Department of European Studies & Modern Languages, Unit Catalogue 2006/07

EU20673 Deutschland - (m)ein lieb Heimatland?

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 2

Assessment: ES67CW33

Requisites:

Aims: To examine social change in Germany from the perspective of gender and of ethnicity. To study issues of national identity and citizenship in the context of Germany's changing immigration laws and to explore issues of ethnicity, gender and identity as they have been represented in selected texts and one film. To raise awareness of the significance of difference and cultural diversity when exploring issues of identity, whether personal or national.
Learning Outcomes:
Students who complete the unit successfully will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:
* how the experiences of women in general, and of women as members of ethnic minorities in particular, have changed since the late 1960s;
* the differing experiences of women in Eastern and Western Germany;
* perspectives on Germany and German-ness amongst ethnic minorities in Germany, in particular Turkish and Eastern European migrants.
Skills:
Skills in critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument, effective communication in the target language, teamwork and the planning/conduct/reporting of non-quantitative research are developed and assessed in this unit.
Content:
The new women's movement, writing by women in the aftermath of the women's movement; women in the former German Democratic Republic; issues of national identity in Germany, prior to and since unification; Germany as a country of migration and the changing political and legal context; experiences of Turkish migrants in general and of Turkish women migrants in particular.
Primary Texts and Film:
Brigitte Schwaiger, Wie kommt das Salz ins Meer; Christa Wolf, Nachdenken über Christa T. (selected chapters); Renan Demirkan, Schwarzer Tee mit drei Stück Zucker; Helma Sanders-Brahms, Shirins Hochzeit; Carmen-Francesca Banciu, Berlin ist mein Paris (selected chapters).
The unit is taught in German.

University | Catalogues for 2006/07