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'Object' Man.
No full textEine Auseinandersetzung mit Leni Riefenstahl im Heute ist immer auch eine Auseinandersetzung mit Leni Riefenstahl im Gestern. Der frühe Ruhm als privilegierte und von Hitler protegierte Starregisseurin des Dritten Reiches begründete die Schande der Nachkriegszeit, die ihrerseits wiederum den späten Ruhm begründet oder zumindest einen nennenswerten Beitrag dazu leistet. Die Langlebigkeit und Emotionalität der Kontroverse um die unpolitische Künstlerin oder die ambitionierte NS-Propagandistin reflektieren die Streitbarkeit von Person und Werk, aber auch die Popularität der Diskussion nicht trotz, sondern wegen dieser Karriere. Im Auftrag des "Führers" verfilmte Leni Riefenstahl die Nürnberger NSDAP-Reichsparteitage der Jahre 1933-1935 in Folge sowie die XI. Olympischen Spiele in Berlin 1936. Sie verstand es, die Wirkungsmacht des Mediums zu nutzen, seinen Authentizitätswert und die 'Beweiskraft' des Bildes im Interesse der Potentaten zu funktionalisieren. Die Regisseurin ästhetisierte und verewigte somit insgesamt vier Großveranstaltungen des nationalsozialistischen Deutschland auf Zelluloid - und setzte Akzente. Sie montierte, selegierte und inszenierte Zeitgeschehen nach eigenen Relevanzkriterien. Unser Bild von den Reichsparteitagen und der Olympiade ist Riefenstahls Bild von den Reichsparteitagen und der Olympiade; es ist Anschauungsmaterial einer ausschnitthaften, künstlerisch bearbeiteten und interessengeleiteten Reproduktion von Ereignissen, es ist Darstellung, Abbildung von Realität, nicht 'die' Realität. Im Interesse einer Sichtbarmachung der Arrangements zwischen Regierungsspitze und Filmproduzentin berücksichtigt die vorliegende Untersuchung produktionsgeschichtliche Zusammenhänge und konzentriert sich in ihren filmanalytischen Betrachtungen auf die Ermittlung von Korrespondenzen zwischen NS-Ideologie und Film-Ikonografie im Allgemeinen. Das Erkenntnisinteresse gilt im Besonderen den Formen der kinematografischen Menschen- und Körperbildpräsentation und den möglichen Konsequenzen der Rezeption im Hinblick auf die Popularisierung und/oder Etablierung der misanthroph-dualistischen NS-Ideologie. Eine Dämonisierung der Filmarbeiten ist für die Beantwortung der Frage nach der Reziprozität von Auftragskunst und Politik ebenso wenig hilfreich wie die Glorifizierung. Eine detaillierte, mikroanalytische Auseinandersetzung mit der Spezifik der 'Riefenstahl-Ästhetik' soll verhelfen, die Subtilität filmsprachlicher Ideologie- und Politikvermittlung im Kontext des Dritten Reiches zu dekuvrieren und den Begriff der Verantwortung von künstlerischem Schaffen sowohl in der Epoche des Nationalsozialismus als auch in der retrospektiven Verwendung zu präzisieren.A discussion about Leni Riefenstahl inevitably implies a discussion about her career in the Third Reich. The early fame as Hitler's privileged filmmaker explains as well the disgrace in post-war-times as the late fame at the end of the century. The longevity and emotionality of the controversy about the unpolitical artist or the ambitious propagandist of National Socialist ideology reflects the disputability of the person and her work but also the popularity of the discussion not despite but on account of that career. Engaged by the "Führer", Riefenstahl filmed the Nazi Party Rallies from 1933 to 1935 in succession and the XI. Olympic Games in Berlin 1936. She perfectly knew how to use the power of the medium, to exploit the strength of authenticity and evidence of the picture as such. She aestheticized and perpetuated altogether four mass events of National Socialist Germany on celluloid. She selected, stylized and idealized contemporary history according to personal criterias of relevance. Our image of the Nazi Party Rallies and the Olympics is Riefenstahls image of the Nazi Party Rallies and the Olympics, it is illustrative material of an artistically arranged reproduction of realtity, not 'the' reality. In the interests of revealing the intensity of kooperation between the government and the filmmaker, this statement concentrates as well on details of the producion history as on the microanalytical research of exemplary sequences. The artistic style of presenting pictures of man and bodies is the focus of attention and connected to the question of its effect on people in the context of misanthropy as the mainstay of Nazi ideology. A detailed analysis of Riefenstahls work reveals the subtlety of cinematography to convey and (possibly) popularize politics and dogmatism and implies the aspect of responsibility with regard to artistic creations in the context of the Third Reich
Cross-Listing, Close Bank-Firm Relationships and Ownership Structure: Empirical Evidence on Corporate Governance Mechanisms
No full textCorporate governance aims to reduce expropriation of investors by managers. This thesis identifies and empirically examines three corporate governance mechanisms: cross-listing in the United States, close bank-firm relationships in Germany and corporate ownership structure in an emerging market. To test the implications of these mechanisms the following questions are addressed: (i) is cross-listing in the United States an effective corporate governance mechanism reducing the profitability of insider trading? (ii) what is the influence of close bank-firm relationship on corporate investments? (iii) how does the corporate ownership structure affect the information content of accounting earnings? First, the thesis addresses the influence of cross-listing in the United States as a corporate governance mechanism. It examines information content of insider trading in British companies that list only domestically and in those that also cross-list in the United States. It argues that because of legal bonding, insiders in companies cross-listed in the United States may gain significantly lower abnormal returns, as they may be less likely to trade on price sensitive information. Generally, the empirical results show that insider trading in cross-listed companies is significantly less profitable than in companies listed domestically. The main findings corroborate the notion that a company can voluntarily strengthen protection of outside investors by cross-listing in the United States and thus renting more effective legal protection of outside investors. To address the second research question, the focus is placed on the unique close bank-firm relationships specific for the German corporate governance system. Close bank ties may reduce information asymmetry and enable banks to supply more external finance to the firm and consequently foster investment. This study empirically examines the influence of close bank-firm relationships as a corporate governance mechanism on liquidity sensitivity of investment of German manufacturing firms. The empirical evidence shows that close bank-firm relationships reduce the firm’s liquidity sensitivity of investment. Investments in firms with close bank ties are much less sensitive to internally generated cash flow than for firms without close bank ties. The results support the common belief that universal banks are an important element of the German corporate governance system and close bank-firm relationships have a positive effect on the firm’s investments. The ownership structure as a corporate governance mechanism in an emerging market is studied on the Polish stock market. In particular, the thesis investigates the implication of managerial ownership and block holders on the information content of accounting earnings. The results demonstrate a negative impact of managerial ownership on the information content of earnings when the company has low unrelated block ownership, and the relationship reverses for companies with high proportion of unrelated block ownership. The evidence suggests that unrelated block ownership may act as a partial substitute for missing corporate governance institutions to increase the information content of earnings. Overall, each of the markets investigated in this thesis has a different set of corporate governance mechanisms that are proved to work efficiently in given environment. The US system is recognised as the most effective in the world and can be borrowed by foreign companies through cross-listing in the United States. In Germany, close bank-firm relationships are identified as effective corporate governance mechanism that protects investors and helps maintain long-term development and stability of the company. The concentration of corporate ownership structure is characteristic for emerging markets, including Poland, where large shareholders have the power to monitor managers and can act as a corporate governance mechanism that substitutes lacking law enforcement