Austria's Difficult Past

The role played by film in reshaping Austria’s post-war national identity is often studied within narrow historical and geographical margins. Film history traditionally focuses on either the work of a sole director, German cinematography, or the immediate aftermath of World War II, and neglects the link that exists between historical television films and Austria’s distinct culture of remembrance. In Austria’s Difficult Past, Jakub Gortat addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of television films produced by Austrian (ORF) and German television studios between 1961 and 1980. In doing so, he explores the way films mediated the burden of memory and the legacy of Austria’s complicity in the Nazi regime.

Jakub Gortat is Assistant Professor in the Institute of German Philology at the University of Lodz. His academic interests fall into the area of the German and Austrian politics of memory, the intersections of film, history and politics in Germany and Austria, as well as German-Polish cultural relations after 1945. He has recently published research in New German Critique; German Life and Letters; Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance; Journal of Austrian Studies, and Holocaust Studies - A Journal of Culture and History.

Jakub Gortat is Assistant Professor in the Institute of German Philology at the University of Lodz. His academic interests fall into the area of the German and Austrian politics of memory, the intersections of film, history and politics in Germany and Austria, as well as German-Polish cultural relations after 1945. He has recently published research in New German Critique; German Life and Letters; Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance; Journal of Austrian Studies, and Holocaust Studies - A Journal of Culture and History.