Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany
The essay focuses on two rubble films The Murderers Are Among Us and Between Yesterday and Tomorrow in order to explore how these films deal with the legacy of Nazi material culture in gendered terms. The objects on screen are analyzed as ‘tangible events’ relating to the disrupted order of things i...
Bewaard in:
| Gepubliceerd in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh, |
|---|---|
| Hoofdauteur: | |
| Formaat: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Taal: | Anglais |
| Gepubliceerd in: |
Clio
2018
|
| Onderwerpen: | |
| Online toegang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| id |
openedition-oai:revues.org:cliowgh_670 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
openedition |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:cliowgh_670 https://doi.org/10.4000/cliowgh.670 urn:doi:10.4000/cliowgh.670 en https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh/670 2018-07-20T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/e3sr All rights reserved Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany Clio Belin info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2554-3822 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh Scholz, Natalie culture matérielle de l’après-guerre relations de genre de l’après-guerre héritage du Troisième Reich films des décombres domesticité aryanisation dépossession objets et affects postwar material culture postwar gender relations legacy of the Third Reich rubble films domesticity Aryanization dispossession objects and affect The essay focuses on two rubble films The Murderers Are Among Us and Between Yesterday and Tomorrow in order to explore how these films deal with the legacy of Nazi material culture in gendered terms. The objects on screen are analyzed as ‘tangible events’ relating to the disrupted order of things in postwar Germany, including the legacy of dispossession and ‘Aryanization’ of German space. Just as the problem of male guilt relates in these films in a peculiar way to the dispossessed belongings of a female victim, the problem of dispossession (and the related mass murder) is intermingled with the challenge of postwar gender relations. The physical act of cleaning up and re-ordering is not only established as a female task but is also intended to solve the problem of the Third Reich’s uncomfortably present material leftovers through women’s bodily interventions. Cet article s’attache à deux films représentatifs de l’« esthétique des décombres », Les Assassins sont parmi nous et Entre hier et aujourd’hui, pour analyser, du point de vue du genre, la présentation des objets légués par le nazisme. Les objets à l’écran sont compris comme des « événements tangibles » qui témoignent du bouleversement de l’ordre des choses dans l’Allemagne d’après-guerre, y compris celui de l’héritage de la confiscation et de l’« aryanisation » de l’espace allemand. Dans ces films, un parallèle est établi entre le sentiment de culpabilité éprouvé par les hommes par rapport aux objets arrachés à une femme, victime, et le problème de dépossession (ainsi que son corollaire, le meurtre collectif) qui vient se mêler aux défis des relations de genre dans l’après-guerre. L’activité même de nettoyage et de remise en ordre est représentée comme une forme féminine de travail ; ces interventions physiques de la part des femmes sont aussi chargées de résoudre le problème posé par l’embarrassante présence des restes matériels du Troisième Reich. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
culture matérielle de l’après-guerre relations de genre de l’après-guerre héritage du Troisième Reich films des décombres domesticité aryanisation dépossession objets et affects postwar material culture postwar gender relations legacy of the Third Reich rubble films domesticity Aryanization dispossession objects and affect |
| spellingShingle |
culture matérielle de l’après-guerre relations de genre de l’après-guerre héritage du Troisième Reich films des décombres domesticité aryanisation dépossession objets et affects postwar material culture postwar gender relations legacy of the Third Reich rubble films domesticity Aryanization dispossession objects and affect Scholz, Natalie Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany |
| description |
The essay focuses on two rubble films The Murderers Are Among Us and Between Yesterday and Tomorrow in order to explore how these films deal with the legacy of Nazi material culture in gendered terms. The objects on screen are analyzed as ‘tangible events’ relating to the disrupted order of things in postwar Germany, including the legacy of dispossession and ‘Aryanization’ of German space. Just as the problem of male guilt relates in these films in a peculiar way to the dispossessed belongings of a female victim, the problem of dispossession (and the related mass murder) is intermingled with the challenge of postwar gender relations. The physical act of cleaning up and re-ordering is not only established as a female task but is also intended to solve the problem of the Third Reich’s uncomfortably present material leftovers through women’s bodily interventions. |
| author |
Scholz, Natalie |
| author_facet |
Scholz, Natalie |
| author_sort |
Scholz, Natalie |
| title |
Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany |
| title_short |
Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany |
| title_full |
Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany |
| title_fullStr |
Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar Germany |
| title_sort |
reordering the material of the past: gender and the morality of things in early postwar germany |
| publisher |
Clio |
| publishDate |
2018 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/cliowgh.670 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh/670 |
| _version_ |
1877241951638519808 |