Ester Nelly Abuter Ananías - Fachbereich Philosophie und ...

Steff en Hantke ( English Department, Sogang University of Seoul, Korea )
Wilder’s Dietrich : Star Personae and National Stereotypes in A Foreign Aff air
( 1948 ) and Witness for the Prosecution ( 1957 )
Th ough the public personae and professional profi les of Billy Wilder and Marlene
Dietrich are determined primarily by their respective work with other actors and
directors, the two fi lms in which they collaborated—A Foreign Aff air ( 1948 ) and
Witness for the Prosecution ( 1957 )—are landmark texts in developing and fi xing postwar
national stereotypes of Germany in the collective imagination of their American
audiences. Separated by almost a decade, both fi lms are remarkably consistent in
their use of national stereotypes—a fact refl ecting less the unchanging nature of
American-German relations than the continuity of both Wilder’s and Dietrich’s
public personae. To the degree that the tragic fate of Wilder’s family in the Holocaust
and Dietrich’s propaganda eff orts on behalf of the U.S. military in Europe were widely
known, the diegetic deployment and critical examination of national stereotypes in
both fi lms is crucially dependent upon these public personae. A Wilder adapts his
material specifi cally to Dietrich, the merging of the two personae creates a nuanced
portrait of transatlantic relations : an element of caustic satire applied equally to
Germans and Americans on Wilder’s part, and a more conciliatory element applied
toward the normalization of post-war relations between both countries on Dietrich’s
part. Crucial in this move toward a more conciliatory att itude is the re-gendering of
the national allegory with Wilder’s shift from a strongly masculine representation of
Germany with actors like Erich von Stroheim ( 1943, 1950 ) and Ott o Preminger ( 1953 )
toward an ambiguously feminine representation with the casting of Dietrich.
Email steff enhantke@hotmail.com
Section Emigration and Exile
Panel 70
Date July 30
Time 15 :00
Location k l 29/208