Musicologica Austriaca (Apr 2023)
The Sound of Austria in Films about the Shoah and National Socialism
Abstract
In the following article, I will show that Austrian music plays a very particular role in international film and television productions, as well as in Austrian TV productions, that explicitly address the Holocaust and National Socialism, especially when National Socialist violence and perpetrators are represented. On the basis of this observation, I argue that irrespective of the general question of a perceived difference between Austria and Germany, a specific “Austrianness,” which is mediated in many ways via the sound level, has developed into a global pop cultural stylistic device in the characterization of Nazi violence since the late 1970s. This development is analyzed against the background of the role played by Austrian music in the first Austrian films dealing with National Socialism. From this point, I also set off in search of “The Sound of Austria” in Claude Lanzmann’s nine-hour documentary Shoah and the two Hollywood blockbusters Inglourious Basterds and Schindler’s List. What role does the image of Austria as a “country of music” play in these very different films and film genres that deal with the Shoah? How does the approach develop historically and geographically? previous article back to index next article
