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490 THE GERMANQUARTERLY Summer 988wasnopracticalnd heoreticalormulationfaculture asedonfemaledesire"p.15)in this women'smovement ndthat feministsn facthelped o trivializehe sexualexperiencebyinsistingolelyon morerefined"techniques,"ichtermannrgues hatwomenshoulddevelopconfidencen themselvesas "desirers,"nd that this self-confidencewould nclude ridenallaspectsofreproductivebility. he defends hedesireforchildren s not totallyrationalthisseems to go without aying,but heremphasis f thispoints probablyueto the"inquisitorialocial nvironment"p.29)among ome of the feminist roups he mentionsnthe FederalRepublic). eferringto her earlierbookLebenmiteinemNeugeborenen.in Buchiiberdas erstehalbeJahr(1981), he drawsananalogy etweenbreast-feedingnd he heterosexualexactandasserts that"acultivatedroticism fthe breastscould hangeoureverydaylife" p. 66). Suchstatementsare made na ratherournalistic,mpressionistic aywhichmaybe a veryhonestexpression fthe author's wn eelings,butwhichdoesnot contributeo a moregeneral heoretical nderstandingf these matters.Thechapter n"Beauty,DemocracyndDeath"s especially roblematic. ere,Sichtermannets out to critique oth he "feminine ystique" hichdemandedhatallwomen ry to make hemselvesbeautiful bjects or men'spleasure,as wellasthe "feminist,"Old,"nd"Fat"movementswhich"repressheir ongingorbeautyaltogether"p. 50). The pointshe makes is very justified:how couldfeminismdevelop notion fpersonalttractiveness hichwould eanexpression fsubjectivechoicerather han otalobjectification?etshe writes n a very impressionisticayagainabout he "needwe allhave o be refreshed ythesightofsomeonebeautiful"(p. 54) and the cravinghumanbeingshavefor "visual timulation"p. 50). Theseneeds andcravingsoundalmostbiologicaln herpresentation, ecauseshe doesnotanalyzehemat allas socially ndculturallyreatedneeds.Itwouldbeimportantheretorememberhat dealsofbeauty ndattractivenesshangehroughoutistory,andalso that oveanddesireare notlimitedo those who conformloselyto thoseideals.Thebookoffers ewpracticaluggestionsorcopingwith heproblemstraises-not thatoneauthorhouldbe expected o develop completeprogram, ut nmanyinstancesSichtermannives the impressionhatimprovementsnd solutionsaresimplya matterof goodwill. Forexample,she writes that it is also"advisableormento change" p. 120),or that "itonlyneedssomeone o puta bit of imaginationand nitiativento heseproblems"norder o "doawaywith he social onsequences"of the inequalitynreproductiveunctionsp. 110).Thebookdoes notadvance urtheoretical r historicalunderstandingf why there is such resistance o thesechangesandof what t might aketo bring hemabout.Brown University CAROL OORE

The Films of WernerHerzog:Between Mirage and History. Ed. TimothyCorrigan.New Yorkand London:Methuen, 1986. 232 pp. $39.95 cloth,$14.95 paper.

Partlybecauseof the extremesthat WernerHerzog's ilmspresentandpartlybecauseof thedifficultynseparatingheactualilms rom hedirector'self-promoted

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BOOK REVIEWS 491image,the response o his worksrunsthegamut romunquestioningdmirationoabsolute ejection.Atone endof thespectrum re viewerswho considerhim o bea visionaryhumanist, championf primitiveultures,and an idealistwhoriskseverythingnorderorealize isdreams.Theysurrenderhemselveso hismesmeriz-ing imagesandsee in themmanifestationsf theirown romanticongings.Thesespectatorsbasicallyorrespond ith he director'sdealmplied iewer.At theotherendof thespectrum re those whose condemnationfHerzogs motivatedotonlybyartisticbutalsobypoliticalrmoral oncerns.Theyviewhimas amegalomaniacwho risks lives andexploitshis subjects or the sake of aestheticcreation.Thisgroup ikens he neo-romanticriticism f civilizationndthe fatalisticworldviewnhisfilmsto fascisticdeology.

Given henature findividualiewers'horizons fexpectations, eadings ffilmswill alwaysbe subjective,yet such extremeviewpointsoften obstructobjectivearticulatenalysisndevaluationfHerzog'silms.Corrigan'sookmediates etweenthese twoextremesbyengagingna critical ialogue. resenting iverseperspectivesandoccasionally pposing rguments,hese provocativessays progress romthemorespecific o the moregeneralandabstract.Jan-Christopherorak'sssayon thefilmmaker'siaryOnWalkingnIcetacklestheproblemsnHerzog's irectorialersona ndwork.Afterdiscussinghe director'ssymbolic elationshipo LotteEisnerandthe tales of his adventurousxploits,hearguesthatHerzog'sprivilegingf the "symbolicver actualhumanife, coupledwithanaestheticizationfdeath,markhimas dangerouslyloseto fascisticenden-cies"(p. 39).AmosVogel,who irst ntroduced erzog'silms o theU.S.,views he director sa "humanistilmmaker"p.46).Hisarticle reprintedromFilmComment)escribesthe difference etweenviewinga new35 mmprintofFataMorganan 1970and apoor16mmprintn1980,pointinguthow hetechnicalonditionsffectperception.Alsoreprinted rean articlebyBrigittePeucker nda revisedversionof onebyDanaBenelli.Peuckerakesupthe mplicationsfilliteracy,hejuxtapositionetweenimageand ext, and hequestion fHerzog'sndebtednesso GermanRomanticism.BenellianalyzeshowHerzog'securrentinematic racticestheuse of landscapes,the themeof revoltandthe function f leitmotifs)hangedbetween he making fSigns ofLifeandAguirre.Both William anWertandGertrudKochdiscusshowHerzogprojectshimselfintohisdocumentariesndturnsthem ntoa medium orself-expression. ecauseof its "re-sacralizationf the aestheticsphere,the transformationf the artistasprophet," ochnterprets andofSilence ndDarknesss anexample f"neo-roman-tic regression"whichshe brieflycontrastswithAlexanderKluge's"democratic,emancipatedomanticism"p. 75).Froma feminist iewpoint,udithMayne xploresquestions fauthorship,exu-alityandnarrative oice nNosferatu, iscussinghe dualities fpassion nd rration-alityvs. reasonandsciencein BramStoker'snovelas wellas in theiradaptationsbyMurnaundHerzog.ThomasElsaesserexamineswhyWhereheGreenAntsDream hwarts udienceexpectations.With ts comicmise-en-scene nd ts protagonists aHollywoodnter-text, the filmemergesas a hybrid f Hollywoodndthe NewGermanCinema.The finalarticlesby EricRentschler ndAlanSinger ocus on Heartof Glass.Rentschlerucceeds nhisaim o "demystifyHerzog's]mystifications"p. 164)by

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492 THE GERMANQUARTERLY Summer 988explainingow the film s not as narrativelyandom rstructurallyhaotic s manyclaim.Hisoriginal nalysis evealshowthe twoprotagonistsunctions doubles ndhowRiefensthalndHerzogappropriatedromanticegacy.Afterreadinghisessay,the similaritiesetweenTheBlueLightandHeartofGlassbecomeobviouslylear.Moreabstract n his discussionof Herzog'sronicsublime,Singeranalyzes heparadox f the director'smysticalworlds:precisely hose imageswhichseem toexpressfulfillmentfmythicalonging irect heviewer's ttentiono theirrepresen-tational evices anddenyvisionaryranscendence.Without ecourse o a printedext forreferencewhenwriting bout ilms,recol-lectionsof small details can be incorrect.Thus some commentsregarding ataMorganapp.52 & 63) apparently pply o EvenDwarfsStartedSmall;Stroszekdoes not commit uicideon a "circularcenicrailway"p. 152)but on a skilift,andNosferatu'spening"images f statuesof humanigures"p. 127)are,accordingoHerzog,notstatuesbutnaturallyreserved odieshe had oundna Mexican ave.Mostof the argumentsn this book arepresentedwellandmaybringaboutare-considerationf opinions.Herzogproclaimed:Film s not the art of scholars,butof illiterates.And ilmcultures notanalysis,t is agitationf the mind." hereis an obvious rony n the factthatthroughhese essays the readerwillgainnewinsightsnto WernerHerzogandhis films.Universityof Pennsylvania FRANZA. BIRGEL

A newmonographeries, entitled"Sociocriticism:iterature, ociety,andHis-tory,"has been established y PeterLangPublishingnc. Focusingmainly n theearlymodern eriodnthe WesternEuropeaniteraturesapproximately550-1850),this series seeks to publish exts that examine he relationshipetween iteraryartforms ndsocio-historicaltructures, ensions,ormentalities.Ofparticularnter-est aretheproblems frepresentingndividualsnthe contextoftheirsocialgroups(economic,sexual, intellectual, r geographic) nd the processesof assimilation,affiliation,nd exclusion hatapply o them. Especiallywelcomeare studiesthatshed newlighton traditionalroupdefinitions, roupdynamics, r on the turningpoints nsocialconventionshatgovernauthors,heirsubjects,and heiraudiences.The EditorialBoard,composedof RalphAlbanese,Jr., StuartAtkins,JamesF.Gaines,Jost Hermand,FritzNies, Alexander okalski,NicholasSpadaccini,ndHenrySullivan,willbe gladto consider exts in English,French, talian,Spanish,or German.Theyshould ecarefullyrepared ccordingo eitherMLA rUniversityof Chicagotylerequirementsndshouldnotexceed300pages.Directall nquiriesandsubmissionsotheGeneralEditor,amesF.Gaines,P.O.Box724,SoutheasternLouisiana niversity,Hammond, A70402.