Le Réformateur dédoublé : Martin Luther à l’écran dans les « deux Allemagnes » en 1983
In 1983, a particularly interesting chapter enriched the depiction of Martin Luther on screen, which already had a long story full of contrasts. On the occasion of the Reformer’s 500th birthday, both the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany broadcast a television movie in several parts staging th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Laboratoire de Recherche Historique Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA UMR 5190)
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Chrétiens et Sociétés |
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| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/chretienssocietes/4098 |
| Summary: | In 1983, a particularly interesting chapter enriched the depiction of Martin Luther on screen, which already had a long story full of contrasts. On the occasion of the Reformer’s 500th birthday, both the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany broadcast a television movie in several parts staging the biography of the rebel monk. This paper aims at comparing these two films by putting them back into the context of an asymmetrical competition between the two German states: more than the Federal Republic, the GDR was forced to counter the attraction of its German neighbour. Trying to legitimate the GDR by widening its “gallery of ancestors”, the east-German television followed the official doctrine by showing Luther as a rebel working for the progress of mankind and threatening the feudal system. On the other hand, the second public TV channel in Western Germany strived to fulfill its informative, educative and integrative function by presenting a balanced but nonetheless federating portrait of Luther as an ardent defender of intellectual autonomy and founding father of the German nation. |
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| ISSN: | 1257-127X 1965-0809 |