Orientalism and Ethnic Drag in DEFA Fairy-Tale Film Wofgang Staudte's The Story of Little Mook
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies
Volume
29
Issue
2
Publication Date
1-1-2015
Abstract
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the paradigm of socialist realism in East German cinema has been subject to scholarly debate, scrutiny, and academic rethinking on a global level. Few scholars, however, have examined socialist ideology in the framework of Orientalism in fairy-tale film. In his groundbreaking book Orientalism (1980) Edward Said argues that the Orient was a European invention to portray Asia as a place of romance, exotic beings, and landscapes. I analyze Said's argument about Orientalism in Wolfgang Staudte's popular fairy-tale film Die Geschichte vom Keinen Muck (The Story of Little Mook, 1953), which is based on a literary fairy tale by Wilhelm Hauff, and contextualize it wit hthe notion of "ethnic drag," a term coined by scholar Katrin Sleg.
Recommended Citation
“Orientalism and Ethnic Drag in DEFA Fairy-Tale Film: Wolfgang Staudte’s The Story of Little Mook” in Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies 30.1
