Asian Desire as a Challenge to the “Race Problem” in the Nazi Film Industry
Germanic Studies Colloquium
January 14, 2022
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
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Download iCal FileZach Ramon Fitzpatrick, Germanic Studies, UIC
In the first two years of Nazi rule, German Jewish directors released two German-language films in Austria featuring Japanese protagonists in romantic roles: Taifun (by Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari director, Robert Wiene, 1933) and Letzte Liebe (Fritz Schulz, 1935). These two lesser-known films, with differing production contexts, provide case studies of challenges to Aryan supremacy by showcasing East Asian love interests, the former during the abrupt transition from the Weimar Republic to the Nazi regime, and the latter in exile in Vienna. The films also trace the representational possibilities for its Japanese characters, granting them partial access to desire and romance but ultimately barring them from happy endings with their chosen lovers
Date posted
Jan 7, 2022
Date updated
Jan 7, 2022