Department of European Studies & Modern Languages, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
EU20727 Multikulturelles Deutschland |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Intermediate |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: EX67CW33 |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: To introduce students to ideas about culture and national identity in post-war Germany and to relate these to the history of and to debates about ethnicity, migration, and multiculturalism in Germany before and since 1989.
Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to: * show understanding of concepts such as national identity in relation to culture; * have an awareness of processes of exclusion and othering in relation to issues of migration and immigration in Germany since the 1960s; * show understanding of key debates in German politics and culture about issues of ethnicity and migration and relate these to representations of these issues in selected texts, articles, and films; * analyse and evaluate Germany's complex history in the area of immigration and integration with a special focus on the developments between the 1960s and today. Skills: Skills in critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument, teamwork and the planning/conduct/reporting of qualitative research are developed and assessed in this unit. Language skills are developed in this unit. Content: The unit will begin with an overview of post-war migration in Germany with particular emphasis on key developments and shifts in government policy and legislation from the 'Wirtschaftswunder' of the 1950s to European integration, German unification and the growing pressures of gloablisation. It will introduce students to key concepts such as national identity, ethnicity, hybridity, and diaspora, and chart Germany's difficult and complex journey from a country that discouraged immigration and highlighted ideas of monoculture to today's multicultural, multiethnic, pluralistic and dynamic society which enjoys an increasingly diverse and differentiated culture. Key films and texts to be studied will be: extracts from Günter Wallraf, Ganz unten (1985), Rafik Schami, Die Sehnsucht fährt Schwarz (short stories, 1988), Renan Demirkan Scharzer Tee mit drei Stück Zucker (1991), as well as short poems by Nevfel Cumart and Adel Karasholi and extracts from Wladimir Kaminer's Russendisko (2002) and Feridun Zaiimoglu's Kanak Sprak (1995). Films to be studied: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Angst essen Seele auf (1974), Fatih Akin, Gegen die Wand (2004) Jasmin Tabatabai, Anneke Kim Sarnau, Hinnerk Schönemann, und Angelina Maccarone Fremde Haut (2006; English title Unveiled). |