GERM 370 Seminar on a Selected Topic

Bertolt Brecht and the Twenties: 

Bertolt Brecht is one of the most influential playwrights and aesthetic thinkers of the 20th century. In order to understand the scope and dimension of his work and its world wide influence this course will focus on the artistic development of young Bertolt Brecht who in the early Twenties moved to Berlin the capital of newly founded democratic Weimar Republic and one of the most important cultural centers of the 20th century and participated in practically all innovative tendencies and art forms of the time from Expressionism and Dadaism to New Objectivity from experimental theatre to radio and film. Some of his great early works such as the "Three Penny Opera" will be seen in the context of the time especially the very turbulent last years of the Weimar Republic before Hitler's rise to power. We will also look at Brecht's legendary film "Kuhle Wampe" and visit at least one contemporary production of a Brecht play staged at a theatre in Los Angeles. 

Bertolt Brecht: The Great Plays: 

Brecht's great plays changed the stage of world theatre. In order to understand and appreciate their powerful and long lasting influence all major plays written during Brecht's exile i.e. in the years between 1933 when he was driven out of Germany and 1948 when he returned to Switzerland and ultimately Berlin will be discussed. Aside from detailed analyses of plays such as "Mother Courage" "The Good Woman of Sezuan" "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" or "Life of Galilei" Brecht's developing theory of epic theatre and the general conditions and dilemmas of exile will be discussed. We will also look at Brecht's role in Hollywood his collaboration on the film "Hangmen Also Die" and his successful attempts to direct his own plays on German and European stages after 1950. Students minoring in German or majoring in Group Languages or IPS will read most of the texts in the original. Prerequisite for German minor and Group Language majors: GERM 202 or GERM 232. Open to all other non-first year students. The course is taught in English no knowledge of German is required. 

Memory Trauma and Victim Culture: 

This course is concerned with the cultural politics of memory and trauma after the catastrophic events of the Holocaust and World War II. We will start with basic questions such as: Whose memories are sought and commemorated in the public sphere? What problems do traumatic events present for those attempting to represent them? Is trauma a useful cultural concept? What are the differences between individual and collective memory? The first part of the course analyzes memory and trauma on both the individual level and the collective level and turns then to the specific processes that occur when traumatic events are remembered by survivors as well as the collective processes involved when memories of traumatic events such as the Holocaust are shared with an audience who has no first-hand experience of them.- The second part of the course aims to identify the recent fascination especially in European and American culture with the phenomenon of trauma suffering and victimhood. We will study the cultural politics of trauma and memory in relation to two events - the Holocaust and German suffering during World War II. The unit "Holocaust victimhood and American-Jewish identity" explores how the kitsch nature of popular culture representations of the Holocaust (from the Anne Frank movie of to the very successful TV-series Holocaust to the Hollywood movie Schindler's List) created the paradigm for trauma culture at large. The unit "Germans in collective memory between perpetrators and victims" discusses contemporary German memory discourse which primarily focuses on the experience of German suffering as a consequence of the war and the Third Reich. However to recast Germans as victim is highly problematic since the position of victim is already occupied by those people who were persecuted and murdered by the Germans/Nazis. Memory trauma and victimhood are crucial aspects of the experiences of Jews and Germans after 1945. A systematic exploration of these aspects (as manifested in a broad variety of cultural forms) promises important insights into recent history and culture. 

Nazi Culture: 

After the Nazis came to power in 1933 they took over control of all aspects of German life. One of the first tasks the new government undertook upon their ascension to power was a synchronization of all professional and social organizations with Nazi ideology and policy. Joseph Goebbels Nazi Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda began an effort to bring German arts and culture in line with Nazi goals. The government purged cultural organizations of Jewish and other officials alleged to be politically suspect or who performed or created art works which Nazi ideologues labeled "degenerate." Some 650 works by such renowned artists as Max Beckmann Marc Chagall Otto Dix Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee were declared "degenerate art" and removed from German museums. The Nazi "cultivation of art" also extended to the modern field of cinema theater music architecture youth education and even to the lower levels of popular culture. Throughout the duration of the Nazi regime 'culture' in all its manifestations played a crucial role. Political rallies military parades sports events open air festivals and other skillfully organized events were used from the beginning to suggest a "national awakening" and the "revolutionary spirit" of the new regime. The efforts of the Nazis to regulate German culture corresponded to what historian George Mosse calls an effort "toward a total culture" i.e. an effort to influence at the most basic level the lives and actions of all Germans. This course will explore the various forms of culture during this time and will raise the question to what extent 'Nazi culture' or culture under Nazi domination was capable of stabilizing the regime until its very end in 1945. German minors and group language majors have to complete either GERM 202 or GERM 232 since they will read some of the material in German. 

Marx Freud and the Frankfurt School: 

This seminar will explore the origins of the world famous Frankfurt School a group of German social philosophers and theoreticians which emerged at the Institute for Social research of the University of Frankfurt am Main in the 1920s who wanted a) to analyze the conditions of modern capitalism and its impact on society in general on family and social structures value systems and mass culture b) critically review the theories of Karl Marx Sigmund Freud and Max Weber and c) to establish the principles and foundations of a 'critical theory.' We'll read and discuss major works by Max Horkheimer Theodor W. Adorno Walter Benjamin Herbert Marcuse Erich Fromm Siegfried Kracauer Leo Loewenthal and others. The seminar will focus on the 'first phase' of the Frankfurt School its beginnings and its work and development during the thirties and forties - when the school relocated to New York and many of its collaborators lived in other American cities or abroad - and the immediate post WWII period. (A second seminar will follow next year and explore the school's development and its world wide impact in the sixties and seventies.) The course is taught in English. Students minoring or majoring in German will read some of the original texts (especially Marx Freud Benjamin and Kracauer) in German. Same as CTSJ 370. 

The Frankfurt School 1945 to the Present: 

Social Analysis Cultural Theory and Political Action. This seminar will explore the history of the Frankfurt School after World War II when it was re-established in Frankfurt and began to play a crucial role in the development of a 'critical theory' of society and culture during the West German 'economical miracle;' afterwards with the onset of the German (and international) student movement of the mid-Sixties it gained international reputation and impacted social political and cultural discourses in countries like France Great Britain Italy or the United States. We will study primarily some of the major writings of Th. W. Adorno (especially on art music cultural theory and the lessons of Fascism) H. Marcuse (whose writings on social theory and aesthetics on 'repressive tolerance' and 'liberation' exerted a strong influence on the student movement) and of J. Habermas who became one of the most influential European intellectuals in the decades after 1970. This seminar is the continuation of an earlier class on the beginnings of the Frankfurt School and its history until 1945; participation in that earlier seminar is not required. The course is taught in English. Students minoring in German or majoring in Group Language or IPS will read some of the original texts in German.