Module Identifier GE25020  
Module Title THE CULTURE OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC  
Academic Year 2003/2004  
Co-ordinator Dr Gregory M Moore  
Semester Semester 2  
Course delivery Lecture   8 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   14 Hours  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours  60%
Semester Assessment Continuous Assessment 2 essays of 1500 words40%
Supplementary Exam2 Hours 1x2 hour if continuous assessment is passed, 1x3 hour paper if continuous assessment was failed.100%

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able:
1. to demonstrate knowledge of the major debates in German society and culture during the Weimar Republic, and show understanding of their underlying causes.
2. to analyse carefully and evaluate texts, films and other documents of the period within the framework of their historical context.
3. to be able to carry out independent research
4. to express themselves clearly, coherently and in a logical fashion, both orally and in writing.

Brief description

This module will introduce level 2 students to representative texts and ideas from a key period in German history, and thus deepen their understanding of modern German culture, ideas and literature. They will explore: the radicalisation of politics and the deep divisions between Left and Right in the Weimar Republic, and their impact on culture; the relationship between literature and film; socialist and workers' culture; the fascist response to the First World War; the theme of madness as a metaphor for the profound social alienation felt by many in the Weimar Republic.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Bance A.F. (ed.) (1982) Weimar Germany: Writers and Politics Edinburgh:Scottish Academic Press
Bonsen, David (1999) Life of Joseph Roth London: Chatto and Windus
Eisner, Lotte H. (1986) Fritz Lang New York: Da Capo
Bullivant, Keith (ed.) (1977) Culture and Society in the Weimar Republic Manchester: MUP
Guttsmann, W.L. (1990) Worker's Culture in Weimar Germany: Between the Tradition and the Government New York
Kuhn, Thomas and Giles Steve (eds) (2003) Brecht on Art and Politics London:Methuen
Midgley, David (2000) Writing Weimar: Critical Realism in German Literature Oxford;OUP
Minden Michael & Bachmann Holger (eds) (1990) Film and the German Left in the Weimar Republic:From Caligari to Kuhle Wampe Austin, TX: University of Texas Press
Schrader, Barbel (1988) The Golden Twenties: Art and Literature in the Weimar republic New Haven, CT:Yale University Press
Willett, John (1978) The New Sobriety, 1917-1933: Art and Politics in the Weimar Period London: Thames and Hudson
Nevin, Thomas R. (1997) Ernst Junger and Germany: Into the Abyss, 1914-1945 London: Constable
Minden Michael & Bachmann Holger (eds) (2000) Fritz Lang's Metropolis: Cinematic Visions of Technology and Fear Rochester, NY: Camden House
Laquer, Walter (1976) Weimar: A Cultural History, 1918-1933 London
Herf, Jeffrey (1984) Reactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich Cambridge:CUP
** Should Be Purchased
Roth, Joseph (2003) Hotel Savoy Munich: DTV
Frankfurt am Main:Suhrkamp (1975) Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny Munich: DTV
Hesse, Herman (1999) Der Steppenwolf Suhrkamp:Frankfurt am Main

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5