Professor Cecilia Novero, German and Slavic
Office: Burrowes 408
Email: cin1@psu.edu
 

Description

In the eighties, a German director hits the first page of the papers with a controversial epic film: “Heimat”. Edgar Reitz’ 11 episodes span German history from 1919 to 1984, as this is lived by a “rural” family. The film was shown on German TV in 1984 and watched by an average of 9 millions viewers per episode. “Heimat” was also shown as a 35 mm film in France and Italy and on American TV, both on Bravo (1985) and PBS (1987). It generated more debate than any other cultural phenomenon of the past twenty years.

In this class, we look at how this film and some episodes of its sequel explore issues related to contemporary German identity, its representation and construction. We ask what aspects of collective and personal history the film chooses to represent and why precisely these, what is left out and whether the years of the film-production (1979-1984) may have had a bearing on Reitz’s decision to use the weighed and “nostalgic” notion of “Heimat” to spur the Germans to “remember”.  To what extent does the film buy into “genuine sentiments” of nostalgia and to what extent does the film illustrate the “erosion” and “destruction” of the notion of “Heimat” itself?

We read a variety of texts—poems, articles and fiction. We browse some Internet sites and we watch “other” films/documentaries. We also examine examples of the art and music produced in the Fifties and Sixties. The class –thoroughly interdisciplinary—aims to introduce students to contemporary German culture through the reading of one of the most controversial “texts” produced in recent years.