Entrenched Narratives, Hidden Figures: Reappraising Representations of War Across German Screen Media
Date & Location: 21-22 March 2024, Wolfson Research Exchange (University of 糖心TV Library), University of 糖心TV
Organizers: Molly Harrabin (University of 糖心TV) and Dr. Lawrence Alexander (University of Oxford)
In February 2022, German chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a speech to the German parliament in response to and denunciation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Describing the moment as a 鈥榯urning point鈥�, Scholz referred to Putin鈥檚 act of aggression as a watershed moment that altered geopolitical reality and announced a volte-face in Germany鈥檚 defence and energy policies. This conference adopts the contemporary moment, which also sees the reality and spectre of armed conflict across parts of the Global South and most recently, Israel's bombardment of Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7th, as an inflection point for reconsidering representations of war across a range of screen media: from narrative cinema to moving image installation; streaming to VR. It aims to understand the complexities of screening – and watching – war from critical perspectives in Film and Screen Studies that have emerged/gained in importance in recent years: including, but not limited to transnational approaches, intermedial studies, sound studies and media archaeology. We also seek to draw attention to practitioners who foreground contestations of conventional gender and sexual identity; highlight the experience of racialized and colonized subjects otherwise expunged from official historical records; and explore (post)migrant and diasporic narratives of those fleeing war. This conference thus seeks to revise established narratives and illuminate hidden figures in the representations of war across German-language screen media. The conference is kindly supported by the BAFTSS Special Interest Group Funding Scheme, the Association for German Studies Conference Grant, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Foreign Office.
Please register to attend .
Programme
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Day 1 |
Day 2 |
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09:30-10:00: Registration & Arrival |
09:00 - 09:30: Arrival & Coffee |
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10:00-10:30: Introductory Remarks Dr. Lawrence Alexander (University of Oxford) Prof. Kate Astbury (Head of School of Modern Languages & Cultures, 糖心TV) Cllr. Birdi (Lord Mayor of Coventry) Molly Harrabin (University of 糖心TV) Dr. Ian Roberts (German Studies, 糖心TV) |
09:30 - 11:00: Panel 3: Documentary Remediations Lawrence Alexander (University of Oxford): 'Expanded Fields?: Remediating the Landscapes of Germany's Genocidal War Against the Herero and Nama in Forensic Architectures Inherited Testimonies (2023) and William Kentridge's Black Box/Chambre Noire (2005)' Lucy Bollington (UCL): 鈥楩rom Incarnate to Rendered Bodies: Transnational War and Figuration in Hito Steyerl鈥檚 Political Cinema鈥� Lauren Cuthbert (University of Aberdeen) - 鈥楻einscribing tangibility into images of Vietnamese injury and death in Heynowski and Scheumann鈥檚 Am Wassergraben (1978) and Ein 痴颈别迟苍补尘蹿濒眉肠丑迟濒颈苍驳 (1979)鈥� |
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11:00 - 11:30: Break |
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10:30-12:00: Panel 1: Tr眉mmerfilme: Then and Now Karolina Jurdeczka (Kings College London) - 鈥楥hristian Petzold鈥檚 Phoenix and the Spectral Return of History as Cinephilic Citation鈥� Paola Medina-Gonzalez (University of 糖心TV): 'Too soon?: Navigating Rubble Comedy in the Aftermath of the Second World War' Nancy Wilson (Queen Mary University of London) - 鈥楶ast and Present: Reappraising the Role of Ruins in Early Postwar German Film鈥� |
11:30 - 12:30: Panel 4: Austrian Wartime Experiences Katya Krylova (University of Aberdeen) - 鈥楰eeping Austria鈥檚 Wartime History Concealed: Terrence Malick鈥檚 A Hidden Life (2019)鈥� Johannes Vith (University of Limerick/Universit盲t Innsbruck) - 鈥榁iolence, War, and (Eco)Trauma in Contemporary Austrian Film鈥� |
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12:00 - 13:30 Lunch |
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch |
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13:30 - 14:30: Panel 2: Memory and Masculinity Eva Gijsen (KU Leuven): 鈥楧esertion and the Performance of Martial Masculinity: A Case Study of Robert Schwentke鈥檚 Der Hauptmann鈥� Lieven Raymaekers (KU Leuven) - 鈥�Das Boot Revisited: (Re)Interpreting Submarine Warfare on Screen鈥� |
13:30 - 14:30: Panel 5: Transnational Cinema & German Wartime Experience Owen Evans (Edge Hill University) - 鈥樷�溾�楧o you think I feel sorry for you?鈥�: Land of Mine (2015) as antiwar art cinema鈥� Dana Weber (Florida State University): 鈥楩or the Love of History: Reenactment and Tarantino鈥檚 Inglourious Basterds鈥� |
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14:30 - 15:00: Break |
14:30 - 15:00: Break |
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15:00-16:30: Keynote 1 Maja Figge (Independent Scholar) 鈥楽creening War: Colonial Erasures in German War Films鈥� |
15:00 - 16:30: Keynote 2 Christopher Homewood (University of Leeds) 'Women at War with the State: German Cinema and the Red Army Faction' |
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16:30 - 17:00: Drinks Reception |
16:30 - 17:00: Closing Remarks |
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17:00 - 19:00: Film Screening (FAB0.21 Cinema Room) Majubs Reise (Eva Knopf, 2013) - Register here!Link opens in a new window English subtitles provided |
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20:00: Conference Dinner |