5 Questions with Sara Hall, Associate Professor of Germanic Studies at UIC, on STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE

In recent years, we have seen a profuse amount of news stories about refugees fleeing their homes due to war and crisis. However, we sometimes forget that, even for those who find refuge across borders, they still leave behind their homes, their culture, and, by proxy, a part their identities. Similarly, Maria Schrader’s STEFAN SWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE is not just a story about the displacement of thousands of intellectuals, but rather the emotional impact on the individual: the loss of hope when you are unable to express yourself in your native language; when you must flee far away from your own country; when you are left disconnected from your true identity. Her beautiful presentation of Zweig’s personal story reminds us of the emotional impact war and displacement can have on the individual.

We caught up with Sara Hall, Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in advance of our first Chicago run of STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE, from July 21–27. Dr. Hall will also lead our Wednesday, July 26 Movie Club discussion of the film.

Noelle Alkhawaja: As you may know, Stefan Zweig, his exile and his death have received a lot of attention in recent years — he was discussed in an article in The New Yorker and the recent release of the film about his exile and suicide. Why is Zweig suddenly so relevant? How can we relate to his story, today?

Sara Hall: Stefan Zweig’s fiction and autobiographical writings engage with the themes of forced migration and the disintegration of a sense of a cohesive European identity based in what had been touted as commonly shared social and political values in the aftermath of World War I. People recognize the shadows of his historical moment and personal situation in the rise of new fascisms in Europe and the US, debates over Brexit, and the trauma experienced by the refugees streaming across Europe’s borders today.

NA: Zweig faced a lot of adversity, having been exiled from his own country and forced to live a somewhat isolated life in Brazil due to his intolerance for Nazism. However, unlike many exiled writers and artists, he felt deprived of his country and even of his own native language. All of which finally lead to his suicide. In your opinion, what do you think we can learn from Zweig, his struggles and his decision to take his own life?

SH: Paradoxically, we might find hope by exploring Zweig’s hopelessness and we might find courage by understanding where he drew his own lines ethically and professionally. Viewing a film such as this one allows us to empathize deeply while also taking a step back to examine a very personal situation from a wider, contextual view. When we see desperation or tragedy on screen, we can ask ourselves “What was going on in that specific person’s heart and mind and how is it the same or different as something I might be experiencing and how can I perhaps intervene to help remedy a wider injustice or social trend that might be putting people in today’s world in a similar position?”

NA: With most biographical, life-based films, there are critics who might see the portrayal of an individual’s life as exaggerated or romanticized on the big screen. On the other hand, there are also those who feel the portrayal is dignified or accurate. What is your impression of the film STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE? Do you believe it is an accurate depiction? Why or why not?

SH: It is not hard to locate moments from their film in specific scenes in Zweig’s writings that likely inspired the screenwriter and director, and the film is quite faithful to the specific historical facts and geography of his exile. It is, however, important to note that the visual and narrative flavor of the film are beautifully influenced by Zweig’s own writing style, in particular his visual descriptions and character portrayals. So whereas one unfamiliar with Zweig might say, “That particular scene in that particular place (Brazil for example) does not convey Brazil as I know or have studied it,” someone who has read the work of Zweig might say, “That comic effect or observational angle looks very much like Zweig reads.”

NA: Whilst in exile, Zweig was unable to travel as freely as he wanted to. He felt increasingly disconnected from his identity, causing him to experience some psychological issues. It is clear that Zweig truly valued freedom. In your opinion, what is the importance of this theme (freedom, that is) in the film? What do you think are the other important themes?

SH: Freedom comes in many forms: freedom of expression, freedom of movement, the freedom to return to one’s rightful home, freedom to create art without the obligation to fulfill someone else’s agenda. The film explores the limits of all of those and dwells in the spaces where they overlap or become mutually exclusive. Additional important themes include personal loyalty, the limits of personal resilience, and the precariousness of modern democracy.

NA: Zweig’s parents were both Jewish and, although he was rather unobservant of the Jewish faith, he did not denounce it. On the other hand, he did not outwardly condemn Hitler either, as is depicted in a scene from the film where he refuses to make a clear speech against the Hitler regime, saying he would not “speak out against Germany”. What do you think this says about Zweig’s values and beliefs? How does the film portray these?

SH: Zweig’s case is an excellent one for understanding the plight of European Jews under fascism. Jewish citizens of Austria and Germany, some of whom thought of themselves as German or Austrian by nationality and Jewish by religion or culture, were expelled from the body politic and told that their religious or cultural identities were not only incompatible with their national identity but were “just” cause for their imprisonment, enslavement and murder. This was a uniquely difficult situation for Jewish authors writing in German; the language of their art and craft became the language of the laws, policies and bitter commands that enacted their trauma. An exiled Jewish writer such as Zweig had to struggle not only with whether he or she should use their writing to condemn Hitler and Nazism, but whether it was possible to continue to justify writing in German at all.

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