Module description
This interdisciplinary module examines the depiction of London in German film and literature from the mid-nineteenth to the twenty-first century. It introduces key theoretical perspectives from the field of urban studies, and uses these to shed light on the changing representations and meanings of London in the German cultural imagination.
The central focus of the module is the relationship between the human subject and the urban environment. What strategies are employed by writers and filmmakers to construct and map the spatial organisation of the city? How do they engage with the experiences of fragmentation, isolation, exile and homelessness evoked by the modern city? And to what extent do they envisage the urban landscape as a more productive space of global transaction and intercultural exchange? By focusing specifically on London, the module aims to uncover the ways in which this city functions as an ‘other’ space, enabling writers and filmmakers to reflect both on British culture and, indirectly, on German social and political concerns.
The module covers a broad range of films and literary genres, from travel writing and political journalism to exile poetry, the short story and the detective film. Classes are designed to be highly interactive, enabling students to respond in a creative manner to the primary materials through detailed close-reading and discussion of relevant contextual issues.
This module is taught and assessed in English. English-language translations are available and no prior knowledge of German is required.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/german/modules/level5/5aagb226.aspx
Assessment details
Coursework;presentation/s
One 10-minute narrated Powerpoint presentation (30%) and one 2500-word essay (70%)
Teaching pattern
2 hours per week