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<p>This article discusses a documentary film, <italic>Austerlitz</italic> (2016), by the Ukrainian film director Sergei Loznitsa. The film shows massive flows of tourists visiting Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps, therefore, it is interpreted through the prism of dark tourism. The article argues that by functioning as a piece of virtual dark tourism, <italic>Austerlitz</italic> is constructed as a re-enactment of a collision with places of death. By refusing to moralize or condemn bored concentration camp visitors, Loznitsa enables the viewer to understand how radical experiences of mass destruction and death are being recorded in tourism practices in today’s society. The French semiotician and philosopher Roland Barthes argues that death is most clearly perceived when it opens up as an act that has already taken place in the past, but at the same time will also take place in the future – <italic>this has been</italic> and <italic>this will be</italic>. The article concludes that exactly this is the effect of the documentary film <italic>Austerlitz</italic>. By showing crowds of visitors walking in the empty spaces of concentration camps, Loznitsa opens up a tragedy of mass destruction and death that has already taken place, but at the same time will also happen.</p>
</abstract>

This article discusses a documentary film, Austerlitz (2016), by the Ukrainian film director Sergei Loznitsa. The film shows massive flows of tourists visiting Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps, therefore, it is interpreted through the prism of dark tourism. The article argues that by functioning as a piece of virtual dark tourism, Austerlitz is constructed as a re-enactment of a collision with places of death. By refusing to moralize or condemn bored concentration camp visitors, Loznitsa enables the viewer to understand how radical experiences of mass destruction and death are being recorded in tourism practices in today’s society. The French semiotician and philosopher Roland Barthes argues that death is most clearly perceived when it opens up as an act that has already taken place in the past, but at the same time will also take place in the future – this has been and this will be. The article concludes that exactly this is the effect of the documentary film Austerlitz. By showing crowds of visitors walking in the empty spaces of concentration camps, Loznitsa opens up a tragedy of mass destruction and death that has already taken place, but at the same time will also happen.

Narratives of Historical Memory and Their Touristic Function: The Case of Sergei Loznitsa’s <italic>Austerlitz</italic>

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Narratives of Historical Memory and Their Touristic Function: The Case of Sergei Loznitsa’s 

This article discusses a documentary film, Austerlitz (2016), by the Ukrainian film director Sergei Loznitsa. The film shows massive flows of tourists visiting...

Narratives of Historical Memory and Their Touristic Function: The Case of Sergei Loznitsa’s Austerlitz

Published Online: Aug 05, 2022

Page range: 1 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0001

Keywords
dark tourism, concentration camp, documentary film, Sergei Loznitsa

© 2022 Nerijus Milerius, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Narratives of Historical Memory and Their Touristic Function: The Case of Sergei Loznitsa’s Austerlitz

Published Online: Aug 05, 2022

Page range: 1 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0001

Keywordsdark tourism, concentration camp, documentary film, Sergei Loznitsa

© 2022 Nerijus Milerius, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
dark tourism, concentration camp, documentary film, Sergei Loznitsa