GERMAN LITERATURE AND FILM

The course is aimed at second-year students on the LLEAP Master’s degree programme specialising in German Studies; it forms part of the related or supplementary modules. It provides advanced knowledge in the field of German literature in the original language and the adaptation of canonical texts for the screen from the 18th century to the present day.

1) A deeper understanding of the German language and prose from the 18th century to contemporary literature; 2) the ability to identify the underlying reasons for the choices made in film adaptations of literary works in relation to the canon; 3) the ability to analyse and recognise the structural and thematic characteristics of the texts examined in relation to their film adaptations; 4) the ability to put forward informed interpretations and communicate them clearly in seminar settings.

Bachelor's degree and number of credits in German Language and Literature according to the access rules laid down in the regulations of the Master's Degree Course in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literature.

The course focuses on film adaptations of works from the German-language literary canon during the most significant periods in the history of cinema in Weimar Germany, the GDR and the FRG. We will examine in particular the (political and/or cultural) function of the encounter between literature and film, beginning with the ‘Kinobuch’ edited in 1914 by Kurt Pinthus, who invited writers to suggest subjects to elevate an art form viewed with suspicion by the educated bourgeoisie, through to the film policy of East Germany and the collaborations between writers and the New German Cinema of the 1970s, right up to the present day. The directors covered in the course will be F.W. Murnau (Faust), Wolfgang Staudte (Der Untertan), Eugen York (Das Fräulein von Scuderi) Werner Herzog (Woyzeck), R.W. Fassbinder (Effi Briest), Volker Schlöndorff und Margarethe von Trotta (Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum), Volker Schlöndorff (Die Blechtrommel, Heimsuchung) Wim Wenders (Falsche Bewegung) and Christian Petzold (Undine).

E.T.A. Hoffmann, Das Fräulein von Scuderi (Reclam).
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Undine (Reclam).
Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest (Reclam).
Georg Büchner, Woyzeck (Reclam).
Goethe, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Reclam).
Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werther (Reclam).
Heinrich Mann, Der Untertan (Fischer Verlag).
Christa Wolf, Der geteilte Himmel (Suhrkamp Verlag).
Heinrich Böll, Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (dtv).
Günter Grass, Die Blechtrommel (dtv).

The examination consists of an oral interview divided into three parts. The first part, conducted in German, focuses on the course content covered in lectures; the second part, also in German, requires students to discuss in depth three works (and their corresponding films) which they will choose from those they have not previously encountered during their studies. The third and final part consists of a translation test on one of the three chosen texts.

oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Each of the three parts of the exam is worth a maximum of 10 marks. To pass the exam, students must achieve at least 6 marks in all three parts of the interview.

Lectures and seminar discussions.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development