Moving Forward, Looking Back: The European Avant-garde and the Invention of Film Culture, 1919-1939 (Amsterdam University Press - Film Culture in Transition)

374 Pages·2007·1.64 MB·English

by  Malte Hagener

MovingForward,LookingBack

Moving Forward, Looking Back
The European Avant-garde and the Invention of
Film Culture, 1919-1939
Malte Hagener
Frontcoverillustration:phototakenduringtheshootingofBerlin,dieSinfo-
niederGrossstadt,GER,WalterRuttmann.CourtesyoftheDeutsche
Kinemathek–MuseumfürFilmundFernsehen
Coverdesign:KokKorpershoek,Amsterdam
Lay-out:japes,Amsterdam
isbn (paperback)
isbn (hardcover)
nur 
©MalteHagener/AmsterdamUniversityPress
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 
Introduction Avant-gardeCultureand Technological
Transformations 
1 Reframing the Historical Avant-garde – Media,
HistoriographyandMethod 
. TheTemporalFrame:HistoriographyandtheComingof
SoundFilm 
. TheGeographicalFrame:EuropeandtheCitiesof
Modernism 
. TheConceptualFrame:Crisis,ArchaeologyandSystems 
. TheCorpus:DefiningtheAvant-garde 
. TheAvant-gardeasAngelofHistory:ThesesontheInterwar
FilmAvant-garde 
2 The Dialectics ofSelf-Conception –FilmAvant-garde and
IndustryAround 1930 
. AporiasoftheAvant-garde 
. MachineAestheticsorSelf-Expression:Constructivismor
Expressionism 
. Self-propagandaorRevolutionaryAgitation:Organising
VisualFacts 
. Conclusion 
3 Strategic ConvergenceandFunctional Differentiation –
TheFilm Societiesand Ciné-Clubs ofthe 1920s and 30s 
. Emergence 
. ScreeningPractice 
. PeakYears- 
. InstitutionalisationandFunctionalDifferentiation
inthes 
. Conclusion 
4 MappingaTotalityofNetworks, Nodesand Flows–
DiscoursesasPractice 
. PublishingasDiscourseFormation:MagazinesandBooks 
. Teaching 
. EventCulture:Exhibitions,Conferences,Festival 
. TheMythofTotalCinema 
6 MovingForward,LookingBack
. Conclusion 
5 VanishingPointSovietUnion – Soviet Cinema andtheWest
between Innovation and Repression 
. TheAvant-gardeintheSovietContext 
. TheBirthofMontageCinemafromtheSpiritofRe-editing 
. ExplodingCategories,TopplingHierarchies 
. TimeandHistory:TheTemporalFrameworkofthe
Avant-garde 
. BerlinastheGatewaytotheWest 
. PublicationandTravelling:TranslationsandtheGrandTour 
. AllegoriesoftheHeavyIndustry:TheBattlewithSound 
. VanishingPoint:FromImaginaryProjectionstoLiteral
Purges 
. Conclusion 
6 Melodies Across the Oceans– The Intersection of
DocumentaryandAvant-garde 
. MelodiederWeltandDrifters:ModelsforWhat? 
. OntheThreshold:AnInventionofaTradition 
. TheIndex,theNarrative,theFragmentandthePersuasionof
theMasses 
. AuthenticityandModernity:ThePoliticsofDependency 
. ExoticAdventuresandSocialEngineering 
. LocatingtheAvant-gardeinits(National)Context 
. Conclusion 
Conclusion – Bridging the Gaps,Connecting the Dots 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Filmography 
Index of Names 
Index ofFilmTitles 
IndexofSubjects 
Acknowledgements
Abookisalwaysalongandwindingendeavourtowhichmanypeoplecontri-
bute, a lot of them in ways not intended and often even unconsciously. So this
list invariably contains names of people who never meant to participate in the
creationofthisbookandwhomightevenbesurprisedtofindtheirnameshere.
Ofcourse,mistakes,omissionsandfaultsarecompletelymyown.Meanwhile,I
am more than happy topointout the support ofa number of friends,acquain-
tancesandcolleagues.
Thebasicframework,organisationally,intellectuallyandfinanciallyhasbeen
provided by the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the project »Cinema/Media
Europe«,whichgavemetheopportunitytoresearchandwritethisbook,somy
firstbowhastogotothosewhomadeitpossibletoparticipateinthisproject.I
have shared many hours and thoughts with my colleagues Marijke de Valck,
FlorisPaalmanandWardRenneninclassesandlibraries,butalsoinouroffices,
firstintheVendelstraatandlaterintheTurfdraagsterpad.However,thisproject
wasallthemoreextraordinarybecausemanyothermembersfromallcornersof
Europemadeourmeetingsandactivitiessorewardingandstimulating.Thanks
alsotoMelisBehlil,YesimBurul,TarjaLaine,GerwinvanderPol,andElefther-
iaThanouliwhocontributedtoourcommoneffortofrethinkingEuropeancin-
ema. However, the largest debt I owe is to Drehli Robnik. He showed up one
day at the Ph.D. seminar and has become, along with Gabu Heindl, a good
friendeversince.
AnumberofcolleaguesandfriendsinAmsterdamhavebeenhelpfulinvar-
ious ways,eitherlistening tomyhalf-bakedideasover dinner,sharingfilmex-
periences, taking the time to read earlier drafts of chapters, or just helping out
when it was most necessary: Ivo Blom, Karel Dibbets, Charles Forceville, Julia
Nordergraaf,MartinaRoepke,WimStaat,WandaStrauven,ArnthvanTuinen,
andReimervanTuinen.AspartoftheAmsterdamSchoolofCulturalAnalysis,
IwasluckytobesupportedbyEloeKingmaandHentdeVries.Thefirstscho-
larstoseriouslyinvolvethemselvesintheideasraisedinthisbookwereonmy
Ph.D.committeeandsothankstoJeroenBoomgaard,IanChristie,VinzenzHe-
diger,JanSimons,andFrankvanVree.
A number of invitations allowed me to develop and test out ideas that have
helpedtoshapethisbook.ThefirstcrucialpresentationwasgivenatNewYork
University in February  where Elena Gorfinkel and Charles Leary orga-
nised what turned out to be the first in a series of get-togethers focused on the
8 MovingForward,LookingBack
ideaofCinephilia.AttheconferenceImetFedericoWindhausen,afellowspirit
oftheavant-garde,whileBillSimonguidedmetosomereferencesthatIwould
not have been aware of otherwise. In New York, Steven Aldridge and Suzy
Beemer provided not only food and shelter, but also stimulating talks and
friendship. The series of conferences continued in  in Amsterdam and in
 in London where Jenna Pei-Suin Ng and David Forgacs rose to the occa-
sion.Atallthreeconferences,agroupofyoungscholarscombinedtwovirtues:
a congenial and friendly atmosphere and excellent scholarship. Thanks to the
organisersandeverybodypresentontheseoccasions.
Since , I have been a regular at the Gradisca Spring School in the Friaul
regionofItaly,aninitiativethatisfocussedonthecomingofsoundtoEuropean
cinema. Leonardo Quaresima and his team have established an extraordinary
event in a small town between Venice, Istria and the Alps, which unites aca-
demic rigour, an impeccable organisation with Italian style, good food and a
stimulatingatmosphere.Inthisextraordinaryatmosphere,Ihavemetmanyex-
ceptionalscholarswhohelpedmeinvariousways,amongthemmentionhasto
go to Nataša Ďurovičová, Charles O’Brien, Francesco Pitassio, Davide Pozzi
and Laura Vichi as well as the amazing staff of the Magis Spring School. In
Gradisca, I also first met Petr Szczepanik who became a friend when he joined
meinThuringiawheretheshortdistancebetweenJenaandWeimarallowedus
toseeeachothermoreoftenthanwewouldhaveotherwisebeenabletoonour
trajectoriesbetweenAmsterdam,Berlin,Brno,Pragueandotherplaces.
Other occasions and invitations also helped me to shape my thoughts and
words: Jan Distelmeyer and Erika Wottrich organised a conference on Tobis in
 in Hamburg, which was overseen by Hans-Michael Bock who, years be-
fore, had been instrumental in my first serious contact with film history. In
Coimbra,PauloGranja–withwhomIsharemanyinterests–hostedacongress
on the European film club movement where Christel Henry contributed valu-
able information, while Patricia Pascoal and Pedro Teixeira offered lodging
along the way. In Jena, where I am currently based, I was lucky to be able to
present part of my research and received reactions from Michael Barchet and
KarlSierek,whichhavefoundtheirwayintothiswork.
Tim Bergfelder not only gave valuable advice at a crucial point, he was also
oneofthefirstwhoencouragedmetoseriouslyventureintofilmstudieswhenI
wasasanundergraduateinNorwich.AndrewHigson,anotherNorwichregu-
lar,helpedmetotrackdownJamieSextonwhoseworkontheBritishfilmsocie-
tiesisamodelofthoroughandmeticulousscholarship.MichaelWedelandJo-
hann N. Schmidt were much more than partners on an editing project that
offered stimulating ideas and texts along the way. Milena Gregor helped with
access to Esfir Shub’s films, while Martin Barnier, Francesco Bono and Sofia
Rossholmsharedtheirideasonthecomingofsound.
Acknowledgements 9
Anumberoffriendswerenotinvolveddirectlywiththecreationofthiswork,
yet their support nevertheless was instrumental in my efforts. Christiane Kühl
and Chris Kondek saved the day by providing English versions of Benjamin
textsduringaperiodwhentimewasespeciallyshort,whileUlrikeKassunund
Peter Crisp often providedwelcomedigressions away frommy work.Vinzenz
HedigerandAlexandraSchneiderareesteemedcolleaguesandgoodfriendsof
equalmeasure.InHamburg,RonaldHoffmann,DavidKleingers,andKurtRe-
hkopf;inBonn,TasjaFrenzelandCarstenSchinko;andinDresden,JürgenMül-
ler deserve honourable mention. Robin Curtis, Jeanpaul Goergen, Irmbert
Schenk,ThomasTode,andWilliamUricchioalsogavesupportalongtheway.
Finally, I have to thank two people to whom I am indebted in many more
ways than I can ever express here. Thomas Elsaesser not only gave me the op-
portunity to work in the Cinema/Media Europe project and supervised the
work on which this book is based, he is also a model of scholarship and en-
gaged teaching. Without his intellectual rigour and sharp intelligence, without
his film-historical knowledge and keen interest, this project in its present form
wouldhavebeenunthinkable.MarjanParvandsavedmemorethanoncewhen
Iwas stuck; her criticismis as sharp as her support is undivided,her energy is
asconstantasherloveisinspiring.ItistoherthatIdedicatethisbook.
MalteHagener
Jena,March