Allan, Seán. (2011) 'Sagt, wie soll man Stalin danken?' Kurt Maetzig's Ehe im schatten (1947), Roman einer jungen ehe (1952) and the cultural politics of post-war Germany. German Life and Letters, Volume 64 (Number 2). pp. 255-271. ISSN 1468-0483

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Abstract

In Ehe im Schatten and Roman einer jungen Ehe Kurt Maetzig analyses the role of the artist and the changing conceptualisation of aesthetics at two contrasting moments of political crisis. Set during the Third Reich, Ehe im Schatten criticises any attempt to separate art and politics, and exposes the limitations of bourgeois classical drama as a form of political resistance. But despite its radical subject-matter, the film's melodramatic format highlights the difficulties post-war directors working for DEFA faced in breaking with the traditions of cinematography established by Ufa during the 1940s. Five years later, and in a very different political context, Maetzig revisits these issues in Roman einer jungen Ehe. Although the later film mobilises concepts of socialist realism in order to redefine aesthetic agendas in the early 1950s, it too relies on moments of exaggerated pathos to achieve its aims. While the film's idealisation of working-class life in the GDR of the early 1950s was soon undermined by the political events of 1953 and 1956, its presentation of works by, among others, Lessing, Seghers, Zuckmayer, Simonov and Sartre offers a detailed and distinctive perspective on the changing dynamics of cultural politics during the immediate post-war period.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DD Germany H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > Film and Television Studies Faculty of Arts > German Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Maetzig, Kurt, 1911-2012 -- Criticism and interpretation, Aesthetics, German -- 20th century, Politics and culture -- Germany -- 20th century, Motion pictures -- Germany -- 20th century, Germany -- Social conditions -- 1945-1955, Germany -- Intellectual life -- 20th century, Germany -- History -- 1945-1955, Motion pictures -- Germany (East) -- History
Journal or Publication Title:	German Life and Letters
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN:	1468-0483
Date:	17 April 2011
Volume:	Volume 64
Number:	Number 2
Page Range:	pp. 255-271
Identification Number:	10.1111/j.1468-0483.2010.01532.x
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/36110

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