Humble killers: Literary and cinematic representations of the German and Italian militant left, 1970--1999.
Item
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Title
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Humble killers: Literary and cinematic representations of the German and Italian militant left, 1970--1999.
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Identifier
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AAI3127878
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identifier
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3127878
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Creator
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Henninger, Max.
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Contributor
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Advisers: Vincent Crapanzano | Giancarlo Lombardi
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Date
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2004
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Comparative | Literature, Romance | Literature, Germanic | Cinema
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Abstract
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Humble Killers presents close readings of memoirs, novels, literary essays, and films that were published and released in Italy and the German Federal Republic between 1970 and 1999, and that examine the phenomenon of postwar left-wing militancy in those countries. The study proposes an answer to the question: What is the relationship between ideology and art?;The introduction examines the conventional practice of discussing Italian and West German left-wing militancy under the rubric of "left-wing terrorism." Standard definitions of "terrorism" are examined and new definitions of both "terrorism" and "left-wing terrorism" are proposed. An argument is made for replacing the expression "left-wing terrorism" with "left-wing militancy.";Chapter I provides an overview of the main events associated with left-wing militancy in Italy and the German Federal Republic. Reference is made to first-person accounts by the protagonists of those events.;Chapter II examines roughly two dozen writers whose ideas contributed to the ideology of left-wing militant groups in Italy and the German Federal Republic. The chapter also elaborates on five concepts that were central to that ideology (praxis, illegality, counterviolence, revolutionary identity, and individuality). Differences between ideological statements issued by German and Italian groups are discussed.;Chapter III offers close readings of nine memoirs by German and Italian ex-militants, analysing the ways in which a writer's historical situation and ideological inclination may determine the formal features of his text.;Chapter IV briefly considers literary texts that were given ideological interpretations by left-wing militants, before embarking on an extended analysis of the novels and literary essays that were written in response to German and Italian left-wing militancy. The chapter demonstrates that while these novels and essays present themselves as critiques of militant ideology, they are themselves informed by ideological notions. Chapter V extends the analysis provided in Chapter IV to German and Italian cinema.;Chapter VI summarises the insights gained in the preceding chapters and uses these insights to formulate an answer to the question concerning the relationship between ideology and art. Theoretical analyses of political violence, ideology, and art formulated by Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno are critically examined.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
