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Module

GER2036 : Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland bis 1990: writers, media, society

  • Offered for Year: 2020/21
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Teresa Ludden
  • Owning School: Modern Languages
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Semester 2 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0

Aims

In consonance with the overall aims of the degrees offered in the SML to introduce the most important features of the history, politics and society of the Federal Republic from its foundation to its unification with the GDR; to assess the role played by public intellectuals, writers and filmmakers in understanding history; to encourage students to read German in an academic register, and to encounter and practise spoken German in an academic context.

Outline Of Syllabus

We begin by examining the division of Germany, the outbreak of the Cold War and the origins of the Federal Republic. The history of the Federal Republic is then traced to 1990, with particular emphasis on Adenauer’s policy of western integration in the 1950s, the student movement in the 1960s, Brandt’s Ostpolitik in the 1970s and the unification of Germany in 1990. Against the backdrop of the historical developments we study and assess the influence and contribution made by writers, intellectuals and filmmakers looking at questions such as how the BRD dealt with and negotiated the National Socialist past, and the role of the public intellectual in shaping the new democracy. Alongside historical material we will study two novels which engage with social and political problems and two films which pose questions about the legacy of the past, trauma and memory.

Teaching Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Assessment Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Reading Lists

Timetable