From Terminal to Terminator

by Christiane Paul

“From Terminal to Terminator,” Intelligent Agent, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1998.

Any project that addresses Nazism faces the problem of having to confront a complex issue that defies easy solutions and doesn’t lend itself to a definitive singular account. “The Nazi Loop,” created by Hans Breder–Professor of Art & Art History at the University of Iowa–doesn’t try to provide answers but rather sets out to capture moments and manifestations of Nazism’s complexity. The CD-ROM uses montage to juxtapose images, sound, and text from the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany with those of contemporary neo-Nazi propaganda and the opposition it has induced.

Using a twelve-pointed star as an icon and visual metaphor, the CD-ROM presents 12 sections (e.g. Master Race, Nazi Kids) that consist of a video and quotes from philosophers, historians, and cultural critics such as Adorno, Bataille, Derrida, Barthes and Eco. All of the text excerpts and sections are hyperlinked and viewers can follow the lines of the star and jump back and forth between different “angles.” The collage is more artistic than historical or scientific in nature and it may leave viewers yearning for more context and “depth.” The eclectic rather than comprehensive approach may be a shortcoming of the CD-ROM but it ultimately also proves to be one of its strengths: “The Nazi-Loop” doesn’t offer ready-made solutions or moral standpoints; it is a starting point for discussions, a short-cut to manifold layers of controversy.

Among the statements readers may come across is the fact that 85% of German-language hate literature is published in the U.S.–which raises the question at what point does freedom of speech become incompatible with the protection of the individual or ethnic groups. A feeling of profound uneasiness is created by a montage juxtaposing images of an Arian master race with a video of an aerobics class and a quote from Ida Rolf (1977): “Aerobic Yoga aims at developing the superior being; it has as its premise that work with the body will improve not only the physical but the emotional and spiritual life of the individual as well.” Ideology becomes the dividing line between the notion of a healthy body and spirituality and the perverted idea of a master race. Another video clip shows a clash between skinheads and punks and illustrates that opposition to fascist ideas often comes from groups that are themselves marginalized. The clip serves to demonstrate how ideologies that historically have turned into vacant beliefs are resettled by individuals or groups in search of ready-made definitions that can be used as a basis for confrontation.

In a separate section, the CD-ROM features three essays: “Anyone Who Hates Foreigners Is Always an Anti-Semite, too” by Rüdiger Scheidges; “The Road to Fascism: Communication and Cultural Production” by Hanno Hardt; as well as Herman Rapaport‘s “The Nazi-Loop,” from which the CD-ROM derives its title and central metaphor. As Rapaport explains, the Nazi-Loop (or n-loop) is a virtual circuit that adapts itself only too well to a number of different turns. The n-loop is described as a noose or circuit, for example a computer loop structuring a social network that concentrates its energies on the task of spreading hatred. As Rapaport points out, the n-loop is invisible and automated, an electronic stealth loop that works via computerized telecommunications and criss-crosses the Net with the goal of transforming the terminal into a terminator.

Hans Breder’s “Nazi-Loop” effectively uses the image of a loop created in the computer medium as a circuit of exchange but doesn’t elaborate on how the Net is used as a terminator and means of disseminating propaganda. However, the CD-ROM counterbalances the purpose of the “real” n-loop–to circulate disinformation about the past and future–by creating a circuit of resistance.

Read essays from The Nazi-Loop by Hanno Hardt, Herman Rapaport, and Rüdiger Scheidges.