The Baader Meinhof Complex

The Baader Meinhof Complex Review

In the present-day, apparently intractable era of political terrorism, the movie The Baader Meinhof Complex takes its audience back to history to learn from the violent protests of late 19^th to early 20^th century. Bernd Eichinger’s film shades light on the morals and psychological insights of terrorism under the watch of Western authority and the secret agent.  The movie commences on a beach setting with the twin daughters of journalist Ulrike Meinhof playing together in the watch of their mother. Meinhof has written a letter to Empress Farah, who is supposed to be on a trip to West Germany. Seemingly, the presence of the Iranian couple in Germany was highly unwelcomed; an event that leads to a group of thugs attacking peaceful demonstrators.  The police are nowhere to intervene and after some time, a plainclothesman under polices’ active assistance, brutally shoots dead one of the protesters. This event marks the epicenter of social disorder in Germany.

The emergence of radical associates turns to the government by employing calculated tacks of violence against symbolic and real targets. The youths become radicalized and intolerant to the government of the day, a factor that makes them to be baptized as “terrorists.” Attacks and counter-attacks take center stage between the brutal and uncomprehending government authorities and the retaliatory terrorists. Consequently, RAF and their supporters adopted a neo-Nazi predisposition in West Germany, which backed America’s imperialism in developing nations, dominance of Palestinians by the Israeli, and manipulation of the poor. The utopian ideas, impatience, and gradualism made the youth radicals who pushed Germany to be a police state. The movie’s factual nature with vivid expositions makes it hard for the audience to confound prior judgments; a strong point for the director.

My expectations for German 110

            I am very happy to take German 110 class because I am very interested about Germany history. Also, I love to learn new culture that is totally difference from my culture. I would like know about their music, food, and poem. I hope to learn many things in their culture.

Poets and writers in Germany

Poets and writers in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries in Germany

Literature in Germany is composed of written works of German speaking citizens of central Europe. The literature has shared concepts from the history to the politics of Germany. These aspects are discontinuity and fragmentation (Gerstenberger 20).

In the last decades, especially the 20th century, literature was predominantly influenced by international postmodernism (Gerstenberger 24). It was a movement that brought together heterogeneous elements for the purposes of appealing to a more sophisticated, as well as a popular readership. Pastiche, parody and multiple allusions amongst other cultural productions signify postmodern literature. Factors in poetry such as narratives, recipes for favourite and common German dishes, interludes, fairy tales, contemporary feminism were at first misunderstood since they were judged in accordance to the standards that had been set to define canonical modern novels. After being viewed in the perspective of postmodernism, the next stage was critical analysis and re-evaluation (Gerstenberger 30).

After the fall of the Berlin wall, which happened in 1989, writers got a chance to explore and understand the tensions that existed between East and West Germany. An intense debate that touched on East Germany’s experience, which was under communism, arose. The main concern was to establish whether the mental need to unite with the experience would be compared to the act of soul-searching that happened subsequently after the Second World War. Monika Maron, a renowned poet, addressed this issue in her novel, Stille Zeile (Gerstenberger 40).

Finally, a new generation emerged in the 21st century that provided a reunification in their style of writing and critics (Gerstenberger 43). Poets like Helden Wie came up with interesting novels that debated on subjects like the role of the secret police in Germany and the importance of peace amongst other captivating subjects. The Nazi also continued to engage in German mode of writing (Gerstenberger 56). The panache of writing and the complexity of the information that is put into writing today are different from that which was done five decades ago (Gerstenberger 67).

Works Cited

Gerstenberger, Katharina. German Literature in a New Century: Trends, Traditions, Transitions, Transformations. New York: Berghahn, 2008. Print.

Music and Poetry in Germany

Music, theatre, and dance in the 18^th and 19^th century in Germany

Music and dance became popular in Germany in the mid-16th century. During this period, Martin Luther, who led the Protestant Reformation, composed lots of chorales. His songs were based on the old Latin hymns, as well as secular tunes. The chorales were only meant for performances in religious services; they represented a musical form that was used in the Protestant church in Germany. The church was developed by the musicologist and composer in the early 17^th century, and Heinrich Schutz took after him, and he was able to come up with music that was strictly sacred. He used newer styles as compared to the ones that his Italian teachers used with German forms. Surprisingly, the first German opera was his Dafne (Strimple 60).

The late ornamental period in relation to music history was highly dominated by Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a prolific and brilliant composer and specifically played the harpsichord and organ. He produced a number of masterpieces that were instrumental, as well as sacred. Another crucial and well-remembered figure was George Telemann; he was recognised as the leading German composer during his time. He is considered as being very versatile and prolific (Strimple 70).

Until the 20th century, music in Germany was understood to have been in existence because of Australian composers. Ludwig Van Beethoven is a credited musician and dancer in history who was able to bridge the gap between 18th and 19th centuries’ music. He has been regarded as a pivotal interim figure that came in between the classical and Romantic periods (Strimple 78).

Works Cited

Strimple, Nick. Choral Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Amadeus, 2008. Print.