Aims: To introduce students to significant aspects of German culture in the period 1933-61 through a close study of representative texts and films seen in their socio-political context; to make students aware of the formal characteristics and expressive potential of forms of cultural production such as the short story, the novel, autobiography, drama, poetry and the film; to enable students to develop their critical capacities and their ability to reach well-reasoned conclusions in their evaluation of works of culture.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this unit students should be able to critically evaluate cultural products of the Fascist and early post-war periods; and to explain the particular significance of selected cultural practitioners both today and within the framework of their own times.
Skills:
Skills in critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument and the planning/conduct/reporting of non-quantitative research are taught and assessed in this unit. Skills in effective learning and language skills are developed in this unit.
Content:
Lectures will introduce students to the principal features of German cultural life during the Third Reich and in the immediate post-war years. Seminars will be devoted to critical analysis of selected texts and films which are representative of the period.
Key sources: Leni Riefenstahl (dir.), Triumph des Willens (1935); Ernst Wolfgang Borchert, Draußen vor der Tür (1947); Heinrich Böll, Das Brot der frühen Jahre (1955).
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