1st Edition
Nation and Identity in the New German Cinema Homeless at Home
In this original study, Scharf investigates issues of national identity in films of the New German Cinema. Using a cultural studies analysis, Scharf argues that the conflict between this generation of critical filmmakers and their ‘German-ness’ translate into feature films that construct, and are pervaded by, a sense of "homelessness" at home.
As the first cultural studies investigation of this cinematic movement, the book challenges existing film studies accounts by analyzing the New German Cinema within its social, temporal, and spatial contexts. Furthermore, with its broad concerns for the West German production context, the New German Cinema’s reception both nationally and internationally, as well as issues of representation, narration, and ‘Othering,’ Nation and Identity in the New German Cinema offers an interdisciplinary contribution to the ongoing debate on national cinema.
Foreword
Acknowledgments
PART ONE—Setting the Scene
Introduction
Chapter One: Establishing Shot
PART TWO—Film Analyses
Chapter Two: The Unsettling Setting
Chapter Three: A Matter of Time
Chapter Four: Relative Strangers
Conclusion: The End
Notes
Bibliography
Filmography
Index
Biography
Inga Scharf currently works for the German National Academic Foundation. Her publications include the article A Cultural Studies Approach Towards a Critical Understanding of the New German Cinema, and the book chapter National Identity and the Critical Geopolitics of West German Film.