Uncanny Europe: Derridean Hauntologies of History, Unity and Identity in Films by Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Abstract:This contribution addresses current critical debates about the (non-)identity of Europe and, drawing on Jacques Derrida, identifies the ‘uncanny’ as a hitherto overlooked core motif of these discourses. The most important aspects of this motif — the repression of past conflicts and controversies about Europe's relationship to the other — are discussed with reference to films by the Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter. I exemplify and elaborate on elements and effects of the uncanniness of European identity as these evolve from aesthetic cultural production — the best possible field for exploring the uncanny, according to Freud. This exploration sheds new light on one of the most prominent contemporary Austrian filmmakers and his rich hauntologies of Europeanness.