Generic Histories of German Cinema: Genre and Its Deviations ed. by Jaimey Fisher (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Generic Histories of German Cinema: Genre and Its Deviations ed. by Jaimey Fisher Roger F. Cook Generic Histories of German Cinema: Genre and Its Deviations. Edited by Jaimey Fisher. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2013. Pp. 314. Cloth $95.00. ISBN 978-1571135704. This collection of twelve substantial essays fills a notable gap in scholarly work on German film and is a welcome addition to Camden House’s prominent series in German Studies. In the introduction the volume’s editor, Jaimey Fisher, documents convincingly the need for a volume that focuses on the history and theory of genre in German cinema. He provides a good overview of the scant existing scholarship on German genre films and then describes how Generic Histories addresses the topic in a way that can contribute both to the history of German film and to genre theory more broadly. He lays out two key goals of this anthology. One is to illuminate from [End Page 682] a new perspective the links between art cinema and popular film. The second, more central concern is the need to override the partitioning of German history into fixed periods that are seen as distinct and disconnected. Fisher asserts that in emphasizing “the ongoing histories of film genres and their ever mutating forms” (4), the essays in this volume read genre in the German context across the boundaries of these periods and, in doing so, seek to contribute to genre theory more broadly. After stating these objectives, Fisher addresses briefly the influence that German theorists (Adorno, Horkheimer, Kracauer) have had on genre theory, before offering a brief historical sketch of critical writing on film genre. He does so in order to spell out the specific contribution that the “historic-discursive approach” of Generic Histories has to offer. Tailoring his short account of a complex history to this end, Fisher argues that genre theory as a whole has tended to follow a triangulated model constructed around the filmic text, audiences, and industry institutions. The thrust of this historical account (which includes John Calweti, Rick Altman, and Steve Neale, among others) is to show that the various models of genre theory have struggled to find an approach that incorporates both a historical focus on institutions and practices and a discursive engagement with the filmic text. Generic Histories seeks to rectify this by offering a history of German genre film that does both and that can thus serve as a model for genre studies in general. The collection pursues this goal by assigning a certain structure to the individual contributions. Each essay provides a general history of its designated genre and then provides a reading of a particular film as a case study. For the most part, the articles follow the design laid out in the introduction and, in doing so, give a broad history of genre film in German cinema. The contributions cover the most important genres: horror films, the essay film, science fiction, musicals, war films, crime films, the Heimat film, romantic comedy, and detective/police thrillers. While the collection may not cover every genre (e.g., political thriller, Bergfilme, and historical films are not included), there are no glaring gaps. In most cases, the essays also trace the development of a particular genre across different periods in German history, delivering on the promise in the introduction of “transperiod genre criticism.” Of all the contributions, Lutz Koepnick’s piece adheres to the plan laid out in the introduction most effectively. It provides an excellent critical perspective on the history of science-fiction film in German cinema, explaining its limited success in relation to German social, political and cultural history. In a skilled balancing of case study with the larger scope of his piece, he frames his arguments with a discussion of two Fritz Lang science-fiction films of the 1920s (one classic and one minor), and then comes back to Metropolis in a strong conclusion that solidifies his argument with a superb analogy drawn from a classical moment of German science-fiction. Gerd Gemünden also contributes effectively to the theoretical purpose of the volume. He gives a strong reading of Edgar Ulmer’s 1934 horror film The Black Cat as...