Description
Book SynopsisThis study investigates the relationship between Lothar-Günther Buchheim (1918-2007), his bestselling 1973 novel Das Boot (The Boat), and West Germany's Vergangenheitsbewältigung.
As a war reporter during the Battle of the Atlantic, Buchheim benefitted from distinct privileges, yet he was never in a position of power. Almost thirty years later, Buchheim confronted the duality of his own past and railed against what he perceived to be a varnished public memory of the submarine campaign. Michael Rothberg's theory of the implicated beneficiary is used as a lens to view Buchheim and this duality. Das Boot has been retold by others worldwide because many people claim that the story bears an anti-war message. Wolfgang Petersen's critically acclaimed 1981 film and interpretations as a comedy sketch, a theatrical play, and a streamed television sequel have followed. This trajectory of Buchheim's personal memory reflects a process that practitioners of memory studi
Table of Contents
Introduction. Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s Das Boot: Memory and the Nazi Past 1. Buchheim and Transcultural Memory Studies 2. Formative Years: From Child Prodigy to War Reporter 3. The novel Das Boot 4. Popular and Critical Reception 5. The Film Das Boot and Transnational Reflections on the Past 6. The “Future” of the Past: Empathy, Honesty, and Truthfulness
