German Culture I
A.Y. 2019/2020
Learning objectives
The course analyses several documents (texts, videos, pictures, movies, etc.), in order to highlight some of the most significant features of the contemporary German culture. It pays specific attention to the historical changes and the transformation of the German society during the last decades.
Expected learning outcomes
Students will acquire basics and specific terms about German culture; they will also develop a discriminating attitude towards documents in German, maturing autonomous skills of comprehension, analysis, interpretation and contextualisation of significant cultural phenomena.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Unit 1
The German-speaking countries from 1945 to nowadays
The unit examines - also using examples from literature, cinema and visual arts - the history of Germany (with particular attention to the division between the Federal Republic and the Democratic Republic), Austria and Switzerland after the end of the Second World War, focusing on political and social events that have helped shape the culture of these countries.
Unit 2
The German-speaking countries today
The teaching unit analyzes the contemporary reality of Germany, Austria and Switzerland with particular attention to the territory, the state, political, economic and social system, education, cultural life and customs and traditions of the three countries.
Unit 3
The cinema and the Wall
Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall the course intends to propose an overview of German cinema from 1945 to today, analyzing the consequences of the division (and subsequent reunification) of Germany over the film industry as well as the filmic trends developed in the West, in the East and in the new Berliner Republik with a particular thematic focus on the Berlin Wall.
The programme is valid until September 2020.
The German-speaking countries from 1945 to nowadays
The unit examines - also using examples from literature, cinema and visual arts - the history of Germany (with particular attention to the division between the Federal Republic and the Democratic Republic), Austria and Switzerland after the end of the Second World War, focusing on political and social events that have helped shape the culture of these countries.
Unit 2
The German-speaking countries today
The teaching unit analyzes the contemporary reality of Germany, Austria and Switzerland with particular attention to the territory, the state, political, economic and social system, education, cultural life and customs and traditions of the three countries.
Unit 3
The cinema and the Wall
Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall the course intends to propose an overview of German cinema from 1945 to today, analyzing the consequences of the division (and subsequent reunification) of Germany over the film industry as well as the filmic trends developed in the West, in the East and in the new Berliner Republik with a particular thematic focus on the Berlin Wall.
The programme is valid until September 2020.
Prerequisites for admission
General knowledge of the European history of the 20th and 21st century.
Teaching methods
Lecture.
Teaching Resources
Unit 1
- J.K.A. Thomaneck, B. Niven, La Germania dalla divisione all'unificazione. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2005.
[or] J.K.A. Thomaneck, B. Niven, Dividing and Uniting Germany. London-New York: Routledge, 2001.
- Materials available on the Ariel website - Cultura tedesca I MED.
For non-attending students, the following additional bibliography is provided:
- B. Maj, Heimat. La cultura tedesca contemporanea (2001). Roma: Carocci, 2015.
Unit 2
- Tatsachen über Deutschland. Frankfurt am Main: FAZIT Communication GmbH in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Auswärtigen Amt, Berlin, 2018. (freely downloadable from the following address: https://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/de/pdf-downloads-e-paper)
- Materials available on the Ariel website - Cultura tedesca I MED.
For non-attending students, the following additional bibliography is provided:
- M. Loda, Germany. New geographies. Rome: Carocci, 2006.
Unit 3
- M. Ponzi, Il cinema del muro. Milano-Udine: Mimesis, 2010.
- Materials available on the Ariel website - Cultura tedesca I MED.
- Parts of the following films will be projected and analyzed during the course. Students are required to watch the full version in preparation for the exam (all films will be available in the library - Polo di Mediazione interculturale e mediazione):
- Der geteilte Himmel (DDR - K. Wolf, 1964)
- Der Himmel über Berlin (BRD / FR - W. Wenders, 1987)
- Die Architekten (DDR - P. Kahane, 1989/90)
- Sonnenallee (L. Haußman, 1999)
- Barbara (C. Petzold, 2012)
For this unit there is no additional material for non-attending students.
- J.K.A. Thomaneck, B. Niven, La Germania dalla divisione all'unificazione. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2005.
[or] J.K.A. Thomaneck, B. Niven, Dividing and Uniting Germany. London-New York: Routledge, 2001.
- Materials available on the Ariel website - Cultura tedesca I MED.
For non-attending students, the following additional bibliography is provided:
- B. Maj, Heimat. La cultura tedesca contemporanea (2001). Roma: Carocci, 2015.
Unit 2
- Tatsachen über Deutschland. Frankfurt am Main: FAZIT Communication GmbH in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Auswärtigen Amt, Berlin, 2018. (freely downloadable from the following address: https://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/de/pdf-downloads-e-paper)
- Materials available on the Ariel website - Cultura tedesca I MED.
For non-attending students, the following additional bibliography is provided:
- M. Loda, Germany. New geographies. Rome: Carocci, 2006.
Unit 3
- M. Ponzi, Il cinema del muro. Milano-Udine: Mimesis, 2010.
- Materials available on the Ariel website - Cultura tedesca I MED.
- Parts of the following films will be projected and analyzed during the course. Students are required to watch the full version in preparation for the exam (all films will be available in the library - Polo di Mediazione interculturale e mediazione):
- Der geteilte Himmel (DDR - K. Wolf, 1964)
- Der Himmel über Berlin (BRD / FR - W. Wenders, 1987)
- Die Architekten (DDR - P. Kahane, 1989/90)
- Sonnenallee (L. Haußman, 1999)
- Barbara (C. Petzold, 2012)
For this unit there is no additional material for non-attending students.
Assessment methods and Criteria
STUDENTI FREQUENTANTI
The exam will be divided into two parts: 1) intermediate written test (multiple choice and open questions) related to the units 1 and 2 and 2) oral test (open questions aimed at testing the acquired knowledge and understanding and argumentation skills) relating in particular to the teaching unit 3.
The final grade is expressed in 30/30.
STUDENTI NON FREQUENTANTI
Students will be required to take an oral exam (open questions aimed at sounding out the acquired knowledge and understanding and argumentation skills) related to all 3 didactic units.
The final grade is expressed in 30/30.
The exam will be divided into two parts: 1) intermediate written test (multiple choice and open questions) related to the units 1 and 2 and 2) oral test (open questions aimed at testing the acquired knowledge and understanding and argumentation skills) relating in particular to the teaching unit 3.
The final grade is expressed in 30/30.
STUDENTI NON FREQUENTANTI
Students will be required to take an oral exam (open questions aimed at sounding out the acquired knowledge and understanding and argumentation skills) related to all 3 didactic units.
The final grade is expressed in 30/30.
Teaching Unit 1
L-LIN/13 - GERMAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Teaching Unit 2
L-LIN/13 - GERMAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Teaching Unit 3
L-LIN/13 - GERMAN LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours