In this work, Valentin Schwarz uses the discourse surrounding German memory culture as a starting point for exploring various concepts of history. Rather than focusing on the polarized public debate on the issue, Schwarz shifts the attention to the ideological foundations that shape differing relationships to the past. Central to the thesis is Robert Meister’s After Evil, which critiques the tendency to condemn the past as evil while simultaneously treating it as separate from the present. Schwarz elaborates on this argument through an analysis of films by Alexander Kluge and Harun Farocki. These films are not only media case studies but also serve as historical case studies in their own right. In his thesis, Schwarz draws connections between these films and the formation of a specific historical understanding within the (West) German context. Finally, he introduces the works of Walter Benjamin and Peter Weiss to point towards a different relationship to the past.

After submitting his thesis, Valentin Schwarz contributed an essay to the HfG-Journal "Umbau", summarizing the main arguments of his master's research.

The full essay is available at the following link: https://umbau.hfg-karlsruhe.de/posts/die-kehrseite-der-erinnerungskultur-ueber-den-geschichtsbegriff-des-deutschen-gedenk-und-des-globalen-menschenrechtsdiskurses