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Shattered Worlds: Representation after the Shoa (331-0-1)

Instructors

Anna Maree Parkinson
847/467-5173
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Rm 3321, Evanston
Office Hours: By appointment

Meeting Info

University Library 4670: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Shattered Worlds--Representation after the Shoah

"Shattered Worlds" offers a literary, historical, and filmic introduction to the topic of art and literature after—or, respectively, about—Auschwitz. Readings address questions such as: What is the role of art in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century in view of this so-called breach of civilization? How can we define the relationship between art and politics? How can—or perhaps why should—poetry continue to be written after Auschwitz? Is there such a thing as an "aesthetics of memory" and which forms might this take? Important contributions by a variety of influential authors and artists including T.W. Adorno, Peter Weiss, Ruth Klüger, Alain Resnais, and Billy Wilder will be discussed in their cultural context. We will also consider the relationship of representation and history in relation to art and memory.

THIS COURSE IS IN GERMAN

Registration Requirements

Advanced reading skills and intermediate to advanced speaking and writing skills in German.

Learning Objectives

• Consolidate and develop intermediate-to-advanced German communication skills (writing, reading, speaking, listening).
• Analyze the socio-historical background and select literature and films about the Holocaust and its aftermath in the German context.
• Evaluate canonical and contemporary political and aesthetic debates concerning the Holocaust in the German and broader European context.
• Articulate different approaches to primary and secondary literary texts and films.
• Engage with theoretical discourses on aesthetics and history in the German context.

Teaching Method

Seminar

Evaluation Method

Attendance
Class participation
Group work
Homework
Paper, final
Papers
Peer assessment
Presentations
Project, final
Readings
Research project
Writing assignments

Class Materials (Required)

Ruth Klüger, weiter leben. Eine Jugend. (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1994) ISBN 3423119500

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area