Abstract
This article argues that the 2016 television remake of Winnetou reconfigures German fantasies of Native Americans (Indianer) and the Wild West in the post-reunification era. The remake raises questions about the historically constructed meanings and the appropriateness of Winnetou in Germany today, presenting an occasion to probe processes of German nation building and their continued – and increasingly controversial – reliance on metaphorical meanings of “Indianness”. Taking a cultural studies approach, the article develops a theoretical framework around remaking, generationing, and cultural memory, and examines the remake against the background of Germany’s still ongoing inner reunification and Native American claims to self-representation.
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