anderson, Mann, Mathäs, and Ostmeier, for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. In addition, I would like to thank the Department of Languages and Literatures at Idaho State University, especially Arthur Dolsen, James Fogelquist, Daniel Hunt, Sarah McCurry, Pamela Park, Marta Robredo, and Cathleen Tarp, for their continued support and encouragement. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the support and prayers from family and friends. The author wishes to express her love and gratitude to her husband, Tim Dillon, for believing in her especially during those times when she did not believe in herself. vii In memory of my mother (1950-2002) viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: TERRORISM AND COMMUNICATION ........................... 1 II. TERRORISM: PERLOCUTIONARY VERSUS ILLOCUTIONARY ................ 43 III. TERRORISM AND THE TENSIONS BETWEEN ILLOCUTIONARY AND PERLOCUTIONARY ACTS .................................................................................... 78 IV. VIOLENCE AS AN ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE COMPONENT TO ADD THE SOUGHT -FOR DEGREE OF STRENGTH ................................ ..................... 119 V. VIOLENCE AND THE FAILURE TO ADD THE SOUGHT-FOR DEGREE OF STRENGTH ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 152 VI. CONCLUSION: TERRORISM: THE DEFECTIVE PERLOCUTIONARY ACT........................................................................................................................... 186 APPENDIX: BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................ 206 REFERENCES CITED................................................................................ ................ 210 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: TERRORISM AND COMMUNICATION If we start our story with the line, “[i]t began on June 2 nd 1967,” 1 and we are unfamiliar with the significance of that particular date, the question would immediately be asked, what is ‘it’? In contrast to this, if we start our story with the line, “[i]t began on September 11 th , 2001,” no explanations would be needed. Because of the date, the ‘it’ would immediately be linked with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Towers in New York. “Es begann am 2. Juni 1967” is the title of a chapter in Willi Winkler’s book Die Geschichte der RAF (2008), where he provides an overview of the emergence of the Red Army Faction and its connection to German history. On that date, during a student demonstration against the Shah of Persia (Aust 56), the student Benno Ohnesorg 2 was shot by the police (Aust 58). Winkler describes the impact of Benno’s death as, “[d]er Tod Benno Ohnesorgs wird als Begründung für den deutschen Terrorismus dienen” (87). This date was such a definitive moment in the split of the student movement that even a terrorist organization appeared with the name the “Bewegung 2. Juni” 3 (Aust 190). The need to understand and re-evaluate terrorism, even in Germany, reemerged after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Terrorism in the German context, especially 1 This phrase has been taken from the title of a chapter in Willi Winkler’s book Die Geschichte der RAF. The translation provided is mine. 2 Benno Ohnesorg was a twenty-six-year-old university student, who was a pacifist. The demonstration he was shot in was the first demonstration he had taken part in (Aust 59). 3 The wide-reaching effect of the 2 June Movement is described by Hans Josef Horchem in his article “Terrorism in West Germany” as follows, “German terrorism has recently consisted of three main centers of activity: the Red Army Faction (RAF), the 2 June Movement, and the Revolutionary Cells (RZ). At the beginning of 1980 the 2 June Movement abandoned the ‘armed struggle,’ but the RAF assimilated its activities in June 1980” (1). Stefan Aust also points to the importance of June 2nd in his book Der Baader Meinhof Komplex . Aust describes that those impacted by Benno’s death include the Berlin mayor, who later on stepped down because of the events of June 1967 (59). 1 the role of terrorist organizations such as the Red Army Faction (RAF), is an issue addressed in literature and film since the 1970s. Authors who dealt with the topic of terrorism in a German context twenty or more years after the controversial death of the RAF members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Ulrike Meinhof and Jan-Carl Raspe were not subject to the same kind of political scrutiny as the authors in the 1970s. In this dissertation, the films and texts I interpret were written/filmed in the late 1990s/early 2000s and allow for a critical approach of the topic without being compromised by the problems authors had writing during the RAF years. The films Was tun wenn’s brennt (2002) by Gregor Schnitzler and Die Stille nach dem Schuss (2001) by Volker Schlöndorff, the novel Rosenfest (2001) by Leander Scholz, and the biography Frau mit Waffe: Zwei Geschichten aus terroristischen Zeiten (1996) by Ulrike Edschmid will show how terrorism is represented as a form of communication, through which fictional

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