'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
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early 1980s by a wave <strong>of</strong> historical films. These historical films sought to come to terms<br />
with Germany‟s fascist past through an examination <strong>of</strong> personal experiences and stories.<br />
Chapter 2 begins with an examination <strong>of</strong> Neue Subjektivität or “New<br />
Subjectivity” a literary and cinematic trend in the Germany <strong>of</strong> the 1970s that valued<br />
personal experience and prepared the way for West German women‟s (auto)biographical<br />
filmmaking. Next is a brief discussion about the marginalization <strong>of</strong> women‟s voices in<br />
the context <strong>of</strong> German history. I examine how Sanders-Brahms‟ approach <strong>of</strong> recreating<br />
German war and post-war history from the perspective <strong>of</strong> individual experience<br />
corresponds to the goals <strong>of</strong> Alltagsgeschichte or the “history <strong>of</strong> everyday life” and <strong>of</strong> oral<br />
history in that it recaptures a history from below. This is followed by a detailed analysis<br />
<strong>of</strong> two scenes central to depicting a woman‟s gendered experiences <strong>of</strong> conflict, a birth<br />
scene and a rape scene. In this analysis I examine the cinematic techniques Sanders-<br />
Brahms uses to juxtapose women‟s personal experiences with the generally accepted<br />
memory <strong>of</strong> actual historical events, such as the interweaving <strong>of</strong> archival footage with<br />
enacted scenes inspired by her mother‟s own experiences. In my analysis <strong>of</strong> the rape<br />
scene, I maintain that Sanders-Brahms intended the mother figure‟s stoic response to<br />
being violated as a critique <strong>of</strong> the silence in post-war Germany surrounding the rapes <strong>of</strong><br />
German women by Allied soldiers at the end <strong>of</strong> the war.<br />
Chapter 3 examines the function <strong>of</strong> stories as means <strong>of</strong> conveying cultural<br />
knowledge and personal memory from one generation to the next. I begin by exploring<br />
women‟s traditional role as storytellers. Next, I examine how Sanders-Brahms assumes<br />
the enunciative role <strong>of</strong> woman as storyteller by fictionally recreating her mother‟s<br />
experiences <strong>of</strong> the Hitler and post-war era through the public medium <strong>of</strong> film. In this act<br />
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