GERM 273 The Culture of Weimar

This course will analyze the political social and cultural changes in German history after 1918 and will provide an introduction to the wealth of the innovative literary and artistic production of the so-called Twenties. We will focus on the difficult transition from the old monarchy to a parliamentary democracy the economic and political challenges of the new republic and its slow demise in the early thirties. Some lead topics will be: the rise of film and other forms of popular culture the styles of Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit the experience of the city the emancipation of women and the fight against the onslaught of fascist tendencies. We will read texts by Bertolt Brecht Ernst Toller Erich Kästner Irmgard Keun Marieluise Fleisser Kurt Tucholsky see films (such as Nosferatu Metropolis Kuhle Wampe and others) and study the new trends in architecture (Bauhaus) the arts (Beckmann Kirchner Heartfield) photography music and the media. The course is taught in English. German minors and group majors will read some of the texts in the German original.