Competing Germanies

Robert Kelz

Description

Following World War II, German antifascists and nationalists in Buenos Aires believed theater was crucial to their highly politicized efforts at community-building, and each population devoted considerable resources to competing against its rival onstage. Competing Germanies tracks the paths of several stage actors from European theaters to Buenos Aires and explores how two of Argentina's most influential immigrant groups, German nationalists and antifascists (Jewish and non-Jewish), clashed on the city's stages. Covered widely in German- and Spanish-language media, theatrical performances articulated strident Nazi, antifascist, and Zionist platforms. Meanwhile, as their thespian representatives grappled onstage for political leverage among emigrants and Argentines, behind the curtain, conflicts simmered within partisan institutions and among theatergoers. Publicly they projected unity, but offstage nationalist, antifascist, and Zionist populations were rife with infighting on issues of political allegiance, cultural identity and, especially, integration with their Argentine hosts.Competing Germanies reveals interchange and even mimicry between antifascist and nationalist German cultural institutions. Furthermore, performances at both theaters also fit into contemporary invocations of diasporas, including taboos and postponements of return to the native country, connections among multiple communities, and forms of longing, memory, and (dis)identification. Sharply divergent at first glance, their shared condition as cultural institutions of emigrant populations caused the antifascist Free German Stage and the nationalist German Theater to adopt parallel tactics in community-building, intercultural relationships, and dramatic performance.Its cross-cultural, polyglot blend of German, Jewish, and Latin American studies gives Competing Germanies a wide, interdisciplinary academic appeal and offers a novel intervention in Exile studies through the lens of theater, in which both victims of Nazism and its adherents remain in focus.

Sujets

• Germán
• German

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501739873
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Competing Germanies

Series editor: Peter Uwe Hohendahl, Cornell University

Signale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thoughtpublishes new Englishlanguage books in literary studies, criticism, cultural studies, and intellectual history pertaining to the Germanspeaking world, as well as translations of important Germanlanguage works.Signale construes “modern” in the broadest terms: the series covers topics ranging from the early modern period to the present.Signalebooks are published under a joint imprint of Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library in electronic and print formats. Please see http://signale.cornell.edu/.

Competing Germanies

Nazi, Antifascist, and Jewish Theater in German Argentina, 1933–1965

Robert Kelz

A Signale Book

Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library Ithaca and London

Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library gratefully acknowledge the College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University, for support of the Signale series.

Copyright © 2019 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2019 by Cornell University Press and Cornell University Library

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Names: Kelz, Robert Vincent, author. Title: Competing Germanies : Nazi, antifascist, and Jewish theater in German Argentina, 1933–1965 / Robert Kelz. Description: Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press : Cornell University Library, 2020. | Series: Signale : modern German letters, cultures, and thought | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Following World War II, German antifascists and nationalists in Buenos Aires believed theater was crucial to their highly politicized efforts at communitybuilding, and each population devoted considerable resources to competing against its rival onstage. Competing Germanies tracks the paths of several stage actors from European theaters to Buenos Aires and explores how two of Argentina’s most influential immigrant groups, German nationalists and antifascists (Jewish and nonJewish), clashed on the city’s stages. Covered widely in German and Spanishlanguage media, theatrical performances articulated strident Nazi, antifascist, and Zionist platforms. Meanwhile, as their thespian representatives grappled onstage for political leverage among emigrants and Argentines, behind the curtain, conflicts simmered within partisan institutions and among theatergoers. Publicly they projected unity, but offstage nationalist, antifascist, and Zionist populations were rife with infighting on issues of political allegiance, cultural identity and, especially, integration with their Argentine hosts”—Publisher’s Web site. Identifiers: LCCN 2019042099 (print) | LCCN 2019042100 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501739859 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501739866 (paperback) | ISBN 9781501739873 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781501739880 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Freie Deutsche Buehne in Buenos Aires—History. | Deutsches Theater (Buenos Aires, Argentina)—History. | Ethnic theater—Argentina—History—20th century. | National socialism and theater—Argentina—History. | Jewish theater—Argentina—History— 20th century. | Germans—Argentina—History—20th century. | German drama—20th century—History and criticism. Classification: LCC PN2451 .K45 2020 (print) | LCC PN2451 (ebook) | DDC 792.098209/04—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042099 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042100

To my family

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Contents

Introduction: Argentina’s Competing German Theaters

1. German Buenos Aires Asunder

2. Theater on the Move: Routes to Buenos Aires

3. Staging Dissidence: The Free German Stage

4. Hyphenated Hitlerism: Transatlantic Nazism Confronts Cultural Hybridity

5. Enduring Competition: German Theater in Argentina, 1946–1965

ix xi xiii

3 27 58 91

171

226

vi i i Contents

Epilogue

References

Index

289

317

333

Illustrations

 1. Portrait of the German Theater’s Irene Ney in Manfred Hausmann’sLilofee  2. Ludwig Ney during a rehearsal  3. Ensemble of the Free German Stage, 1940  4. Scene from the 1943 production ofAbie’s Irish Rose by Anne Nichols  5. Signatures of Argentine attendees at the tribute to Max Reinhardt, 1943  6. Poster for Goethe’sGötz of Berlichingenat the German Theater, 1940  7. Audience at the German Theater’s performance of Götz of Berlichingen, 1940  8. Hans Moser and Paul Walter Jacob on theVoice of the Dayradio program in Montevideo, Uruguay, 1948  9. Ludwig Ney and his ensemble on tour in rural Argentina 10. Scene from performance of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dreamat the Summer Festival, 1962

52 61 98

123

135

202

203

239

269

272