Skip to main content Skip to navigation

GE108-30 The Changing Face of Germany in Film and Text

Department
School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Level
Undergraduate Level 1
Module leader
Dan Hall
Credit value
30
Module duration
30 weeks
Assessment
50% coursework, 50% exam
Study location
University of Warwick main campus, Coventry
Introductory description

N/A

Module web page

Module aims

The module has three central aims. First it provides an introduction to the history of post-war Germany (principally the Federal Republic), but also the German Democratic Republic. Second, it considers the development of the mass media in Germany and in particular the role played within the media by writers, film makers and intellectuals. Third, the course aims to foster the analytical skills required to examine diverse types of literary and filmic text.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Texts you should study include:
Heinrich Böll, Das Brot der frühen Jahre; Peter Weiss, Die Ermittlung; Bernhard Schlink, Der Vorleser, Elfriede Jelinek, Die Liebhaberinnen .
Films you should study include:
Die Ehe der Maria Braun (Fassbinder); Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (Schlöndorff & von Trotta); Das schreckliche Mädchen (Verhoeven), Kurz und Schmerzlos (Akin).
Topics for study and texts/films may be subject to revision.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • Developing awareness of the history and culture of post-Second World War Germany, building on students' critical and analytical skills, and furthering their ability to express themselves accurately and concisely.
Indicative reading list

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1978)
Heinrich Böll, Das Brot der frühen Jahre (1955)
Peter Weiss, Die Ermittlung (1965)
Bernhard Wicki, Die Brücke (1959)
Michael Verhoeven, Das schreckliche Mädchen (1987)
Bernhard Schlink, Der Vorleser (1995)
Heinrich Böll, Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (1974)
Volker Schlöndorff/Margarethe von Trotta, Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (1975)
Elfriede Jelinek, Die Liebhaberinnen (1975) Fatih Akın, Kurz und schmerzlos (1998) Renan Demirkan, Schwarzer Tee mit drei Stück Zucker (1990) Ulrich Plenzdorf, Die neuen Leiden des jungen W. (1973) Konrad Wolf, SOLO SUNNY (1980)

View reading list on Talis Aspire

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of German culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of the changing depiction of Germany in film and text will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.

Study time

Type Required
Lectures 21 sessions of 2 hours (14%)
Tutorials 21 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Practical classes (0%)
Other activity 12 hours (4%)
Private study 225 hours (75%)
Total 300 hours
Private study description

Includes one Reading Week in autumn and spring term.

Other activity description

Film screenings/viewing times

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.

Assessment group C2
Weighting Study time
Written Assignment 50%
Online Examination 50%

~Platforms - AEP


  • Online examination: No Answerbook required
Feedback on assessment

Feedback will be provided in the course of the module in a number of ways. Feedback should be understood to be both formal and informal and is not restricted to feedback on formal written work.
Oral feedback will be provided by the module tutor in the course of seminar discussion. This may include feedback on points raised in small group work or in the course of individual presentations or larger group discussion.
Written feedback will be provided on formal assessment using the standard SMLC Assessed Work feedback form appropriate to the assessment. Feedback is intended to enable continuous improvement throughout the module and written feedback is generally the final stage of this feedback process. Feedback will always demonstrate areas of success and areas for future development, which can be applied to future assessment. Feedback will be both discipline-specific and focussed on key transferrable skills, enabling students to apply this feedback to their future professional lives. Feedback will be fair and reasonable and will be linked to the SMLC marking scheme appropriate to the module.

Past exam papers for GE108

Courses

This module is Core for:

  • Year 1 of UGEA-R200 Undergraduate German Studies
  • Year 1 of ULNA-R2Q2 Undergraduate German Studies with Linguistics
  • Year 1 of UGEA-RN21 Undergraduate German and Business Studies
  • Year 1 of ULNA-R2A0 Undergraduate German with Chinese
  • Year 1 of ULNA-R2R4 Undergraduate German with Spanish

This module is Core optional for:

  • Year 1 of ULNA-QR37 Undergraduate English and German
  • Year 1 of ULNA-RR14 Undergraduate French and German
  • Year 1 of UGEA-R2V1 Undergraduate German and History
  • Year 1 of UGEA-RW24 Undergraduate German and Theatre Studies

This module is Optional for:

  • Year 1 of UFRA-R900 Undergraduate Modern Languages

This module is Core option list A for:

  • Year 1 of ULNA-R2Q3 Undergraduate German and Linguistics

This module is Core option list B for:

  • Year 1 of ULNA-R2L4 Undergraduate German and Economics (4-year)
  • Year 1 of ULNA-R9Q2 Undergraduate Modern Languages with Linguistics
  • Year 1 of UPOA-M164 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and German

This module is Core option list C for:

  • Year 1 of ULNA-R9Q1 Undergraduate Modern Languages and Linguistics

This module is Option list B for:

  • Year 1 of UGEA-RP33 Undergraduate German with Film Studies