Ideologia e metamorfosi nella rappresentazione di Attila nella cultura tedesca contemporanea

The essay takes into account the transmission of the memory of Attila, the most celebrated king of the Huns. At first, some poetical texts of medieval German literature (Klage, Nibelungenlied and Hildebrandslied) are examined. From the very beginning, the unexpected and ambiguous death of Attila was matter of much conjecture which determined the following reception of the king in Germanic literature. The personage of Attila has been transmitted in two opposing ways: while in Nordic literature Attila was considered a malicious and covetous character who intended to take possession of the Nibelungs’ treasure, on the contrary in German literature he is portrayed with positive words and plays the role of the perfect and wealthy king from whom other noble men and peoples find protection. Thus German culture promoted a sympathetic perception of Attila and the Huns and was particularly praised by the Emperor Wilhelm II at the very end of the nineteenth century. Among various episodes that could be remembered, the name of Attila will remain perpetually bound to Wilhelm II because of a speech that the Emperor delivered in front of the troops who were leaving for China in order to participate in the Boxers’ conflict. Wilhelm II scorned the Chinese, encouraging his troops to kill the Chinese with the same violence as the Huns did. Hence other nations will compare Germans and Huns during the First World War. The representation of Huns and Attila will be transformed by Germans during the Weimar Republic when Fritz Lang produced his movie Nibelungen. In that film Attila and the Huns are primitive, uncultured and savage. Attila is shown in his irrational behaviour and is symbolic of the chaotic world into which Germany had sunk. Only after the Second World War does a transformed vision of Attila emerge, having been marginalized during the Nazi regime. Attila became the symbol of metamorphosis, regeneration and reconciliation with Nature and a world abused by Western society. The German playwright Moritz Rinke (b. 1962) produced for the city of Worms a drama inspired by the Nibelugenlied. In this work Attila is represented as a man who lives in a spontaneous condition, in contact with the natural elements. In Rinke’s opinion, the culture of Attila is the opposite of the faded and corrupted Western civilization. In other words, Attila and his culture represent the way by which the world can find a peaceful and adequate condition for its future.