Module GERM3151: REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST IN POST-WAR GERMAN CULTURE

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (German)

GERM3151: REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST IN POST-WAR GERMAN CULTURE

Prerequisites

• German Language 2A (GERM2021), or German Language 2B (GERM2152) or an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: German Language 4 (GERM3071). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To acquaint students with the responses of writers, filmmakers, historians, philosophers and political theorista to the Holocaust / Shoah in post-war Germany and Austria, situating these in their broader European and transnational context; to familiarise students with key aspects of debates around the aftermath and memorialisation of the Holocaust / Shoah in post-war Germany and Austria

Content

• Memoir, testimony, autobiographical fictions, poetry and prose relating to the Holocaust; philosophical/theoretical texts; film. Set texts/films may vary from year to year in accordance with the research specialisms of the tutors in any given year, as this is a team-taught, research-led module.
• Students will gain an overview of key debates on the Holocaust and its aftermath (topics may include, for instance, trauma and memory; revisionism in popular and political discourse; representation and its limits; national identity after the Holocaust; the 'Historikerstreit'; memorialisation before, after and on either side of the Berlin Wall; Holocaust denial).

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module, students will have gained:
• an historical overview of literary and cinematic responses to the Holocaust in post-war Germany and Austria;
• an understanding of key philosophical and theoretical debates about the Holocaust;
• in-depth knowledge of a selection of landmark cultural products within this field.

• Enhanced comprehension of written/spoken German.
• Enhanced interpretative skills in a range of media and ability to express these in appropriate spoken and written forms of the target language.

• An ability to formulate clear arguments, and use both contextual and methodological knowledge in order to access and elucidate a corpus of literary, historical, philosophical and theoretical texts, drawing on relevant research literature.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The teaching on this module will be in German, and will involve a combination of plenary lectures and seminars.
• The summative assessment will be in German.
• Lectures will provide information about the historical context and introduce methodological issues.
• In seminars, students will have the opportunity to present and discuss the central questions arising from their reading of a range of texts.
• In both oral discussion and in summative assessed work, students will be able to demonstrate their ability to formulate clear arguments, and use both contextual and methodological knowledge in order to access and elucidate a corpus of literary, historical, philosophical and theoretical texts, drawing on relevant research literature.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment during seminars builds on independent study by students working individually or in pairs or small groups. In the seminars, students are expected to give short oral presentations, based on a set of diversified (such as reflecting on theoretical challenges, analysing secondary materials, presenting primary work outside the syllabus etc.) and reading materials, and where appropriate accompanied by written handouts and/or other visual aids. Oral feedback is provided regularly in the course of the seminar discussion.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University