{"title":"Experiencing German History Through the Presence of the Personal Artifact in Thomas Heise's Heimat ist ein Raum aus Zeit (2019)1","authors":"Verena R. Kick","doi":"10.1111/gequ.12497","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article shows how Thomas Heise's essay film <i>Heimat ist ein Raum aus Zeit</i> (2019) emphasizes the significance of personal artifacts in portraying German history. Instead of utilizing archival footage, Heise explores Germany's past through his family's personal writings created primarily during the Nazi era and in the former GDR. Drawing on Jaimie Baron's concept of the “archive effect,” which frames archival documents as experiences of reception, this analysis illustrates how Heise's approach to presenting history emphasizes the audience's response to personal artifacts. The archive effect occurs when viewers realize the temporal and intentional disparities between the family materials and the film's modern images of landscapes, ruins, and trains. As these disparities are potentially challenging for viewers, Heise bridges possible gaps using a train-related leitmotif, specific camera movements, and sound. Rather than merely conveying historical significance, these methods enable viewers to experience history through the presence of personal artifacts.</p>","PeriodicalId":54057,"journal":{"name":"GERMAN QUARTERLY","volume":"98 2","pages":"144-160"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"GERMAN QUARTERLY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gequ.12497","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article shows how Thomas Heise's essay film Heimat ist ein Raum aus Zeit (2019) emphasizes the significance of personal artifacts in portraying German history. Instead of utilizing archival footage, Heise explores Germany's past through his family's personal writings created primarily during the Nazi era and in the former GDR. Drawing on Jaimie Baron's concept of the “archive effect,” which frames archival documents as experiences of reception, this analysis illustrates how Heise's approach to presenting history emphasizes the audience's response to personal artifacts. The archive effect occurs when viewers realize the temporal and intentional disparities between the family materials and the film's modern images of landscapes, ruins, and trains. As these disparities are potentially challenging for viewers, Heise bridges possible gaps using a train-related leitmotif, specific camera movements, and sound. Rather than merely conveying historical significance, these methods enable viewers to experience history through the presence of personal artifacts.
本文展示了托马斯·海泽（Thomas Heise）的散文电影《Heimat ist in Raum aus Zeit》（2019）如何强调个人文物在描绘德国历史中的重要性。Heise没有使用档案录像，而是通过他的家人主要在纳粹时代和前德意志民主共和国创作的个人作品来探索德国的过去。借鉴杰米·巴伦（Jaimie Baron）的“档案效应”概念，将档案文件作为接受的经验，这一分析说明了Heise呈现历史的方法如何强调观众对个人文物的反应。当观众意识到家庭材料与电影中风景、废墟和火车的现代形象之间的时间和故意差异时，档案效应就会出现。由于这些差异对观众来说是潜在的挑战，Heise使用与火车相关的主题、特定的摄像机运动和声音来弥合可能的差距。这些方法不仅仅是传达历史意义，而是让观众通过个人文物的存在来体验历史。
期刊介绍：
The German Quarterly serves as a forum for all sorts of scholarly debates - topical, ideological, methodological, theoretical, of both the established and the experimental variety, as well as debates on recent developments in the profession. We particularly encourage essays employing new theoretical or methodological approaches, essays on recent developments in the field, and essays on subjects that have recently been underrepresented in The German Quarterly, such as studies on pre-modern subjects.
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