16868

SoSe 19: Berlin is [NOT] in Germany

Gautam Chakrabarti

Kommentar

Subject: The Second World War was one of the radically-transforming influences on mid/late-twentieth-century European cityscapes, especially in Berlin and other parts of Germany. Bertolt Brecht’s observation that Berlin after 1945 was “ein Trümmerhaufen bei Potsdam” (a rubble-heap near Potsdam), was quite appropriate. The two countries that emerged from the rubble-heap of the Third Reich had to cope with societal anomie, war-reparations and collective guilt, and needed, in the words of Konrad Adenauer, “a new ideology, [which] can only be an European one” (Schwarz 1995). From this perspective, it becomes important to look at WW2 and the Cold War as not only capable of destroying lives, built heritage and infrastructure, and tearing asunder pre-existent norms of conduct and restraint, but also opening the doors to new forms of socialisation and political-cultural outreach, consensual or forced. In this course, we will look at how post-1945 discourses of “shame” and “guilt” led to the evolution of literary and cinematic discourses. The latter are still being processed within European societies and influence current debates regarding migration, “MultiKulti”, integration and solidarity, especially with victims of warfare and human rights’ abuse. Program: We will study excerpts from texts by Marta Hillers, Wladimir Kaminer, Ilija Trojanow, Herta Müller, Volker Braun and Chloe Aridjis. We will also watch the films Deutschland Jahr Null (dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1948), In jenen Tagen (In Those Days, dir. Helmut Käutner, 1947), Angst essen Seele auf (Fear Eats the Soul, dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974), Der amerikanische Freund (The American Friend, dir. Wim Wenders, 1977), Berlin is in Germany (dir. Hannes Stöhr, 2001), Good Bye, Lenin! (dir. Wolfgang Becker, 2003) and Berlin Calling (dir. Hannes Stöhr, 2009). There will be a few film-screenings and regular group-discussions, throughout the semester, and a possible field-visit to a relevant site within Berlin. The instructor will make the individual texts available on Blackboard and requests that students avoid – if possible – printing them, with regard to the Environment. Students are also encouraged to get their own copies of the primary texts. Is this course suitable for you? This course is open to students from all academic disciplines, especially in areas that encourage and require interdisciplinary studies in the humanities and social sciences. The student should be prepared to study a number of academic texts, both literary and cinematic, in English from the fields of literary-cultural history, cultural studies and the social sciences. S/he should be interested in reflecting critically on the broad patterns of societal-political and cultural developments in and across/between East and West Germany, focusing on Berlin. Workload and Evaluation: In order to obtain 5 ECTS credits, the student will need to • Attend the course regularly and participate actively in discussions (at least 80 % of the sessions); • Study the weekly course materials (an average of 10-15 pages of English texts per week); • Participate in group-projects (background/field research) with a presentation in class (for approx. 10-15 minutes) or, exceptionally, write a short essay (approx. 750-1,000 words); • Pass the written examination (possibly on 11th July, 90 minutes). Schließen