Framing the Fifties
Cinema in a Divided Germany
John Davidson editor Sabine Hake editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Berghahn Books
Published:1st Dec '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The demise of the New German Cinema and the return of popular cinema since the 1990s have led to a renewed interest in the postwar years and the complicated relationship between East and West German cinema in particular. A survey of the 1950s, as offered here for the first time, is therefore long overdue. Moving beyond the contempt for "Papa's Kino" and the nostalgia for the fifties found in much of the existing literature, this anthology explores new uncharted territories, traces hidden connections, discovers unknown treasures, and challenges conventional interpretations. Informed by cultural studies, gender studies, and the study of popular cinema, this anthology offers a more complete account by focusing on popular genres, famous stars, and dominant practices, by taking into account the complicated relationships between East vs. West German, German vs. European, and European vs. American cinemas; and by paying close attention to the economic and political conditions of film production and reception during this little-known period of German film history.
“This collection of essays on the cultural history of post-World War II Berlin is a fine and coherent example of the conference-inspired anthology…The sheer number of subjects…in this slim volume is impressive and enlightening, and each essay has an excellent bibliography to point the reader in the direction of further literature. As an ensemble, the essays in the volume work well together, to the point that many refer to each other.” · German Studies Review
“These essays are for the most part interesting and persuasive and are an important step in reclaiming what Hake in her introduction calls the ‘last terra incognito of German film studies’.” · German Studies Review
“This very attractive collection invites the reader to study the larger project of German cinematic postwar reconstruction and identity formation with a number of excellent essays. The volume appears remarkably coherent, insofar as all 14 contributions are well-researched and well-written investigations… Undoubtedly, Framing the Fifties will trigger further and much-needed research to reintroduce complexity into a field of study that has long suffered from discursive impoverishment. Davidson and Hake have put together a fine volume that will find its grateful readers.” · Journal of Contemporary History
ISBN: 9781845455361
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 354g
260 pages