Traditional criticism on German post-war cinema tends to define rubble films as simplistic texts of low artistic quality which serve to reaffirm the spectator's image of him or herself as "a good German" during "bad times." Yet this study asserts that some rubble films are actually informed by a type of visual and narrative Romantic discourse which aims at provoking a critical discussion on German national identity and its reconstruction in the aftermath of the Third Reich. Considering the lack of previous analyses with regard to the key aspects of Romantic visual style, narration and literary motifs in rubble films, this study points to a major gap in research.

Afterlives of Romantic Intermediality addresses the manifold, even global artistic developments that were initiated by European Romantics. In the first section, the contributors show how the rising perspective of intermediality was discussed in philosophical terms and adapted itself to Romantic literature and music. In the second section, the contributors show how post-Romantic writers, visual artists, and composers have engaged with Romantic heritage. By exploring primary works that range from European arts to Latin American literature, these essays focus on the interdisciplinary developments that have emerged in literature, music, painting, film, architecture, and video art. Overall, the contributions in this volume demonstrate that intermedial connections-or sometimes the conscious lack of such connections-embody intriguing aspects of modernity and postmodernity.