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2022/2023

German Literature and Cinema

Code: 100210 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500245 English Studies OT 3 2
2500245 English Studies OT 4 2
2501801 Catalan and Spanish Studies OT 3 2
2501801 Catalan and Spanish Studies OT 4 2
2501902 English and Catalan Studies OT 3 2
2501902 English and Catalan Studies OT 4 2
2501907 English and Classics Studies OT 3 2
2501907 English and Classics Studies OT 4 2
2501910 English and Spanish Studies OT 3 2
2501910 English and Spanish Studies OT 4 2
2501913 English and French Studies OT 3 2
2501913 English and French Studies OT 4 2

Contact

Name:
Bernd Springer
Email:
bernd.springer@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
Yes

Other comments on languages

Catalan also is vehicular language. Oral presentations can be given in english.

Prerequisites

Any knowledge of the German language is not required.

Objectives and Contextualisation

- To develop and deepen the understanding of German literature and cinema.
- To develop and to deepen the critical and argumentative capacity and of relation of ideas.
- To develop and deepen the capacity of the aesthetic experience.
- Develop and deepen the ability to write film reviews.
- Linguistic sensitization of students both in the receptive aspect and in the creator of a text of literary criticism and cinema.
- To make known strategies for the studies of a foreign philology.
- To give a global orientation to the literary and cinematographic representation of the history of central Europe in the 20th century.

Competences

    English Studies
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Draw up essays in Spanish, Catalan or German about literature or cinema originally in German.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
  • Identifying and relating the major issues of Western literature within German literature.
  • Identifying the basic concepts of history, culture and literature in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret feature films based on literary works originally written in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret literary works originally written in German.
  • Relating the concepts and information from different fields of German literature, and relating these with the concepts and information of human, artistic and social fields in German.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
    Catalan and Spanish Studies
  • Draw up essays in Spanish, Catalan or German about literature or cinema originally in German.
  • Identifying and relating the major issues of Western literature within German literature.
  • Identifying the basic concepts of history, culture and literature in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret feature films based on literary works originally written in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret literary works originally written in German.
  • Relating the concepts and information from different fields of German literature, and relating these with the concepts and information of human, artistic and social fields in German.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
    English and Catalan Studies
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Draw up essays in Spanish, Catalan or German about literature or cinema originally in German.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
  • Identifying and relating the major issues of Western literature within German literature.
  • Identifying the basic concepts of history, culture and literature in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret feature films based on literary works originally written in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret literary works originally written in German.
  • Relating the concepts and information from different fields of German literature, and relating these with the concepts and information of human, artistic and social fields in German.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
    English and Classics Studies
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Draw up essays in Spanish, Catalan or German about literature or cinema originally in German.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
  • Identifying and relating the major issues of Western literature within German literature.
  • Identifying the basic concepts of history, culture and literature in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret feature films based on literary works originally written in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret literary works originally written in German.
  • Relating the concepts and information from different fields of German literature, and relating these with the concepts and information of human, artistic and social fields in German.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
    English and Spanish Studies
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Draw up essays in Spanish, Catalan or German about literature or cinema originally in German.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
  • Identifying and relating the major issues of Western literature within German literature.
  • Identifying the basic concepts of history, culture and literature in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret feature films based on literary works originally written in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret literary works originally written in German.
  • Relating the concepts and information from different fields of German literature, and relating these with the concepts and information of human, artistic and social fields in German.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
    English and French Studies
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Draw up essays in Spanish, Catalan or German about literature or cinema originally in German.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
  • Identifying and relating the major issues of Western literature within German literature.
  • Identifying the basic concepts of history, culture and literature in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret feature films based on literary works originally written in German.
  • Mastering the basic concepts in order to understand and interpret literary works originally written in German.
  • Relating the concepts and information from different fields of German literature, and relating these with the concepts and information of human, artistic and social fields in German.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse a text from different aspects and summarising the results of the analysis in a global interpretation.
  2. Analyse various aspects of a film and summarise the results of the analysis in a global interpretation.
  3. Apply the acquired knowledge in order to improve the general knowledge of linguistic and cultural diversity.
  4. Apply the acquired knowledge to the generation of innovative and competitive research on a basic level.
  5. Apply various analysis and interpretation methods of films.
  6. Apply various methods of analysis and interpretation of texts.
  7. Assess from literary texts the various cultural contexts from a critical perspective.
  8. Distinguish between fiction and reality and connecting them.
  9. Distinguish the differences when addressing topics of the Western literature in different times and authors of the German literature.
  10. Distinguish the main ideas from the secondary ones and summarise the contents of films in German.
  11. Generate strategies to facilitate the increase and improvement of mutual respect in multicultural environments.
  12. Have criteria in order to assess the aesthetics of a literary work or film.
  13. Identify and interpreting the symbolic language of a feature film.
  14. Identify issues related to the peculiarity of the culture and history of German-speaking countries.
  15. Identify literary genres and currents of great importance to the history of German literature.
  16. Identify the main literary, cultural and historical currents in the German language.
  17. Practise the critical discourse and implement the argumentative processes.
  18. Produce new professional initiatives.
  19. Recognising the contents and importance of some universal works in German language. 
  20. Recognising the most important aspects of the history of German-speaking countries.
  21. Recognising the most important examples of interdependencies between literature and culture in German and other Western literatures and cultures. 
  22. Recognising theories of other human, artistic, and social areas and applying them to German literature and cinema.
  23. Recognize the steps in the production of a film.
  24. Students must be capable of comprehending advanced academic or professional texts in their own language or the another acquired in the degree.
  25. Students must be capable of precisely arguing ideas and opinions in their own language or another acquired in the degree.
  26. Use the specific expressive resources of the essay genre.
  27. Work individually and / or in teams effectively in multicultural and interdisciplinary applying of a culture of peace and own a degree in foreign languages that form the student for intercultural communication environments democratic values.

Content

1.) Introduction to the interpretation of movie scenes.

2.) Interpretation of Thomas Mann's novel "Death in Venice".

3.) Introduction to anti-war literature.

4.) Interpretation of the work of Erich Maria Remarque: 'All quiet on the Western Front'.

5.) Combat, trauma and the disassembly of the personality.

6.) Reflections on the reality of war and it’s artistic representation.

7.) German history in the 20th century in European contexts.

8.) Interpretation of Arthur Koestler's novel: 'Sonnenfinsternis' ('Darkness at noon', 'Zero and Infinity').

9.) Interpretation of the work of Jurek Becker: 'Jacob the Liar'.

10.) Introduction to Holocaust cinema.

11.) Reflections on the reality of the Holocaust and it’s artistic representation.

12.) Reflections on: How can a normal person commit atrocities?

13.) Reflection on historical memory.

14.) Interpretation of the book "The reader".

Methodology

- Master Classes
- Oral presentations by the students
- Group work in class
- Virtual Campus
- Tutoring
- Works written at home
- Reading at home

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Theoretical end practical classes (presentations and discussions) 50 2 25, 18, 16
Type: Supervised      
drafting of texts; evaluation activities 25 1 25, 24, 16
Type: Autonomous      
Reading 50 2 24, 16

Assessment

The use of electronic devices (mobile phones, laptops and others) in class is not allowed! Notes are made on paper. It is obligatory to bring the texts (just read) to class every day when their reading is the subject of the class according to the updated schedule.


Active participation in class is required. If physical presence is not possible, the student has the responsibility to independently procure the material that the teacher has presented in class and has the obligation to demonstrate with written assignments and under the supervision and control of the teacher that he/she has worked the matter in question autonomously. Absence in class of more than 20% of the classes (or of more than 20% of the written works on the classes with absence) must be compensated with an extra work on a subject of history or literature German of an extension of about 5 pages. With an absence of more than 40% of the classes (or the respective assignments) the conditions for an evaluation of the student are no longer given and the mark will be "non-evaluable".

Each part of the evaluation must be passed with a minimum grade of 5 (out of 10). As this minimum requirement is not met, the test must be repeated in the recovery weeks. The tests are done on the date indicated or in the weeks of recovery.


On carrying out each assessment activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.


Presentations must be done on the day foreseen in the updated programme (i ti sconstantly updated!), presentations cannot be presented outside the historical or cultural context. If the presentation is not presented on the scheduled day, this part of the evaluation must be retrieved by means of a 15-page text on the same subject in the weeks of retrieval.


All parts of the evaluation must be done, delivered and approved.

 

To be entitled to recovery, it is necessary to have an average grade of 3.5 and, in addition, it is necessary to have passed with a minimum grade of 5 (out of 10) 60% of the evaluation activities. If the percentage of the suspended parts exceeds 40%, the subject is suspended. In the recovery, also, each of the assessment parts must be passed with a minimum grade of 5 (out of 10), otherwise the subject is suspended.


The class languages are Spanish and Catalan.
The languages of the exhibitions are Spanish, Catalan and English.
The languages of the written works can be: German, Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Answer the questions about teacher's classes and student's expositions and write a one-page-final reflection about: What did I learn in this seminar? 30% 9 0.36 2, 1, 5, 6, 9, 8, 10, 17, 16, 15, 13, 14, 20, 19, 21, 23, 22, 7
Answering some 37 questions about the book "Sonnenfinsternis", El cero y el infinito, Darkness at Noon 20% 4 0.16 1, 6, 4, 3, 25, 24, 12, 17, 11, 18, 15, 27, 26, 7
Make a presentation on a topic in class of a duration of about 20 minutes together with 5 questions about the comprehension of that exposition 30 % 7 0.28 2, 1, 5, 6, 4, 25, 24, 9, 8, 10, 11, 16, 15, 13, 14, 20, 19, 21, 23, 22, 7
Write a 500-word film review 20 % 5 0.2 2, 5, 6, 3, 18, 15, 23, 22, 26, 7

Bibliography

Compulsory Readings:

 

 

Th. Mann:                 Tod in Venedig (1911), Muerte en Venecia, Mort a Venècia, Death in Venice.

E.M. Remarque:         Im Westen nichts Neues (1929), Sin novedad en el frente, Res de nou a l’oest, All quiet on the western front.

Arthur Koestler:         Sonnenfinsternis (1940), El cero y el infinito, Darkness at noon.

J. Becker:                  Jakob der Lügner (1969) Jacob el embustero, Jacob el mentider, Jacob the liar.

Hannah Arendt:         Culpa organizada (en fotocopies).

B. Schlink:                Der Vorleser (1995) El lector, The reader.

 

Secondary Literature:

Antonini, Fausto: Proceso a James Bond: análisis de un mito, ed. Fontanella, BCN 1965.

Astre, Georges-Albert / Hoarau, Albert-Patrick: El universo del western, Madrid, Fundamentos, 1976.

Baron, Lawrence: Projecting the Holocaust into the Present. The changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2005, 307p.

Becker, Jurek, Jakob el embustero, Madrid : Alfaguara, D.L. 1979.

Becker, Jurek, Jakob el mentider, Barcelona : Edicions de 1984, 2000.

Becker, Jurek, Jakob el mentiroso, Barcelona : Destino, 2000.

Bou, N.: El tiempo del héroe: épica y masculinidad en el cine de Hollywood, Paidós Barcelona 2000.

Burrow, John W.: La crisis de la razón. El pensamiento europeo 1848-1914, Crítica 2000.

Burrow, John W.: La crisis de la razón. El pensamiento europeo 1848-1914, Crítica 2000.

Caparrós Lera, José Ma.: Guía del espectador de cine, Alianza editorial,Madrid 2007.

Casetti, Francesco / di Chio, Federico: Cómo analizar un film, BCN, Paidós 1991.

Catrin Corell: Der Holocaust als Herausforderung für den Film. Formen des filmischen Umgangs mit der Shoah seit 1945. Eine Wirkungstypologie, transscript Verlag 2009.

Christobal Sanchez, Rafael: Montaje cinematográfico: arte en movimiento, Buenos Aires: La crujía, 2003.

Clemente Fernandez, Ma Dolores: El héroe del western. América vista por si misma, Madrid Ed Complutense, 2009.

Crawford, Karin L.: Exorcising the Devil from Thomas Mann’s “Doktor Faustus”, The German Quarterly 76, 2, 168-182.

Div. Autores: 20 anys de Nou Cinema Alemany, BCN: Filmoteca de la Generalitat de Cat. / Goethe Institut BCN, 1986.

Doneson, Judith E.: The Holocaust in American Film, NY 2002.

Dornheim, Nicolas J.: El motivo de la confraternización en la literatura alemana de guerra desde Remarque hasta Böll, in: Revista de literatura moderna 21, 1988, 131-150.

Friedländer, Saul: El Tercer reich y los judíos, 2 tomos, BCN, Gutenberg, 2009.

Frodon, Jean-Michel: Cinema and the Shoah: an Art Confronts the Tragedy of the XX Century, Paris, cahiers du cinema, 2007.

Fussel, Paul: The Great War and Modern Memory, new York: Oxford University Press, 1975.

Gallego, Ferran: De Münich a Auschwitz, BCN debolsillo, 2006.

Gallego, Ferrán: De Munich a Auschwitz. Una historia del nazismo 1919 – 1945, Barcelona : Debolsillo, 2006.

Heller Linés, LM: Thomas Mann, Síntesis, Madrid 2006.

Heller Linés, Luis Ma: Thomas Mann. Ed. Síntesis, Madrid 2006.

Hermann, A.: La idea de decadencia en la historia occidental, Barcelona 1997.

Hilario, J.R.: El cine bélico, la guerra y sus personajes, Paidós Barcelona 2006.

Hilario, J.R.: El cine bélico, la guerra y sus personajes, Paidós BCN 2006.

Hüppauf, Bernd: Modern Warfare and its Representation in Photography and Film, in: Krieg und Literatur IV, 1992, 8, S.63 – 84.

Insdorf, Annete: nazis an the movies, in: Revista “Newsweek”, diciembre 2008.

Jensen, J.C.: Caspar David Friedrich. Vida y obra, Blume BCN, 1980.

Jünger, Ernst: Tempestades de acero, Barcelona, Tusquets, 2005).

Jünger, Ernst: Tempestades de Acero, BCN Tusquets.

Karst, Roman: Thomas Mann. Historia de una disonancia, BCN Barral ed. 1974.

Körte, Peter: Mit den Clowns kommen die Tränen. Von Benigni zu Roland Suso Richter und Robin Williams: Wie nostalgisch ist der Holocaust? In: Frankfurter Rundschau, 9.10.1999.

Kracauer, Siegfried: De Caligari a Hitler. Historia psicológica del cine alemán, Barcelona Paidós 1985.

Lindner, Christoph: The James Bond Phenomenon: A criticalreader, Manchester University Press, 2003.

Littlejohns, Reinhard: „Der Krieg hat uns für alles verdorben“: The real theme of Im Westen nichts Neues, in: Modern Languages 70, 1989, 2, 89ff.

Mann, Th.: La muerte en Venecia, trad. de Juan del Solar, prólogo de Nícanir Ancochea,  pocket edhasa, Barcelona 1971, 12a ed. 2003.

Mann, Th.: Richard Wagner y la música, BCN: Plaza & Janés, 1986.

Mann, Th.: Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, BCN: Plaza & Janés, 1986.

Martín, Marcel: El lenguaje del cine, Ed. Gedisa,  BCN 2008.

Martin, Marcel: El lenguaje del cine, Madrid: Gedisa 1990.

Mena, J.L.: Las cien mejores películas del cine bélico, ed. Cacitel Madrid.

Newman, E.: The life of Richard Wagner, Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Nietzsche, F.: Escritos sobre Wagner, Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2003.

Nietzsche, F.: Nietzsche contra Wagner, Madrid: Ed. Siruela, 2002.

Nietzsche, F.: Obras Completas, Buenos Aires: Ed. Prestigio, 1970.

Otto, W.F.: Dionisio: Mito y culto, Madrid: Ed. Siruela 1997.

Reisz, Karel: Técnica del montaje cinematográfico. Madrid: Taurus, 1966.

Remarque, Erich Maria: Sin novedad en el frente, Madrid Planeta1984.

Richard, Lionel: Del expresionismo al nazismo: arte y cultura des Guillermo II hasta la República de Weimar, BCN: Gustavo Gili, 1979.ColecciónPunto y línea.

Rieuneau, Maurice: Guerre et révolution dans le roman français, 1919-1939, Klincksieck 1974.

Roch, E.: Películas clave del cine bélico, Robinbook BCN 2008.

Rodriguez, H.: El cine bélico, la guerra y sus personajes, Paidós BCN 2006.

Rossés, Monserrat: Nuevo Cine Alemán, Madrid: Ed. JC, 1991.

Sanchez Noriega, Jose Luis: ¿Cómo comentar una película? En: Historia del cine, teoría y géneros cinematográficos, fotografía y televisión, Alianza, Madrid 2002.

Sánchez Pascual, Andrés (ed.): Thomas Mann, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, Bruguera, 1984, UAB.

Sánchez, F.: La Segunda Guerra Mundial y el cine (1979-2004), Madrid 2005.

Shamai, Michael; Levin-Megged Orna: The Myth of creating an integrative story: the therapeutic experience of Holocaust Survivors, in: Qualitative Health Research, 2006, 692-712.

Shay, Jonathan: Achilles in Vietrnam. Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, Simon & Schuster (October 1, 1995)

Stites, Richard: The Pawnbroker: Holocaust, memory and film, in: Revista “Masters at the movies, enero 2008.

Stulman, Tova: The holocaust in the movies, in: Revista “The Jewish Press”, enero 2008.

Trias, E.: Conocer Thomas Mann y su obra, Dopesa, BCN 1978.

Ullrich, Bernd: Krieg im Frieden. Die umkämpfte Erinnerung an den Ersten Weltkrieg, Frankfurt/M, Fischer, 1997.

Westwell, Guy: WarCinema: Hollywood on the Front Line, London: Wallflower, 2006. 

German Cinema:

 

All Quiet on the Western Front:

 

Jakob the Liar:

Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust

Software

Without