Aims: To study the development of cultural life in the German Federal Republic over the years when the two German states were separated by the Berlin Wall. To refer in detail both to proseworks and films produced during this period and to more recent works taking stock of divided Germany from a post-unification perspective. To focus on a number of key cultural phenomena of these years: (i) personal experiences of life in the West, and especially in West Berlin, after the building of the Wall; (ii) the challenge to the self-confidence of the Federal Republic represented by the events of 1968 and their aftermath; and (iii) the struggle for gender equality in the context of the 1970s and 1980s.
Learning Outcomes:
Students who complete this unit successfully will have gained a broad overview of post-1961 culture; they will understand the important socio-political role that authors and film-makers have played over this period; they will appreciate the creative difficulties involved in portraying the psychological/emotional effects of the division of Germany from a 'Western' perspective.
Skills:
Skills in critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, effective communication in the target language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument, teamwork and the planning/conduct/reporting of non-quantitative research are taught and assessed in this unit. Skills in effective learning are developed in this unit.
Content:
A framework of lectures will provide an overview of this era from the West German perspective and an introduction to the work of the authors and film-makers to be studied. The seminars will focus on the analysis of representative works of the period and the changing post-unification view of its significance. Works to be studied are likely to include Heinrich Böll, Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, Peter Schneider, Der Mauerspringer and Margarethe von Trotta, Die bleierne Zeit.
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