Re-presenting the traumatized space of Berlin : narrative and Fetish in The Wall Jumper and Good Bye, Lenin!

Abstract

This paper will discuss the construction of German national identity in relation to the traumatic physical space of Berlin and its aestheticized re-presentations, in particular the Berlin Wall and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Through an exploration of The Wall Jumper (1982) and Good Bye, Lenin! (2003), I track the trajectory of these re-presentations and highlight how these re-presentations become increasingly complicated in a post-Wall era and affect the possibility of creating a unified German identity. At the same time, this paper reveals the need to engage with an expansion of the current trauma aesthetic, to include narrative and fetish as well.