Activity
conference paper presented at the Women in German Studies 35th Annual Conference, University of ExeterDescription
A Hidden Life (Malick, USA/Germany, 2019) offers a fictionalised portrayal of the life of Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter. The story of Jägerstätter, who was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2007, has been fictionalised numerous times in Austria, but this recent treatment by Malick is notable for the emphasis it places on the shaming and ostracisation that both Jäggerstätter (played by August Diehl) and his family had to undergo within the small Austrian village where they lived. This emphasis on shaming practices resonates with recent studies underlining the importance of humiliation in the exercising of social and political power (cf. Frevert, 2017). Drawing on Astrid Erll’s concept of ‘travelling memory’ (2011) and the field of transnational German Studies (see Braun and Schofield 2020), my paper will analyse how, in this transnational film production, Malick presents Jägerstatter as a timeless model for the importance of resistance and taking a moral stand in totalitarian regimes| Period | 4 Nov 2023 |
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| Event title | Women in German Studies 35th Annual Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Exeter, United KingdomShow on map |