Module description
This module examines theoretical and cultural engagements with camp spaces from within and beyond the modern German context. It sets out to conceptualize the structural basis of socio-political mechanisms of exclusion and to consider the political, aesthetic and ethical dimensions of cultural responses and their modes of engagement and resistance. The theoretical framework for the module will build on work from the German context by Carl Schmitt on states of exception (‘On Dictatorship’, 1921), as well as Hannah Arendt on the political, and include such further thinkers as Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben. Agamben’s famous conception of the concentration camp as ‘the hidden paradigm of the political space of modernity’ (Homo Sacer, 1998) claims a link between parliamentary democracies and totalitarian dictatorships according to which the camp is not a historical fact or logical anomaly but underlies the political domain. This claim and its implications will be explored through a range of cultural engagements with camp spaces, and students will be introduced to relevant concepts and key works from the field of Memory Studies. Cultural engagements with camp spaces will be chosen from the domains of literature, film, graphic novel, museum and memorial, which consider concentration camps from the National Socialist period, as well as colonial camps in Namibia of the early twentieth century, and more contemporary refugee and transit camps from within and beyond the German context. Students will be supported to select appropriate methodological approaches through which interpret the case studies and to discuss a range of cultural engagements in comparative critical terms.
Assessment details
4000 word essay (100%)
Educational aims & objectives
The module will provide in-depth grounding in theoretical engagements with states of exception and cultural engagements with camp spaces from within and beyond the modern German context. In particular, it will:
- enable deep and systematic understanding of relevant works of critical theory.
- equip graduate students with the analytical tools required to examine a variety of texts.
- promote detailed analytical assessment of a range of cultural case studies, texts, films and other media.
- develop critical responses to existing theoretical discourses and cultural engagements with camp spaces and experiences.
- equip graduate students with advanced communication skills through regular small-group discussion and seminar presentations.
- provide opportunities to reflect on how the knowledge gained on the module informs students’ responses to contemporary political debates and discourse.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, student will acquire skills, knowledge and understanding appropriate to credit level 7, and in particular will be able to:
- demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of theoretical work on camp spaces, states of exception and their legacies from within and beyond the German context.
- situate and critically analyse cultural engagements with the concentration camps of the Third Reich, their colonial precursors in Namibia, as well as present-day refugee and transit camps.
- critically discuss and examine ethical issues that arise from cultural and academic treatments of camp spaces and experiences.
- assess cultural engagements comparatively, taking into consideration the historical, political, and social contexts in which they were produced and to which they respond.
- apply theoretical understanding and knowledge of historical camp spaces to relevant exhibitions and curatorial practices in London and the UK.
- demonstrate the ability to conduct independent, original research and organised inquiry, using academic resources, in order to produce sustained pieces of work for assessment.
- select appropriate advanced methodological approaches to approach cultural case studies and critically evaluate their effectiveness.
Teaching pattern
One 2-hour seminar, weekly plus occasional screenings and museum visits
Suggested reading list
N. B. The below is an indicative reading list only. The course outline and readings remain subject to change and to be confirmed via KEATS at the start of term.
Core Reading and Viewing MAY include materials such as:
- Giorgio Agamben, Homo sacer (1998). Extracts.
- Carl Schmitt, Die Diktatur / Dictatorship (1921). Extracts.
- Dori Laub and Shoshana Felman, Testimony: Crises of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis and History (1992). Extracts.
- Giorgio Agamben, Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and the Archive (2000). Extracts.
- The Holocaust Exhibition, Imperial War Museum
- Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). Extracts.
- Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz
- Ruth Klüger, Still Alive (2001)
- Maria Rolnikaite, I Must Tell (Reconstructed Diary 1941-1945) (2018)
- The Last Witnesses, dir. by Doron Rabinovici (2013)
- Herta Müller, Hunger Angel, trans. by Philip Boehm (2013)
- Deutsch Südwas? (Filmgruppe E, 2013) 37’08“
- William Kentridge, Black Box/Chambre Noire (2005) 22’
- Vincent Moloi, Skulls – of my People (2016) 67’
- International Women Space (ed.), In Our Own Words/In unseren eigenen Worten (n. dat.)
- Documentation of the Exhibition ‘Friedland Perspectives of Migration: The Transit Camp from 1945 to Today’ (2018).
- Caroline Bergvall, Drift (2014)
- Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, breach (2016)
- David Herd and Anna Pincus (eds), Refugee Tales (2016)
Screenings and extracts will be provided, however, students may need to purchase their own copies of some of the set material. Please refer to KEATS for confirmation of set texts prior to purchasing.