Antisemitism in film comedy in Nazi Germany / Valerie Weinstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weinstein, Valerie, 1971- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Antisemitism in motion pictures.

Antisemitism--Germany.

Antisemitism.

Comedy films.

History.

Social aspects.

Germany.

Comedy films--Germany--History--20th century.

Comedy films--Social aspects--Germany--History--20th century.

Comedy films--Political aspects--Germany--History--20th century.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 281 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2019]

Summary:

Today many Germans remain nostalgic about "classic" film comedies created during the 1930s, viewing them as a part of the Nazi era that was not tainted with antisemitism. In Antisemitism in Film Comedy in Nazi Germany, Valerie Weinstein scrutinizes these comic productions and demonstrates that film comedy, despite its innocent appearance, was a critical component in the effort to separate "Jews" from "Germans," physically, economically, and artistically. Weinstein highlights how the German propaganda ministry used directives, pre- and post-production censorship, financial incentives, and influence over film critics and their judgments to replace Jewish "wit" with a slower, simpler, and more direct German "humor" that affirmed values that the Nazis associated with the Aryan race. Through contextualized analyses of historical documents and individual films, Weinstein reveals how humor, coded hints and traces, absences, and substitutes in Third Reich film comedy helped spectators imagine an abstract "Jewishness" and a "German" identity and community free from the former. As resurgent populist nationalism and overt racism continue to grow around the world today, Weinstein's study helps us rethink racism and prejudice in popular culture and reconceptualize the relationships between film humor, national identity, and race.

Today many Germans remain nostalgic about ""classic"" film comedies created during the 1930s, viewing them as a part of the Nazi era that was not tainted with antisemitism. In Antisemitism in Film Comedy in Nazi Germany, Valerie Weinstein scrutinizes these comic productions and demonstrates that film comedy, despite its innocent appearance, was a critical component in the effort to separate ""Jews"" from ""Germans,"" physically, economically, and artistically.

Contents:

Introduction: reconceiving antisemitism in Third Reich film comedy

Overt and inferential antisemitism in Nazi writings and the film trade press

Overt antisemitism, Jewish difference, and colonial whiteness in early Third Reich film comedy: nur nicht weich werden, Susanne! and die blume von Hawaii

Comic ersatz: Viktor und Viktoria and Gluckskinder

Wenn wir alle Engel waren as the model of a racialized German humor

Capitalism, colonialism, and the white Jew in April! April! and Donogoo Tonka

Mistaken identity and the masked Jew in Robert und Bertram

Jewish absence, epistemic murk, and the aesthetics of cremation in Munchhausen and Die Feuerzangenbowle

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-273) and index.

Other Format:

Electronic version : Weinstein, Valerie, 1971- Antisemitism in film comedy in Nazi Germany.

ISBN:

9780253040718

025304071X

9780253040701

0253040701

OCLC:

1043187137