Richard W McCormick: Gender and Sexuality in Weimar Modernity; Film, Literature and 'New Objectivity'

Fascinating book. My original judgement that it would be heavy going was wrong and the style is, for an academic text, not too bad at all.

The author looks at specific example of film and literature that arose in the Weimar Republic and by a close textual examination, shows how intriguingly ambiguous each of the are and how it is not really possible to make sweeping statements about the nature of the socio-political elements and characteristics that made up this thrilling period. I did not know any of the books he referenced - although I had heard of Toller and Eric Kastner - the latter though only through my reading as child of Emil and the Detectives!

His arguments centred most fascinatingly on matters of sexuality and gender and how different interpretations and representations of these aspects of the human experience were dealt with in the chosen novels and films of the period. This was best shown for me in the chapter on Die Blaue Engel (obviously as this was the film referenced that I new well and his comments about the view of the male and the view of the female shown, and changing in the film, were emblematic of the discussions happening in the Republic at that time. Their connections to the Nazi period, and, fleetingly, to postwar Europe, were very interesting - the relationship between postwar Germany (both of them pre Wall-falling) would I think be another fascinating study.

Hos comments on gender and sexuality were very perceptive I felt and his ability to deal thoughtfully with subtext, in both film and literature, was exemplary.

An excellent read