Module GERM2141: Culture and Violence

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (German)

GERM2141: Culture and Violence

Prerequisites

• German Language 1A (GERM1011) or German Language 1B (GERM1112) or an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/woman of the Board of Studies of MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern European Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: German Language 2A (GERM2021) or German Language 2B (GERM2152). Others: see Chairman/woman of the Board of Studies of MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To prepare students for more specialised study in final year optional seminars by building strategically on knowledge and skills already mediated through Year 1 German cultural modules.
• To focus on the multi-faceted topic of violence, and its relationship to culture and cultural production, which is exemplified in a wide range of texts, films, and visual art from various periods.
• To broaden students' reading and knowledge of German cultural history and to develop their understanding of the decisive role of art in society.

Content

• This module explores how individual and collective notions of violence are shaped and redefined by literature, film, and visual art over several periods of German cultural history.
• The module will focus on different conceptualizations of violence (e.g. as physical act, hate speech, symbolic violence, structural violence, systemic violence etc.) as part of a broader consideration of the relationship between culture and violence, and of the politics and ethics of representations of violence.
• Treatment of the theme will include analyses of aesthetic representations of violence and will explore past and present theories of violence. These will be explored through a range of media (prose and lyric writing, film and television, and visual art.)
• This module is taught and examined in English and in German.

Learning Outcomes

• Familiarity with a wide range of representative works in word and image which treat the problem of violence and its various interpretations over several periods of German cultural history.
• Knowledge of the methodologies appropriate to the analysis of works in these different genres.
• Enhanced knowledge of the specialised language required to talk and write about the problem of violence in both English and German.

• Analysing the means by which relevant works construct, reflect on and criticise notions of violence
• Applying appropriate methodologies in order to perform this analysis and interpretation.
• Independent research skills, developed through close reading, critical analysis of aesthetic and theoretical material, as well as through presenting a structured argument in both oral and written form.
• Enhanced comprehension skills in German, and enhanced range and fluency of expression in English and German.
• Students will increase their proficiency in written argumentation in English, as well as presentation in the target language.

• Enhanced skills in independent learning, rapid critical reading, synthesis, and analytic thinking.
• The coherent formulation of arguments and their presentation in written and oral form.

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

• The module will consist of plenary sessions, seminars and tutorials.
• Plenary sessions will be based on both lectures and student presentations.
• 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 presentations, students will develop skills in independent learning, rapid critical reading, synthesis and analytic thinking, all of which will be further promoted by preparation for seminars, and by guided discussion in the seminars themselves.
• The module will be taught in both German and English.
• Through presentations in classes, students will thus also increase their oral proficiency in the target language.
• Students will produce two summatively-assessed essays over the course of the year which will train them to construct coherent, lucid arguments.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

10 minute presentation in German

■ 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