16904

SoSe 22: Reading the City

Susanne Scharnowski

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Subject: The city has frequently been described as a ‘text’ that, like a book, can be read and interpreted, or as a ‘palimpsest’ with multiple textual layers from different historical periods. So, what does it mean to read a city? What does the text of a cityscape tell us? And where do we find this text? Is it in plain sight, in the buildings, facades, streets, shopfronts, signs and inscriptions, or is it hidden and thus requires a specific form of ‘literacy’ and knowledge to find the ‘text’ and to establish its meaning? Berlin, in any case, is hard to read: While it is a place where German, European and even world history has been written, it has been said that Berlin has no connection to history, tradition, and identity, that it is the epitome of modernity and therefore always changing, forever developing into something new. So how can we decipher this particular city? Program: The course aims to develop students’ ‘urban literacy’ and their ability to reflect upon their expectations and perceptions of the urban environment. To achieve this, students will first learn to critically analyse different ways in which the city as text has been represented and understood in literature and film. We will study texts from the 20th and 21st centuries which describe and interpret the city of Berlin. Students will then engage with the cityscape, applying the theoretical and academic knowledge to the city of today; they will learn to spot traces of history and how to interpret what they see as signs of social and cultural developments. To practice observational skills, one class will take place in the streets of Berlin. Is this the right course for you? This course is open to students from all academic fields. You should be prepared to study academic texts in English from the social sciences and cultural studies as well as literary texts (German authors in English translation), and you should be interested in analysing and interpreting cultural and social phenomena. Workload and Assessment: To obtain 5 ECTS credits, you will have to have studied the course materials and engaged with them (an average of 15-20 pages of English texts per week). You will have to submit one “walking & writing” assignment (ca. 1000 words) and pass the final examination (ca. 1500 words). close