GERM2131: NEGOTIATING THE PAST IN THE GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

• 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.

• 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.

• None.

• To prepare students for more specialised study in final year optional modules by building strategically on knowledge and skills already mediated through GERM1081 Identity & Politics in the German-Speaking Countries / GERM1091 Reading German Culture / GERM1101 Picturing the Past of the German-Speaking Countries.
• To acquaint students with representations of historical events that have played a central role in shaping notions of self-understanding in the German-speaking countries.
• To focus on the multi-faceted topic of memory, which is exemplified in a wide range of literary and political texts, film and visual culture.

• Germanys preoccupation with its past is negotiated in politics, up until the present, as well as in works of literature, cinema, and art. What strategies do cultural artefacts serve in representing historical events, particularly events that have been claimed to evade documentation? What is the influence of trauma on memory? These are the questions taken up in this module.
• Areas covered are likely to include representation and remembrance of the Holocaust, discourse and debates surrounding cultural memory in divided Germany as well as post-unification.
• The teaching material will typically include a range of cultural artefacts, such as literary, political and journalistic texts; visual media such as film, photography and monuments.
• In addition, secondary sources, ranging from textual and literary criticism to film and art theory, will be used to foster critical reflection on the source material and the formulation of insights into how the past is negotiated in the German-speaking countries.
• This module is taught in English and German and assessed in English

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module the students will have:
• become familiar with major themes of German historical self-perception and with techniques of analysing these in diverse media (literature, visual culture, historical documents and research literature)
• acquired an enhanced understanding of the relationships between recorded historical events, scholarly historiography and historical narrative as a medium of national self-perception.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will increase their proficiency in written argumentation in English, as well as presentation in the target language.

Key Skills:

• Students will develop skills in independent learning, rapid critical reading, synthesis, and analytic thinking.

• The module will consist of plenary sessions, seminars and tutorials.
• 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 seminar 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 on a weekly basis, 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.

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