| CODE | GRM1065 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Introduction to German Literature and Film | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | German | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit explores the interplay between German-language literature and its film adaptations, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Open both to students of German and of all faculties as well as the general public, it is designed to introduce important German-language texts and their cinematic interpretations. Through close reading and analysis of selected excerpts, the study-unit will examine how German literary works have been adapted for the screen, exploring questions of fidelity, interpretation, and creative transformation. In parallel, the study-unit will provide foundational tools for analyzing literary texts and films as two different types of media, for example narrative structure, visual composition, and thematic development. Moreover, the study of text and film adaptations will serve as a lens to discuss important phases in German history, for instance the Golden Twenties, the aftermath of World War II, GDR history and contemporary topics such as globalization, migration and digitalization. By bridging literature and cinema, this study-unit fosters a deeper understanding of how cultural, historical and artistic narratives intersect and evolve across media, offering insights into developments of German-language culture over time. No knowledge of German is required. Study-Unit Aims: - Familiarize students with significant German literary works and their film adaptations of the 20th and 21st centuries; - Provide tools to critically examine the relationship between literature and film; - Explore German history and cultural developments of the 20th and 21st century; - Connect literary and cinematic studies to demonstrate the development of German-language fiction and its artistic and cultural significance. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Name German-language literary works of the 20th and 21st centuries; - Identify the cultural and historical contexts reflected in literary works and their adaptations; - Discuss the theoretical and practical challenges of adapting literature to film. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Analyze both literary texts and films; - Compare narrative structures and visual compositions in literature and their screenplay adaptations; - Use analytical tools to critically engage with texts and their media transpositions; - Engage in discussions about the interplay between literature and film and their broader socio-cultural implications; - Use relevant academic sources to deepen the analysis of adaptations; - Demonstrate an understanding of German history and culture as reflected in literature and cinema. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Schönfeld, Christiane: The history of German Literature on Film. Bloomsbury 2023. - Hayward, Susan: Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge 2023. - Schönfeld, Christiane/Rasche, Hermann: Processes of transposition: German literature and film. Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi 2007. - Donahue, William Collins: Bernhard Schlink’s ‘Nazi’ novels and their films. New York: Palgrave MacMillan 2010. - Wolf, Franziska: Precarity in Burhan Qurbani’s ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz’ (2020). The German quarterly 2024, Vol. 97 (1), p. 59-74. - Griggs, Yvonne: The Bloomsbury Introduction to Adaptation Studies: Adapting the Canon in Film, TV and Popular Culture. Bloomsbury 2016. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Katrin Dautel |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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