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This highly original book draws on narrative and film theory, psychoanalysis, and musicology to explore the relationship between aesthetics and anti-Semitism in two controversial landmarks in German culture. David Levin argues that Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and Fritz Lang's 1920s film Die Nibelungen creatively exploit contrasts between good and bad aesthetics to address the question of what is German and what is not. He shows that each work associates a villainous character, portrayed as non-Germanic and Jewish, with the sometimes dramatically awkward act of narration. For both Wagner and Lang, narration--or, in cinematic terms, visual presentation--possesses a typically Jewish potential for manipulation and control. Consistent with this view, Levin shows, the Germanic hero Siegfried is killed in each work by virtue of his unwitting adoption of a narrative role. Levin begins with an explanation of the book's theoretical foundations and then applies these theories to close readings of, in turn, Wagner's cycle and Lang's film. He concludes by tracing how Germans have dealt with the Nibelungen myths in the wake of the Second World War, paying special attention to Michael Verhoeven's 1989 film The Nasty Girl. His fresh and interdisciplinary approach sheds new light not only on Wagner's Ring and Lang's Die Nibelungen, but also on the ways in which aesthetics can be put to the service of aggression and hatred. The book is an important contribution to scholarship in film and music and also to the broader study of German culture and national identity.

Motion pictures --- Music --- Social aspects --- Lang, Fritz, --- Wagner, Richard, --- Criticism and interpretation. --- Nibelungen : Siegfried (Motion picture : 1924) --- Germany --- Civilization --- Cinema --- Feature films --- Films --- Movies --- Moving-pictures --- Audio-visual materials --- Mass media --- Performing arts --- Art music --- Art music, Western --- Classical music --- Musical compositions --- Musical works --- Serious music --- Western art music --- Western music (Western countries) --- History and criticism --- Lang, Friedrich Christian Anton, --- Nibelungen : Siegfrieds Tod (Motion picture : 1924) --- Siegfried (Motion picture : 1924) --- Siegfrieds Tod (Motion picture : 1924) --- Siegfried's death (Motion picture : 1924) --- Nibelungen (Motion picture : 1924) --- Weimar Republic --- Germanii︠a︡ --- Германия --- BRD --- FRN --- Jirmānīya --- جرمانيا --- Nimechchyna --- Gjermani --- Federalʹna Respublika Nimechchyny --- Veĭmarskai︠a︡ Respublika --- Ashkenaz --- Germanyah --- Bundesrepublik Deutschland --- Federal Republic of Germany --- Deutschland --- Repoblika Federalin'i Alemana --- República Federal de Alemania --- Alemania --- República de Alemania --- Bu̇gd Naĭramdakh German Uls --- Kholboony Bu̇gd Naĭramdakh German Uls --- KhBNGU --- ХБНГУ --- German Uls --- Germania --- Republika Federal Alemmana --- Deutsches Reich --- Grossdeutsches Reich --- Weimarer Republik --- Vācijā --- Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955) --- Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : British Zone) --- Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : French Zone) --- Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : Russian Zone) --- Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : U.S. Zone) --- Germany (East) --- Germany (West) --- Holy Roman Empire --- ドイツ --- Doitsu --- ドイツ連邦共和国 --- Doitsu Renpō Kyōwakoku --- Wagner, Richard --- Lang, Fritz --- Criticism and interpretation --- Music and society --- 19th century --- 20th century --- Wagner, Richard, - 1813-1883. - Ring des Nibelungen. --- Lang, Fritz, - 1890-1976 - Criticism and interpretation. --- Music and society - Germany. --- Motion pictures - Social aspects - Germany. --- Germany - Civilization - 19th century. --- Nibelungen : Kriemhilds Rache (Motion picture : 1924) --- Kriemhilds Rache (Motion picture : 1924) --- Kriemhild's revenge (Motion picture : 1924) --- ドイツ レンポウ キョウワコク --- Mort de Siegfried (Motion picture : 1924) --- Nibelungen: la mort de Siegfried (Motion picture : 1924) --- Deguo --- 德国 --- Gėrman --- Герман Улс