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Die Bedeutung Der DEFA Film Library Im Ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs

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Die Bedeutung Der DEFA Film Library Im Ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses Dissertations and Theses October 2018 Die Bedeutung der DEFA Film Library im Ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs Konstanze Schiller University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2 Part of the European History Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Other German Language and Literature Commons, and the Public History Commons Recommended Citation Schiller, Konstanze, "Die Bedeutung der DEFA Film Library im Ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs" (2018). Masters Theses. 714. https://doi.org/10.7275/12645369 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/714 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Die Bedeutung der DEFA Film Library im ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs A Thesis Presented by KONSTANZE SCHILLER Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS September 2018 German and Scandinavian Studies Languages, Literatures and Cultures © Copyright by Konstanze Schiller 2018 All Rights Reserved 2 Die Bedeutung der DEFA Film Library im ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs A Thesis Presented By KONSTANZE SCHILLER Approved as to style and content by: ____________________________________ Barton Byg, Chair ____________________________________ Skyler Arndt-Briggs, Member _____________________________________ Jon Berndt Olsen, Member __________________________________________ William Moebius, Department Head Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures 3 ABSTRACT DIE BEDEUTUNG DER DEFA FILM LIBRARY IM OSTDEUTSCHEN ERINNERUNGSDISKURS SEPTEMBER 2018 KONSTANZE SCHILLER, B.A., HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Barton Byg The relation between memory and identity is significant, particularly if an identity- establishing entity such as a state has vanished. In the context of GDR memory, this pertains to the type of memory discourse: what is remembered, how, and by whom? What are the differences in the discourse about East German memory between the US and Germany? Based on approaches of the Aleida Assmann’s approaches to individual, collective, and cultural memory this thesis seeks to examine the notion and impact of archives in collective memory processes and to analyze the extent to which the medium of film as a concrete and abstract archival complex can represent a part of individual and collective memory. Therefore, I combine the notion of the archive – based on approaches of Benjamin and Foucault – with memory discourses, going beyond the archive’s material character. Furthermore, in my analysis I follow the media studies’ definitions of film as a material-based dualistic, communicative and semiotic system. iv The analysis focuses on the work of the DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which is important for American utilization and circulation of DEFA films and the distribution of audiovisual images of and about the former GDR. The DEFA Film Library is the only archive and research center outside of Germany devoted to a broad spectrum of filmmaking from and related to the former GDR. The DEFA Film Library has been distributing DEFA movies and providing materials for media education since the early 1990s. In this thesis, I examine the multilayered role of the DEFA Film Library in US- East German sociocultural relationships, particularly with respect to its impact on raising awareness of East German culture, history and politics through public and academic film programming and exchange. Using the DEFA Film Library’s work as a case study, I analyze the political impact of film work amidst the challenges of preserving, circulating, and communicating the audiovisual memory of the GDR. KURZBESCHREIBUNG Der Zusammenhang von Erinnerung und Identität ist signifikant, vor allem, wenn ein so identitätsstiftendes Momentum wie das eines Staatsgefüges nicht mehr besteht. Im Kontext der DDR-Erinnerung geht es dabei um die Art des Erinnerungsdiskurses: Was und wie wird erinnert und vor allem von wem? Welche Unterschiede gibt es im Diskurs um die DDR in Deutschland und den USA und warum? Aufbauend auf Aleida Assmanns Ansätzen zu Erinnerung und individuellem, kollektivem und kulturellem Gedächtnis beziehen sich übergreifende Überlegungen zum v ostdeutschen Erinnerungsdiskurs auf die Definition und Rolle von Archivinstitutionen im Prozess der kollektiven Erinnerung und inwieweit das Medium Film als konkreter und abstrakter Archivkomplex in diesem Zusammenhang einen Teil persönlicher und kollektiver Erinnerung repräsentieren kann. Ich verbinde dabei das Verständnis des Archivs über dessen materiellen Charakter hinaus - Ideen von Benjamin und Foucault folgend - mit gedächtnisbezogenen Einteilungen. Zudem folge in meiner Analyse der medienwissenschaftlichen Situierung von Film als materiell festgelegtem dualistischen, kommunikativem und semiotischen System. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Arbeit der DEFA Film Library an der University of Massachusetts Amherst, die von zentraler Bedeutung für die amerikanische Auswertung und Zirkulation des DEFA-Filmstocks und damit einhergehende Verbreitung audiovisueller Bilder von und über die DDR. Die DEFA Film Library widmet sich als weltweit einziges Archiv und wissenschaftliches Zentrum außerhalb Deutschlands dem DEFA-Filmerbe und beschäftigt sich bereits seit Beginn der 90er Jahre mit der Distribution von Filmen und ihrer medienpädagogischen Auswertung. Diese Arbeit untersucht die vielschichtige Rolle der DEFA Film Library in US- (ost-)deutschen soziokulturellen Beziehungen, vor allem in Hinblick auf die Bewusstseinsschaffung für ostdeutsche Kultur, Geschichte und Politik durch öffentliche und akademische Filmvermittlung und -austausch. Sie fungiert als Fallstudie für filmpolitisches Handeln zwischen den Herausforderungen der Bewahrung, Zirkulation und Vermittlung der von audiovisuellen Medien geprägten kulturellen Erinnerung an die DDR. vi INHALTSVERZEICHNIS Seite ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv KURZBESCHREIBUNG ................................................................................................... v KAPITEL 1. OSTDEUTSCHE ERINNERUNGSDISKURSE ........................................................... 1 1.1 Einleitung .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Ostdeutsche Erinnerung ............................................................................................ 3 1.3 Die Rolle des Archivs im Erinnerungsdiskurs .......................................................... 6 1.4 Film als historisches Archiv ...................................................................................... 8 1.5 Unterschiedliche Einstellungen zur DDR ab 1990 ................................................. 14 1.5.1 Diskurse über die DDR in Deutschland ........................................................... 14 1.5.2 Diskurse über die DDR in den USA ................................................................. 18 1.6 Diese Arbeit............................................................................................................. 21 2. DIE DEFA FILM LIBRARY ....................................................................................... 25 2.1 Vorgeschichte - Ostdeutsche Filme in den USA ..................................................... 25 2.1.1 Filmische Austauschbeziehungen ..................................................................... 27 2.2 Erste Schritte ........................................................................................................... 34 2.3 Die Aktivierung des Archivs ................................................................................... 42 2.3.1 Die Gründung der DEFA Film Library ............................................................ 43 2.4 Archivale Aktivierung - ein sich immerfort transformierender Prozess ................. 58 2.4.1 Projekte und Programme .................................................................................. 65 2.4.1.1 Retrospektiven ........................................................................................... 66 2.4.1.1.1 Rebels with a Cause ............................................................................ 66 2.4.1.1.2 WENDE-Flicks ................................................................................... 70 2.4.1.2 Weitere Filmreihen .................................................................................... 72 2.4.1.3 Filmmaker’s Series .................................................................................... 77 2.4.1.4 Summer Film Institutes .............................................................................. 80 2.4.1.5 Konferenzen ............................................................................................... 85 2.4.1.6 Öffentliche und medienpädagogische Arbeit ............................................. 86 vii 2.5 25 Jahre – Ein Rückblick ........................................................................................ 87 3. OSTDEUTSCHE
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