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PL30796: Multikulturelles Deutschland

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2014/5
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
Further information on credits Credits: 6
Further information on unit levels Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Further information on teaching periods Period: Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 33%, ES 67%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Coursework (CW 33%)
  • Essay (ES 67%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:
The unit examines Germany’s development into a dynamic multicultural society since the end of WWII. It will examine policy decisions and core debates and place them in relation to issues of national identity construction, economic developments and socio-political and cultural issues and study shifts from a monocultural to a multicultural and even transcultural paradigm. The unit will be taught in German. Its aims are:
* To familiarise students with the more lasting implications of WWII in the area of immigration policy;
* To highlight the degree to which the division of Germany as a nation influenced core policy decisions on immigration and integration until unification in 1990;
* To study core waves of immigration in their historical context;
* To examine issues of integration and exclusion of migrants in relation to issues of citizenship and belonging as well as to more contested notions of belonging such as ‘Heimat’;
* To examine representative texts and films by both German and migrant authors and film-makers with a view to gaining understanding of the contributions made by migrant communities to German culture;
* To assess the degree to which the multicultural society in Germany may be said to have succeeded or failed;
* To study in detail paradigm shifts in the way in which issues of integration and the search for belonging in a globalized world have been conceptualised in German culture and society.

Learning Outcomes:
Students who have studied this unit will be able to understand and conceptualise immigration policy and its impact on and representation within German society and culture from the post-war period to the present day. They will have an appreciation of the degree to which the division of Germany during the Cold War impacted on immigration policy and on experiences with immigration and integration of migrant communities before unification in 1990 and since. They will be able to assess the degree to which changing experiences of migrants in Germany can be traced in literary and filmic representations of migrant experiences and understand how migrant writers and filmmakers have influenced developments in German culture. Students will be able to talk and write in German about developments in Germany from a monocultural to a multicultural society.

Content:
The unit will study the following topics in detail:
* Immigration to Germany in the post-war period
* Labour migrants or ‘Gastarbeiter’ in Germany
* The absence of an immigration policy in the context of the divided nation
* National identity issues relating to migration and diasporas in both German nations during division and since
* Debates and shifts in citizenship legislation and notion of cultural belonging
* Literary representations of experiences of exile, the search for belonging and life in the diaspora
* Filmic representations of migrant experiences in Germany before unification and since
* Theoretical paradigm shifts and their representations in migrant writing and film: from monocultural, to two-world’s to transcultural belonging
Students will study the following texts and films:
Angst essen Seele auf (or ‘Alle Türken heißen Ali’), Rainer Werner Fassbinder,1974; 40 qm Deutschland, Tevfik Baser, 1985; The Edge of Heaven, Fatih Akin, 2007.
Literary texts to be studied: Günter Wallraff, Ganz unten (Würzburg: Kiepenheuer & Witsch), 1988; Feridun Zaimoglu, Kanak Sprak. 24 Mißtöne vom Rande der Gesellschaft, (Berlin: Rotbuch), 1995; Feridun Zaimoglu, Von der Kunst der geringen Abweichung. Rede an die Abiturienten des Jahrgangs 2007 (Blieskastel: Gollenstein Verlag), 2007; Yade Kara, Selam Berlin, (Berlin: Diogenes), 2003.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

PL30796 is Optional on the following programmes:

School of Management
  • UXXX-AYB04 : BSc(Hons) International Management and Modern Languages (German) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
  • UHPL-AYB12 : BA(Hons) German and Politics with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB05 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (French and German) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB06 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and ab initio Italian) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB07 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and ab initio Russian) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB02 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and Italian) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB23 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and Spanish) with Year Abroad (Year 4)

Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2014/15 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2015/16 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2014/15.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.