Remaking Winnetou, reconfiguring German fantasies of Indianer and the Wild West in the Post-Reunification Era

authored by

Kathleen Loock

Abstract

This article argues that the 2016 television remake of Winnetou reconfigures German fantasies of Native Americans (Indianer) and the Wild West in the post-reunification era. The remake raises questions about the historically constructed meanings and the appropriateness of Winnetou in Germany today, presenting an occasion to probe processes of German nation building and their continued - and increasingly controversial - reliance on metaphorical meanings of "Indianness". Taking a cultural studies approach, the article develops a theoretical framework around remaking, generationing, and cultural memory, and examines the remake against the background of Germany's still ongoing inner reunification and Native American claims to self-representation.

External Organisation(s)

Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)

Type

Article

Journal

Communications

Volume

44

Pages

323-341

No. of pages

19

ISSN

0341-2059

Publication date

25.09.2019

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2019-2062 (Access: Closed)