Abstract
It is believed that special infl uence on formation and preservation of historical memory of the people is made by feature fi lms: they not only make memories of past events important, but also draw public attention to debatable historical subjects. The article is devoted to the analysis of the feature fi lm on a novel of the same name of the publicist T. Vermes “He is back” and to his impact on the German society. The main character of the novel – Adolf Hitler who regained consciousness in 2015 in modern Berlin and got to new political reality with the old ideological installations. Homeless and destitute, he interprets everything he sees and experiences in 2015 from a Nazi perspective and although everyone recognizes him, nobody believes that he is the real Hitler; he is perceived as the comedian and the talented actor who got used to an image. He appears on a television show called «Whoa, dude!» to broadcast his views. Videos of his angry rants become quickly extend thanks to YouTube, and Hitler becomes well-known. Eventually, he uses his popularity to return to politics. The popularity of the novel of T. Vermes and the shot movie demonstrates that in historical memory of the German society of the nazi past there is a shift: his “normalization” begins, there is an aspiration to look at it from a different angle (laughing, but not crying), the perception of immorality of nazi ideology becomes blurred, ways of representation of this period of history have changed. The movie “He is back” has become a challenge to the modern German society, its readiness to perceive ideas of national socialism which, apparently, were rethought long time ago. Ambiguous reaction to the movie of the audience and fi lm critics, comments in electronic mass media allow to draw a conclusion that process of “the overcoming the past” in modern Germany is still far from end.
Keywords
Historical memory, historical consciousness, “overcoming the past”, World War II, national socialism, A. Hitler
Boroznjak, A.I. 2015: Zhestokaja pamjat‘. Nacistskij rejh v vosprijatii nemcev vtoroj poloviny HH i nachala XXI veka. Moscow.
Vel‘cer, H. 2005: Istorija, pamjat‘ i sovremennost‘ proshlogo. Pamjat‘ kak arena politicheskoj bor‘by. In: Pamjat‘ o vojne 60 let spustja: Rossija, Germanija, Evropa. Moscow, 51–63.
Altwegg, J. 2015: Hitler trägt einen Barcode, http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/ streit-um-franzoesische-ausgabe-von-mein-kampf-13879417.html
Bösch, F. 2007: Film, NS-Vergangenheit und Geschichtswissenschaft. Von „Holocaust“ zu „Der Untergang“. Vierteljahresheft für Zeitgeschichte 1, 1–32.
Buß, C. 2015: Hitler-Groteske „Er ist wieder da“: Vorsicht, Witz mit Bart. Spiegel, http://www. spiegel.de/kultur/kino/er-ist-wieder-da-hitler-groteske-nach-timur-vermes-a-1056231.html
Feldenkirchen, M. 2015: Deutsche Verrohung: Was ist nur aus diesem Land geworden? Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/markus-feldenkirchen-ueber-die-verrohungdeutschlands- a-1060807.html
Gathmann, F., Reimann, A. 2015: Neue deutsche Gewalt: Vier Wochen im Herbst. Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/fl uechtlinge-liste-fremdenfeindlicher-gewalta- 1060847.html
Hagen, K. 2015: Volksverhetzung: Recht und Extreme. Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ deutschland/pegida-recht-und-gesetz-bei-hass-und-hetze-a-1060914.html
Hanfeld, M. 2015: Der Adolf in uns allen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, http://www.faz. net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/fragwuerdige-botschaft-der-hitler-satire-er-ist-wiederda- 13889773.html
Oels, D., Timplan, A. 2015: Zwischen Sitcom und Erschütterung: Rezeption eines Bestsellers. In.: Er ist wieder da. Köln, 431–443.
Oltermann, P. 2014: Germany asks: is it Ok to laugh at Hitler. The Guardian, http://www.theguardian. com/books/2014/mar/23/germany-fi nally-poke-fun-hitler-fuhrer
Passlik, H. 2013: Christoph Maria Herbst liest “Er ist wieder da”. Neue Westfälische, http:// www.nw.de/lokal/bielefeld/mitte/mitte/8715274_Christoph_Maria_Herbst_liest_Er_ist_ wieder_da.html
Pontz, Z. 2013: German Comic Novel about Hitler becomes Bestseller. The Algemeiner, http:// www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/07/german-comic-novel-about-hitler-becomes-bestseller/
Rosenfeld, G.D. 2015: Hi, Hitler! How the Nazi Past is being normalized in Contemporary Culture. Cambridge.
Schenker, A. (hrsg.) 2015: “Er ist wieder da” ist weiterhin Nummer 1 der Kinocharts, http:// www.presseportal.de/pm/12946/3162927
Umfrage: Drei Viertel der Deutschen wollen Pegida vom Verfassungsschutz beobachten lassen.
Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/pegida-76-prozent-der-deutschen-wollen- organisatoren-beobachten-lassen-a-1061027.html
Vermes, T. 2015: Er ist wieder da. Köln.
Wilk, A. 2015: „Er ist wieder da“ – und zwar ganz oben. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, http:// www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/kino/hEr istitler-satire-er-ist-wieder-da-auf-platz-1-der-kinocharts- 13879073.html