new gqrpian I L critique Number4 9 Winter1 990 SPECIAL ISSUE ON ALEXANDER KLUGE AlexandeKrl uge The Assaulto f the Presento n the Resto f Time EricR entschler RememberingN ot to Forget: A RetrospectivRe eadingo f Kluge'sB rutalitiyn Stone TimothCyo rrigan The Commerceo f Auteurisma: Voice withoutA uthority HelkeS ander "You Can't AlwaysG et WhatY ou Want": The Filmso f AlexanderK luge Heide Schliipmann Femininitays ProductivFe orce:K lugea nd CriticaTl heory GertruKdo ch AlexanderK luge's Phantomo f the Opera AlexandeKrl uge On Opera, Filma nd Feelings RichardW olin On MisunderstandinHga bermas:A Responset o Rajchman JohnR ajchman Rejoinder to Richard Wolin Marc Silberman Remembering History:T he Filmmaker Konrad Wolf This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:51:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions NEW GERMAN ainn tejroduogfires nscrtaimupl dlaiinne sa ry CRITIQUE an interdisciplinarjoyu rnal of germans tudies EditorDs:a vid Bathric(kIt haca),H elen Fehervar(yC olumbus),M iriamH ansen( Chicago), AndreasH uyssen( New York),A nsonR abinbach( New York)J, ackZ ipes (Minneapolis). ContributEindgit orsL:e slieA delson( Columbus),G eoffE ley (AnnA rbor),F erencF eher (New York),A gnes Heller (New York),P eterU . Hohendahl( Ithaca),D ouglas Kellner (Austin)E, berhardK n6dler-Bunt(eB erlin),S ara Lennox (Amherst)A, ndreiM arkovits (Cambridge),B iddy Martin (Ithaca), Rainer Naigele (Baltimore),E ric Rentschler (Irvine),H enryS chmidt( Columbus),J amesS teakley(M adison). AssistanEtd itorsN: ed Brinkley(I thaca),a nd Karen Kenkel( Ithaca). ProjecAts sistanCt:y nthiaH errick( Ithaca). Publishedt hreet imesa yearb yT ELOS PRESS, 431 E. 12thS t.,N ew York,N Y 10009. NewG ermaCnr itiquNeo . 49 correspondst oV ol. 17,N o. 1. ? New GermanC ritiqueI nc. 1990.A ll rightsr eservedN. ew GermanC ritiquei s a non-profietd, ucationalo rganiza- tions upportedb y theD epartmento f GermanL iteraturoef CornellU niversitayn d by a grantf romt he Departmento f Germana nd College of Humanitieso f Ohio State University. 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This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:51:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions NEW GERMAN CRITIQUE Number 49 Winter1 990 SPECIAL ISSUE ON ALEXANDER KLUGE Table Contents of ARTICLES: Introduction... ....................................... ................ 3 MiriamH ansen The Assaulto ft heP resento n theR esto fT ime 11 .................... AlexanderK luge RememberingN ot to Forget: A RetrospectiveR eading of Kluge's Brutalitiyn Stone. .............23 EricR entschler The Commerceo fA uteurisma: Voicew ithoutA uthority......4..3 TimothCyo rrigan "You Can't AlwaysG et WhatY ou Want": The Filmso fA lexander 59 Kluge............................................. HelkeS ander Femininitays ProductivFeo rce:K lugea nd CriticaTl heory.. ....... 69 Heide Schliipmann AlexanderK luge'sP hantomo ft heO pera ........................ 79 GertrudK och On Opera, Filma nd Feelings................................. ............. 89 AlexanderK luge On MisunderstandinHg abermas: A Responset o Rajchman.. ................................................ . 139 RichardW olin Rejoindert o RichardW o lin. ............................................. 155 JohnR ajchman RememberingH istoryT: he FilmmakerK onradW olf........... 163 Marc Silberman This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:51:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions =TEL O S A QuarterlyJ ournal of CriticalT hought Sincei tsf irsits suei n May 1968, Ilos has introducedin tot heE nglish-speaking worldt heb estt rendsin continentarla dicalt houghtC. ommittedto thed evelop- mento f an Americavne rsiono f CriticaTl heoryu nencumberedb y conformist communicatiotnh eoryo r Freudianismi,l os continuets o focuso n internation- al issuesa nd, increasingloyn, a criticaaln alysiso f Americans ociety. 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Peases, peciails suee ditor Contents TheR esP ublicoaf L ette/rMs ichaWel arner TheR ationafloer " TheA mericRano manc/eJ " ohnM cWilliams ScarcitSyu,b jectivaitnydE, merso/nW ai-chDeei mock HearinNga rratVivoei ceisn M elvilleP'ise rr/eP riscilWlaa ld DukeU niversPitrye ss TheR hetoriUcasle a ndA buseo fF ictionE:a tinBgo okisn L ate JJoouurrnnaalDDsliis vv iissiioonn 6697C ollegSet ation Nineteenth-CeAnmtuerryi/c S at eveMn ailloux DurhamNC 2 7708 MaternDails courasne dt heR omancoefS elf-PossessiinoKn a te ChopinT'sh eA wakeni/nI vgy S chweitzer RealismId,e ologayn,d t heN oveinl A meri(c1a8 86-1896C):h ang- ingP erspectivinet sh eW orokf M arTkw ainW, .D . Howellasn, d HenrJya me/sR oberWt eimann AmericLanit eratuanred t heN ewH istoricisTmh:e E xampolef FrederiDcoku glas/sG regoSr.y J ay "Ourbsy t heL awo fN atureR":o manacne dI ndependeonntM s ark TwainR'si ve/rH owarHdo rwitz CatalogitnhgeC reaturoefst heD eep:" BillByu ddS,a ilora"n dt he Riseo fS ociolog/yS u sanM izruchi ViolencRe,e volutiaonnd,t heC osto fF reedomJ:o hnB rowann d W.E .B .D uBoi/sW illiaCma in Futurceo ntributionrcsl udJe onathAanr acJ, osephB uttigieg, MargarFeetr gusoMn,ic haHela ysD, anieOl' HaraE,d warWd .S aid, WilliaVm.S panosa,n dC ornWel est boundary 2 This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:51:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions revue d'Allemagne et des pays de languea llemande Die vierteljahrliecrhs cheinendew issenschaftliche Zeitschrifdte s Centresd 'Etudesg ermaniqueds er 1990/ UniversitRito berStc humanS,t rasbourSgi.e nimmint S1990 franzbsischuenn dd eutschBenei trigSetne llunzug d en Problemedne rB .R.D.u ndD .D.R.a ufp olitischemwi,r t- schaftlichesmoz, ialemu ndk ulturelleGmeb iet. WissenschaftlicheRr at J.-P.B led,F .-G. DreyfusA, . Grosser,F . BilgerR, . Bauer, G.-L. Fink,P . Koenig,R . PoidevinJ, . Rovan,J .-MV. alentin Direktion J.-P.B led, F.-G.D reyfusD, . Goeldel,A . Losser,R . PoidevinS, . Urban Redaktionskomitee J. Bari6tyG, . Castellan,C . David, J. Droz,L . Dupeux,P . GrappinF, . HartwegJ, . MuratR, . Poidevin, R. R6mondA, . Rieg,E . Schulin,F . SiegburgK, . Sontheimer, R. vonT hadden,J .-MV. alentin Redaktionssekretirin U. Mousset Themend er letztenN ummern DeutschsprachigLen der nach1 945:k ultur-politisFcohres chunugn dL ehre in der franzbsischeGne rmanistik FrankreichEsi nfluaBu f Deutschland 40 JahreB undesrepubliDke utschland- Versuche inerB ilanz- Franzosischeur ndd eutscherP rotestantismus Themen 1990 fuir Osterreichu ndd ie NeugestaltunEgu ropas Industriestrategiinen d er Bundesrepublik Die alternativVee rsuchungin Deutschlandim 19. und2 0. Jahrhundert De Gaulle undD eutschland Buletind 'abonnement REVUED 'ALLEMAGN*E, C entred 'ttudesg ermanique8s,, rued es Icrivains, 67081S trasbourCge dex/ T 61.8 8.36.45.14/ F ax 88.35.64.42 Name Beruf Ich bestelleh iermeitin J ahresabonneme(4n tN ummernfo) r1 990z u senden an folgendeArd resse zurnP reisv on:A bonnemen1t9 90: Frankreic2h2: 0 F [ - Ausland2: 80 F [ Anbeim eineG eldLberweisuanugf B ankkontCo.C .B. (Sogenal8 2536/ 7 ) oder PostscheckkonCt.Co. P.( Strasbour1g2 99-4A1 )a n Societhd 'itudesA llemandes, 8, rued es Ecrivains6,7 081S trasbourCge dex. This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:51:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Introduction Miriam Hansen In the UnitedS tates,t he criticadl ebate on AlexanderK luge'sw ork has onlyj ust begun, thankst o a comprehensivre etrospectivoef his filmso rganizedb y StuartL iebmana nd sponsoredb yt he GoetheI nsti- tutea nd AnthologyF ilmA rchivesA. retrospectivKe,lu gem ights ay,i s a bitl ikea n inventoroyf boxes leftb ehindi n theb asementa ftero ne has moved to anotherc ity- the boxes stillc ontains ome usefult hings, thougho ne's currenlti fei s elsewhereI.n Kluge'sc ase in particulart,h e relationshipb etweena uthora nd oeuvrei s a problematico ne. Com- paredt o them ainb odyo ft hes o-calledN ew GermanC inema,h isf ilms havem ostp ersistentrlyef useda statusa s "works"w hichc ould be circu- lateda nd canonizedo r, fort hatm attert, ranslatedan d exported. Foro ne thingt, hisr esistancies an effecotf t hef ilmst' extuasl trategies - theirs tylistihce terogeneityop, enness,i ncompletenesst,h eirc hal- lenget o the" filmi n thes pectator'hs ead." These strategieusn dermine the closuret ypicanl ot onlyo f the classicalH ollywoodf ilmb ut also of the masterpieceos f art cinema.B ut beyondf ormalismK, luge's films are not as easilya ssimilatedt o auteurialc onsumptiona s, fori nstance, thew orko fd irectorHs erzog,F assbindero, r Wenders,b ecause Kluge's authorshipo ftent akest hef ormo f an interventioinn a pragmaticc on- text,i n a particularco nstellationof public life.T hus, his filmsu sually belongt o a largerc onfiguratioonf e ventsa nd discoursest; heyr espond to specificp oliticalc onflictst,o historicaml omentsa nd movements such as the incipients tudentm ovement,t he Hiiuserkam(ptfh e fight againstr eal-estatsep eculationin theF rankfuWrte stend)o, r thes piralo f terrorisman d states urveillanceW. hen I recallt he filmsI saw at the time of their German release, Artistus ndert heB ig Top:P erplexed(1 967), 3 This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:52:11 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 4 Introduction Part-TimWe orko fa DomesticS lave (1973), In Dangera nd Dire Distress.. . (1974), and StrongmaFne rdinand(1 976), I am less likelyt o remember a filmict ext than particulars ituationso f reception,d iscussions,a nd controversietsh att hef ilmso ccasioneda nd in whicht hey- and Kluge himself- participatedT.h e filmsd' ependencyo n a performativceo n- texti s, of course,a lso due to thef actt hatt hef ilmmakeirn thisc ase is also a writert,h eoristt,e acher,l awyera, nd organizer. It is a topos of Klugec riticismu,s ingo ne ofh is own metaphorst,h at his workr esemblesa "constructionsi te."T he object of construction, as readerso f Klugek nowb y now,i s notj ust thei ndividualf ilmo r the oeuvre,b ut the "public sphere"( Offentlichikne tith)e e mphatics enseo f the word: the context,h orizon, or relationship( Zusammenhanign) whiche xperiencec an be articulatedc,o mpared,a nd reflectedu pon. Because of itst echnicala nd aesthetica ffinitwyi tht he discourseo f ex- perience (associations,m ixed materials,f loatingt emporalities)t,h e cinemaa ssumesa particularsi gnificancfeo rt heo rganizationo fp ublic life,i ncludingt he conditionso f feelinga nd intimacyI.n thats ense, filmh istoryto o,w ithi tsb oulevardsd, etours,a nd dead ends,i s a con- structions ite,a s open-endeda s most of Kluge's films.I f fewo f his filmsc ould be said to "succeed" as integraol r completew orksm, osto f themw illc ontains ome sequenceo r momentsw hichr eveala n alterna- tivev isiono fc inema,w hichs uggestr elationsb etweent hef ilma nd the viewerse' xperiencet hatd iffefrr omt hoser eproducedi n thed ominant media. In itse mphasiso n thee cologyo fp ublicl ife,t hen,K luge'sc on- cepto fc inemai s usefult o anyf ilmp racticet hati s committedto thea r- ticulationo f marginal,s uppressed,d istortedc, o-optedd iscourseso f experiencew, hethero r not one sharesK luge's particularp ositions. Kluge'sl inkageo f filmp racticew itha politicso f the public sphere is not limited,h owevert, o the institutioonf cinema.O n thec ontrary, because Kluge has no illusionsc oncerningt he "illusiont hatt he cine- ma [. . .] willh avea triumphaeln tryin tot he2 1stc entury,h" e has tem- porarilys hiftedt he focus of his activitietso anothers cene: indepen- dentt elevisionK. lugeh as notm ade a feature-lengfthil mi n moret han foury earsb ut insteadh as been producinga serieso f roughly3 0-min- ute clipsf ora weeklyp rogramb roadcastb y one of the new,p rivately owned networkisn Germany.T' his shiftin focus,K luge insistsd, oes 1. On a selectiono f Kluge's televisionw ork see MargaretM orse, "Ten to Eleven: Tele- vision by Alexander Kluge," 1989 AmericanF ilm InstitutVe ideoF estival( Los Angeles: The American Film Institute,1 989) 50-53; Miriam Hansen, "Reinventingt he Nickelodeon: This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:52:11 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions MiriamH ansen 5 not mean he has abandoned the cinema as a public form;r atherh, e viewsh is televisionw orka s a hibernatinsgt rategyb,a sed on a realistic assessmento f the conditionso f filmp roductiond, istributiona,n d ex- hibitioni n the FederalR epublict oday.A t the same time,K luge'ss hift to televisionr epresenttsh e logical developmento f one aestheticp er- spectivei n his films:t he concernw itho pera thatc ulminatedi n The Powero fE motio(n1 983).T he parameteros ft hev ideo clip seem especial- lyw ells uitedt o Kluge'sr evisionisctr ossingo f opera and filmT. he two translationtsh ata ppear in thisi ssue - excerptsf romh is book TheA s- sault oft heP resento n theR esto fT ime,a nd selected writingso n opera - among othert hingsp rovidea n explanatoryb ackgroundf ort he film- maker'sc urrentin vestmenitn television. The articlesf ramedb y the two translationosr iginateda s contribu- tionst o a symposiumo n Klugeh eld in conjunctionw itht her etrospec- tiveo f his films.T he symposiumt ook place at the CUNY Graduate Centero n 28 October 1988, and broughtt ogethersc holarsa nd film- makersf romt he FederalR epublica nd the UnitedS tates.T he papers publishedh ered ocumentt heb eginningosf a discussionw hichr eflects both a timel ag in the criticarl eceptiono f Klugei n thisc ountryan d a certaind ivergenceb etweenG ermana nd Americand iscourseso n film and cinema.U nfortunateltyh, et wop apersd ealingw ithK luge'sm ore properlyli terarwy ork- byA ndreasH uyssena nd FredriJc ameson- could notb e includedi n thisi ssue.M issinga s wella re ther esponsest o the papers by symposiump articipant-s preciselyt hep ublic dimen- sion of the event- in particulart he interventionosf YvonneR ainer and AnnetteM ichelson.2 The symposiumd iscussionc enteredo n twoi ssues:K luge'ss tatusa s an auteur(t hes ubjecto f TimothyC orrigan'sp aper),a nd the question of Kluge'ss exualp oliticsT. he critiqueo f representationosf f emininity in Kluge'sf ilmsb egan witht hep olemicsa gainstP art-TimWeo rkof a Do- mestiScl avei n thef eminisfti lmjo urnalF rauenu ndF ilm( no. 3, 1974); in Notes on Kluge and EarlyC inema," Octobe4r6 (Fall 1988): 178-198;A ndreas Kilb, "Der lange Abschiedd es Herrn K.," Die Zeit 1 July1 988: 15-16; DieterJ eucka nd GuntramV ogt, "Fernseheno hne Ermissigung:A lexanderK luge und das Kultur- magazin' 10 vor 11,' " FrankfurRteurn dscha1u6 December 1989: ZB 3. Also see Yvonne Rainera nd ErnestL arsen," 'We Are DemolitionA rtistsA': n Intervieww ithA lexander Kluge," TheI ndepende(nJtu ne1 989): 18-25. 2. Fora morec omprehensivien troductiotno Kluge'sw ork,i ncludingan interview, articlesf,i lmographayn, d bibliographyse e thes peciali ssueo fO ctobemr agazine( no. 46, Fall 1988) editedb y StuartL iebman,w hichs erveda s a cataloguef ort her etrospective. This content downloaded on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:52:11 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions