Hitler's Heroines: Stardom and Womanhood in Nazi Cinema Contributor(s): Ascheid, Antje (Author) |
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ISBN: 156639984X ISBN-13: 9781566399845 Publisher: Temple University Press OUR PRICE: $28.45 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2003 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Film - General |
Dewey: 791.436 |
LCCN: 2002071460 |
Series: Culture and the Moving Image |
Physical Information: 0.72" H x 5.96" W x 9.1" (0.84 lbs) 240 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: German film-goers flocked to see musicals and melodramas during the Nazi era. Although the Nazis seemed to require that every aspect of ordinary life advance the fascist project, even the most popular films depicted characters and desires that deviated from the politically correct ideal. Probing into the contradictory images of womanhood that surfaced in these films, this work shows how Nazi heroines negotiated the gender conflicts that confronted contemporary women. The careers of Kristina Soderbaum, Lilian Harvey, and Zarah Leander speak to the Nazis' need to address and contain the woman question, to redirect female subjectivity and desires to self sacrifice for the common good. Hollywood's new women and glamorous dames were out; the German wife and mother were in. The roles and star personas assigned to these actresses, though intended to entertain the public in a politically conformist way, point to the difficulty of yoking popular culture to ideology. |