Department of World Languages and Cultures

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Browsing Department of World Languages and Cultures by Author "Carstensen, Thorsten"

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    Colliding Worlds: The Disintegration of America in the Cinema of the Coen Brothers
    (Cambridge, 2019-05) Carstensen, Thorsten; World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts
    In the cinema of Joel and Ethan Coen, contemporary America is depicted as an incoherent space in which traditional beliefs constantly collide with the new world order. Shaped by the erosion of commonly accepted values and the ubiquitous presence of the media and advertisements, this hybrid America is a world of commerce, consumption, and economic plight. While its cities are plagued by segregation, outbursts of casual violence undermine the myth of an unspoiled life in the countryside. Illustrating postmodern culture's preference for the periphery versus the center, the movies of the Coen brothers find a glimmer of morality remaining on the margin of society. Unimposing and compassionate characters such as the pregnant small-town detective in Fargo or the naive yet brilliant protagonist of The Hudsucker Proxy personify an idealistic, innocent America that is about to be displaced by selfish greed. Focusing on Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and The Man Who Wasn't There, my essay argues that the Coens’ visual playfulness, and their tendency to mine various cinematic genres, serve to emphasize their scathing critique of the American victory narrative.
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    Learning from John Ford. History, geography, and epic storytelling in the works of Peter Handke
    (Verlag Julius Klinkhardt, 2021) Carstensen, Thorsten; World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts
    Historical images originally meant for one national audience can nevertheless influence audiences worldwide. In this contribution, the transatlantic transfer of historical images at the microlevel is analyzed. The author explores how John Ford’s depiction of the American West profoundly influenced Austrian writer Peter Handke, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature. Handke’s work is full of direct and indirect references to John Ford’s life and work. Ford was a pioneer of the Western genre and greatly contributed to cementing the West as the American epic myth. Handke’s ideas about America and the West, as well as many aspects of his artistic life, can be directly traced to the cinema of John Ford, which is characterized by everyday people, the epic landscapes of Monument Valley, and the bonds that hold communities together. For Handke, John Ford served as his teacher; watching Ford’s films was an educational experience about both American history and life itself. Ford’s depictions of the American West imbued Handke with a “prosthetic memory” of the American West without having experienced it firsthand. By examining John Ford’s reception at the microlevel, the author illustrates the power historical images can have over diverse audiences. (DIPF/Orig.)
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    Two Rode Together: Peter Handke Und Das Kino John Fords
    (OpenEdition, 2021) Carstensen, Thorsten; World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts
    Peter Handke hat das Kino stets als Leitmedium verstanden, dem es in seinen besten Momenten gelingt, den menschlichen Alltag mit epischer Wahrhaftigkeit festzuhalten. Zu den Filmen, die Handke besonders schätzt, da sie dem Publikum universelle Geschichten präsentieren, zählen die klassischen Western John Fords. Seitdem Handke ihn im Roman Der kurze Brief zum langen Abschied (1972) zum Lehrmeister erhob, nimmt der Hollywood-Regisseur einen festen Platz in jener eklektischen Riege der „Künstler-Vorfahren“ ein, deren Werke sich im Laufe der Jahrzehnte zu einem konstruktiven Bildungsprogramm gefügt haben: In der fortlaufenden Interaktion mit der epischen Tradition übt Handke die eigenen Wahrnehmungs- und Erzählverfahren ein. Das Kino John Fords erweist sich dabei als reicher Bilderfundus, der dem Schreiben des österreichischen Autors bis heute neue Impulse verleiht.