Synopses & Reviews
Ulrike Meinhofs fall from journalistic prominence, high-profile disappearance into the terrorist underground, and role in the formation of the Red Army Faction were at once a tragic footnote to the waning student movement of the late 1960s and a preamble to the bloodiest decade in the postwar history of the Federal Republic. She played a central part in a period that continues to both fascinate and haunt Germany. With a communicative approach to the phenomenon of terrorism and new archival sources, the proposed monograph unpacks Meinhofs journalism and terrorism (1959-1976) as a matrix of words, images, and physical violence. The simple and unique assumption that underpins the analysis is that the real and historically important Ulrike Meinhof is not the pugnacious schoolgirl, orphaned teen, long-suffering wife, or single mother, but the public figure: the high-profile journalist, condemned terrorist, and self-styled revolutionary. The result challenges many of the established narratives that have calcified around the story of Meinhof and the history of Germanys most infamous terrorist group.
Review
'Passmore has produced a lively, thought-provoking, and accessible work that uses the life of Ulrike Meinhof and her role as chief writer and propagandist of the Red Army Faction (RAF) to fruitfully explore the concept of terrorism as a theatrical, communicative act. Recommended.'—
CHOICE
"Passmore's study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the communicative strategies deployed by the RAF in its discursive struggle against the Federal Republic." - German History
Synopsis
With a communicative approach to the phenomenon of terrorism and new archival sources, the book documents Meinhof's journalism and terrorism (1959-1976) and challenges many of the established narratives that have calcified around the story of Meinhof and the history of Germany's most infamous terrorist group.
Synopsis
Ulrike Meinhof’s entrance into the West German terrorist underground was both a footnote to the waning student movement of the late 1960s, and a preamble to the bloodiest period in Germany’s post-war history. Meinhof fought to make herself heard as a high-profile journalist before becoming a founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in 1970. She continued writing in the underground and from 1972, in prison, until she was found dead in her cell in 1976. Leith Passmore traces Meinhof’s struggle to communicate from her time as a journalist, through her escape to the underground, her prison years, and the Stammheim trial. He examines for the first time the performativity of terrorist acts of language, imagery, and physical violence to reveal how Meinhof made and re-made RAF terrorism.
About the Author
Leith Passmore is a historian. He holds a doctorate in History and German Studies from the University of Western Australia. Ulrike Meinhof and the Red Army Faction is his first book.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Performing Terrorism * Where Words Fail * Writing Under Ground * The Art of Hunger * Show, Trial, and Error * SUICIDE = MURDER = SUICIDE * Conclusion: Voices and Echoes