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The History of German Literature on Film
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Book Presentation:
A 2024 CHOICE OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE This book tells the story of German-language literature on film, beginning with pioneering motion picture adaptations of Faust in 1897 and early debates focused on high art as mass culture. It explores, analyzes and contextualizes the so-called ‘golden age’ of silent cinema in the 1920s, the impact of sound on adaptation practices, the abuse of literary heritage by Nazi filmmakers, and traces the role of German-language literature in exile and postwar films, across ideological boundaries in divided Germany, in New German Cinema, and in remakes and movies for cinema as well as television and streaming services in the 21st century. Having provided the narrative core to thousands of films since the late 19th century, many of German cinema’s most influential masterpieces were inspired by canonical texts, popular plays, and even children’s literature. Not being restricted to German adaptations, however, this book also traces the role of literature originally written in German in international film productions, which sheds light on the interrelation between cinema and key historical events. It outlines how processes of adaptation are shaped by global catastrophes and the emergence of nations, by materialist conditions, liberal economies and capitalist imperatives, political agendas, the mobility of individuals, and sometimes by the desire to create reflective surfaces and, perhaps, even art. Commercial cinema’s adaptation practices have foregrounded economic interest, but numerous filmmakers throughout cinema history have turned to German-language literature not simply to entertain, but as a creative contribution to the public sphere, marking adaptation practice, at least potentially, as a form of active citizenship.
About the Author:
Christiane Schönfeld is Head of German Studies at Mary Immaculate College (University of Limerick) in Ireland and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.Greg M. Colón Semenza is Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, USA. He is currently the editor of Bloomsbury's History of World Literatures on Film book series, and the author-with Bob Hasenfratz-of The History of British Literature on Film (2015). His other books include How to Build a Life in the Humanities (2015), The English Renaissance in Popular Culture (2010), Graduate Study for the 21st Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities (2005; 2nd ed. 2010), Milton in Popular Culture (2006), and Sport, Politics, and Literature in the English Renaissance (2004). He has published numerous essays on film and adaptation.Bob Hasenfratz is Professor of English and Department Head at the University of Connecticut, USA. His books include Reading Old English (2005/11), Ancrene Wisse (2001), and Beowulf Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography 1979-1990 (1993). He has written articles on medieval literature and culture and edits the Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures.
Press Reviews:
"Elegantly written, this is a superb piece of scholarship; it offers an authoritative, comprehensive, and deeply captivating account of German literature on film that pays close attention to the changing political, economic, and technological conditions of film production and reception … This milestone publication will inform generations of Film Studies and German Studies scholars to come." ―Prof. Anne Fuchs, University College Dublin, Ireland, Modern Language Review
"A most welcome and highly useful addition to scholarly literature on German cinema, Christiane Schönfeld's rich comprehensive history of adaptations based on German-language literary works takes the reader on a remarkable journey from the beginnings of cinema to productions of the present day. While spanning all of the essential epochs in a nation's film legacy, her synoptic study remains resolutely sensitive to adaptations of German works made around the globe as well as contemporary transnational and international productions. Her coverage, as one might expect, includes careful discussion of seminal auteurs and art films, but also grants equal attention to popular cinema in its various countenances, be they works in a variety of generic veins, children's films, Hollywood productions made by exiled directors, or more recent exercises in transmediation. At once acute in her formal analyses and sharply aware of socio-historical determinants and the conditions under which adaptations come into being, Schönfeld has written a major work, indeed the most significant study to date on German film and literature." ―Eric Rentschler, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, USA
"In elegantly crafted and eloquent prose, Christiane Schönfeld brings to life a history of German film adaptation spanning 130 years and ranging across film industries the length and breadth of Europe. The book expertly surveys existing work in film and literary history, while bringing fresh insights from extensive new research. This volume will be a point of scholarly reference for decades to come." ―Erica Carter, Professor of German and Film, King's College London, UK
"A magisterial survey and analysis of filmic adaptations of German literature in German film and television. Schönfeld's book opens a window on the ability of film to reflect and reflect on shifting cultural understandings of canonical (and less canonical) German literary texts over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Essential reading for all those interested in the history of film – German or otherwise." ―Bill Niven, Emeritus Professor of Contemporary German History, Nottingham Trent University, UK
"Remarkable… this volume is a tour de force of film historical scholarship." ―Choice
"Christiane Schönfeld's detailed, informative, and exciting study deals with the productive relationships between German literature and film from the beginnings of film through the early 2020s. Many film productions are necessarily intertwined with their historical context, which they reflect and influence through attempts at manipulation, as with National Socialism or through criticism of the shortcomings in other times and systems. Traditions come into view that would have been forgotten-if it weren't for books like this one. Thus, this film history contributes greatly to our cultural memory." ―Stefan Neuhaus, Professor of German Literature, University of Koblenz, Germany
See the publisher website: Bloomsbury Academic
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