The Making of an Author in Arnon Goldfinger’s The Flat (2011)

Mélanie YœurpUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonHermes Conference 2015

INTRODUCTION

Michel Foucault’s definition of the author-function:• characterizes “the mode of existence, circulation,

and functioning of certain discourses within society” (p. 211)

• is a historical and social construct (in retrospective, i.e., after the writing)

Foucault’s author-function redefined:• still characterizes other discourses• but is not a retrospective construct

Characters in The Flat (2011)

Arnon Goldfinger

Hannah Goldfinger

Gerda & Kurt Tuchler

Susanne Lehmann

Edda von Mildenstein

Leopold von Mildenstein & his wife

OUTLINEHow does Goldfinger fashion himself as the author of an alternative family memory?1. Goldfinger justifies his authority with his

generational distance and his ability to advocate for another family memory.

2. Goldfinger frames Hannah’s and Edda’s competing family memory (in both an ethical and unethical way), in the hope to have them acknowledge their parents’ disturbing past.

3. Goldfinger tries to be transparent: the effect that The Flat has on its audience reminds the viewers the authorship of family memory is not governed by logical arguments.

Excerpt 1Goldfinger remembering Gerda• [Link to Video]

Excerpt 2Women emptying Gerda’s apt.• [Link to Video]

Excerpt 3Family Album• [Link to Video]

Excerpt 4The Mildensteins’ envelope• [Link to Video]

1st interview with Edda

2nd interview with Edda

Goldfinger’s Gaze(1st interview with Hannah)

Goldfinger’s Gaze(2nd interview with Hannah)

Excerpt 53rd interview with Edda • [Link to Video]

Excerpt 62nd interview with Hannah• [Link to Video]

Works Cited• Foucault, Michel. “What Is an Author?” Aesthetics,

Method, and Epistemology: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984. New York: The New Press, 1999. 205-222.

• Goldfinger, Arnon. The Flat. 2011.• Welzer, Harald, Sabine Moller, and Karoline

Tschuggnall. Opa war kein Nazi: Nationalsozialismus und Holocaust im Familiengedächtnis. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch, 2002.

Thank you!