Screening and Watching Nostalgia an Analysis of Nostalgic Television Fiction and Its Reception in Germany and Spain
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Doctoral thesis Screening and Watching Nostalgia An analysis of nostalgic television fiction and its reception in Germany and Spain By Stefanie Armbruster Supervisors Catedr. Dr. Emili Prado Picó Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Prof. tit. Dr. Matilde Delgado Reina Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Prof. Dr. habil. Lothar Mikos University of Film and Television “Konrad Wolf” Potsdam-Babelsberg Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat December 2012 Participant: Was ich total interessant finde, äh, weil eigentlich sind ja alle Ausschnitte, die wir gesehn haben ham ‘nen nostalgischen Hintergrund. […] Also Knight Rider war ja wirklich original. Und da ham wir ja nostalgische Empfindungen, äh, und zum Beispiel Mad Men ist ja neu is ja aber ‘ne andere Zeit versetzt. Is ja aber auch nostalgisch. Aber nur, halt wieder anders… [What I find totally interesting, well, err, because all the excerpts we saw have a nostalgic background. Well Knight Rider was really original. And there we have nostalgic feelings. And, for example, Mad Men is new but set in another time. And it’s also nostalgic. But again in a different way ….] Interviewer: Und würdest du sagen, du bist nostalgisch? [And would you say that you are nostalgic?] Participant: Ja. auf jeden Fall. [Yes. In any case.] 2 Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 9 Part I – Theoretical background and methodological design ................................... 15 2. Nostalgia .................................................................................................................... 15 2.1. A first definition – the origins of the term and its development .............................. 15 2.2. Literature review – discourses on nostalgia ............................................................ 17 2.2.1. Nostalgia as a contemporary malaise ............................................................... 18 2.2.2. Nostalgia and identity ....................................................................................... 19 2.2.3. Nostalgia: death of historicity or paradigm shift .............................................. 22 2.2.4. Nostalgia and the (re)construction of ‘history’ ................................................. 25 2.2.5. Nostalgia and cultural style .............................................................................. 28 2.2.6. Nostalgia in Germany and Spain ...................................................................... 30 2.2.6.1. Germany: From Nostalgie to Ostalgie ...................................................... 30 2.2.6.2. Nostalgia in Spain ...................................................................................... 32 2.3. Conclusion on the discourse and transition to following research steps ................. 34 2.3.1. Nostalgia ‘mood’ .............................................................................................. 36 2.3.2. From the cognitive-emotional to the textual part of nostalgia .......................... 36 2.3.3. The bandwidth of nostalgia .............................................................................. 37 3. Two ‘archives’ – nostalgia’s relationship to the past ............................................. 41 3.1. Memory ................................................................................................................... 41 3.1.1. Personal memory .............................................................................................. 42 3.1.2. ‘Collective’ memory ......................................................................................... 43 3.1.2.1. Excursus: retrieval of memories ................................................................ 44 3.1.3. Postmemory and prosthetic memory ................................................................ 46 3.1.4. Media memories ............................................................................................... 47 3.2. Physical and digital archives ................................................................................... 49 3.2.1. Television archives in Germany and Spain ...................................................... 50 3.3. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 52 4. Aesthetic emotions – on nostalgia’s relationship to the present ........................... 56 4.1. The discourse on emotions in film and television studies ....................................... 56 4.2. Characteristics of emotions ..................................................................................... 57 4.2.1. Nostalgia as an emotion .................................................................................... 58 4.3. Aesthetic emotions ................................................................................................... 59 4.3.1. Fiction emotions ............................................................................................... 60 4.3.1.1 Empathy ...................................................................................................... 61 4.3.1.1.1 Somatic empathy ................................................................................. 63 4.3.2. Artefact emotions .............................................................................................. 63 4.3.2.1 Internal and external empathetic artefact emotions .................................... 64 4.4. Conclusions, hypotheses, and transition to the analytical parts .............................. 64 4.4.1. A combination of the approaches ...................................................................... 68 4.4.2. Methodology ..................................................................................................... 78 4.4.2.1. Film and television analysis ...................................................................... 79 4.4.2.2. Reception study ......................................................................................... 80 3 Part II – Text ................................................................................................................. 81 5. The ‘genres’ of nostalgic fiction ............................................................................... 81 5.1. Television reruns ...................................................................................................... 84 5.2. Television remakes .................................................................................................. 88 5.2.1. Film remakes of television series ..................................................................... 90 5.3. Period dramas .......................................................................................................... 90 6. Case studies on nostalgia on the textual layer ........................................................ 93 6.1. Reruns and nostalgia ................................................................................................ 95 6.1.1. Analysis of nostalgia in Knight Rider ............................................................. 101 6.1.1.1. El coche fantástico in Spain .................................................................... 103 6.1.1.1.1. Some contextual notes – 1980s Spain .............................................. 103 6.1.1.1.2. Discourses on El coche fantástico .................................................... 104 6.1.1.2. Knight Rider in Germany ........................................................................ 105 6.1.1.2.1. Some contextual notes – 1980s Germany......................................... 106 6.1.1.2.2. Discourses on Knight Rider today .................................................... 107 6.1.1.3. Nostalgia on the single layers of the text ................................................. 108 6.1.1.3.1. Narration ........................................................................................... 108 6.1.1.3.2. Aesthetic and design ......................................................................... 109 6.1.1.3.3. Characters .......................................................................................... 115 6.1.2. Analysis of nostalgia in The Avengers ............................................................. 118 6.1.2.1. Los Vengadores in Spain ........................................................................... 119 6.1.2.1.1. Some contextual notes – 1960s Spain ............................................... 119 6.1.2.1.2. Discourses on Los Vengadores today ............................................... 121 6.1.2.2. Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone in Germany ........................................ 123 6.1.2.2.1. Some contextual notes – 1960s Germany ............................................ 123 6.1.2.2.2. Discourses on Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone today .................... 125 6.1.2.3. Nostalgia on the single layers of the text ................................................. 126 6.1.2.3.1. Narration ........................................................................................... 126 6.1.2.3.2. Aesthetic and design ......................................................................... 128 6.1.2.3.3. Characters ......................................................................................... 132 6.1.3. A first conclusion