Module GERM1101: PICTURING THE PAST OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (German)

GERM1101: PICTURING THE PAST OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Prerequisites

• Grade A in a foreign European language at A level or an equivalent qualification

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: German Language 1A (post-A level) (GERM1011) or German Langauge 1B (ab initio) (GERM1112). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The turbulent past of German-speaking Europe has always generated a wide range of responses and interpretations, and continues to do so.
• This module focuses on visual and material culture, setting out to examine the relationship that visual art, film, photography, memorial art, architecture, and other related media have to the past. What do pictures tell us about the past? Why should we employ visual and material culture to shed light on the past? How does visual culture reflect, illuminate, and interpret key events of the German past – such as the various revolutions of the modern era, the World Wars, the Weimar republic, the catastrophe of National Socialism and the Holocaust, division and reunification, the fall of the Berlin wall? How are the legacies of the past represented and worked through in films, images, monuments, memorials? How do cultural artefacts shape the perception and understanding of the past?
• In attending to these questions, this course reflects on both the visualization of history and the history of visual culture in the German-speaking countries.

Content

• This module, taught in English, is open to students taking German Language 1A and 1B. It offers an introduction to the study of visual and material culture, setting out to examine the relationship that visual art, film, photography, memorial art, architecture, and other related media have to the past. What did the past look like? What do pictures tell us about the past? Why should we employ visual and material culture to shed light on the past? How does visual culture reflect, illuminate, and interpret key events of the German past – such as the various revolutions of the modern era, the World Wars, the Weimar republic, the catastrophe of National Socialism and the Holocaust, division and reunification, and the fall of the Berlin wall? How are the legacies of the past represented and worked through in films, images, monuments, memorials? How do cultural artefacts shape the perception and understanding of the past, also with regard to an understanding of the legacies of race, class and gender experience? And how do these artefacts relate to cultural production and debate beyond the boundaries of Germany itself? In attending to these questions, this course equips students with the ability to engage critically with a range of theoretical and methodological approaches to both the visualization of history and the history of visual culture in the German-speaking countries. This module has been designed to reflect a commitment to diversity in its resources and delivery, and will create opportunities for students to engage in critical analysis of different perspectives relevant to the study area.

Learning Outcomes

• .Students will develop:
• • An understanding of the relationship between visual culture and its historical context
• Specific and critical knowledge of selected films, images, monuments, buildings, and other relevant artefacts
• An understanding of how visual and material culture responds to, and shapes perception of, historical and political issues
• An understanding of key concepts and debates – such as those around memory and memorialisation, spectatorship and power, representation and visibility – within the study of visual and material culture.

• By the end of this module, students should have improved:
• Critical analysis of films, photographs, paintings, monuments, and/or related cultural artefacts
• Ability to draw meaningful links between different periods in German cultural history
• Ability to situate the study of visual and material culture in relation to broader historical and cultural issues.

• By the end of this module, students should have improved:
• Critical and analytical thinking
• Ability to analyse, interpret, and contextualise complex visual materials
• Essay-writing, commentary and oral communication skills
• Structuring of arguments
• Independent learning and research
• Ability to discuss topical or general issues with fluency

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

• Teaching will take the form of weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars.
• Lectures will familiarise students with the relevant socio-historical context and introduce the key theoretical and critical issues raised by the texts under consideration.
• By preparing for the fortnightly seminar, which will alternate guided discussions with formative group presentations, students will develop skills in independent learning, rapid critical reading, synthesis, analytical thinking, and the presentation of coherent argument.
• Through exposure to key texts in German, students will thus also increase their proficiency in the target language.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Regular programme of viewing and reading, alternating close analysis of key visual materials from the German-speaking countries with wider contextual / background reading in both English and German; one class presentation per student per term; active participation in class discussion, based on weekly set tasks.

■ 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