Dr Rebecca Carr (TCD): Re-Imagining GDR Communism with KLEO

A seminar by Rebecca Carr as a part of School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies Seminar Series (SLLCS). Kleo, a fictional Netflix series, portrays a loyal Stasi agent (and contract killer) being imprisoned to hide a conspiracy in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Then "The Changes" of 1989-91 release the title character from prison into the recently reunified nation. The dark comedy-thriller exemplifies how mainstream entertainment evolves to continue exploring cultural memory. The show engages with the tumultuous period in two significant ways; it defamiliarizes the experience for witnesses and makes it familiar for “learning viewers” with indirect or no previous knowledge by storytelling in an emerging, popular style. For witnesses, viewing seismic upheaval through contemporary humour invites reconsideration of official or widely circulated narratives. For learning audiences, such as those born after reunification (including the main actor), the show is one of a growing number of filmic texts that address historical fear and uncertainty through the current conventions of postmodern parody and pastiche (see Jojo Rabbit, Death of Stalin and Hunters). Kleo re-imagines communism, the West, and Die Wende, so viewers across temporal, geographic, and genre divides continue learning from the past. Rebecca Carr uses cinema to research identity, culture and trauma narratives. She wrote her PhD (2021, TCD) on national mythology and recovery in films from the genre she terms “aftermath cinema”. She holds BAs in Psychology, and in Film, Literature and Drama, and an MPhil in Textual and Visual Studies. The School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies Seminar Series (SLLCS) promotes Literary and Cultural Studies, including political and social thought, narratology and imagology, film, textual and visual studies, questions surrounding language learning and translation studies, and also practice-led research. We encourage comparative, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, as our intellectual inquiry is in the service of national and international debate and knowledge advancement, particularly on the construction of identity and otherness in literature and culture. The seminar series provides a forum for the dissemination and exchange of current and developing research from staff and postgraduate researchers within the school, and also from national and international guest speakers. Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: ruthnerc@tcd.ie  and aporb@tcd.ie