Students who have successfully passed their Basismodul Einführung in das Studium der angloameri-kanischen Kulturwissenschaft (ANG.02620.02) are welcome to this class that focuses on the image of Germans and Germany in America.
Leistungsnachweis
Requirements
Students will have to attend class regularly not missing more than two sessions. All students are expected to participate actively in class and do a short presentation or present a book review on a topic/book to be arranged with the lecturer (Studienleistung). Presentations must be accompanied by a Thesenpapier of no more than 1-2 pages. This must be distributed to all students in class on the day of the presentation. Students are expected to present their Thesenpapier to their lecturer a week before their presentation is due. Reading assignments will be given on a weekly basis. To complete the course successfully students will have to either write a Hausarbeit/an essay (in English – 12 pages – due on 30 Sept. 2016) or pass an oral exam (30 mins.) that will probably take place at the end of July.
Studiengänge (für)
ANG.05272.02 - Aufbaumodul: Kulturwissenschaft I - LAG, LAS, LAF ab WS 2012/13
BA Anglistik und Amerikanistik 60/90 LP ab WS 2013/14 - BA IKEAS ab WS 2015/16
ANG.03588.02 - Aufbaumodul Kulturwissenschaft 2: Kultur und Gesellschaft der Gegenwart LAG, LAS, LAF - BA Anglistik und Amerikanistik 60/90 LP
ANG.04770.02 - Aufbaumodul Kulturwissenschaft - Großbritannien/USA 2 (1. Teil) - BA IKEAS
When politicians in Germany argued last summer that Berlin should stop supporting Greece financially, the chancellor and some ministers were depicted as cold-hearted people dressed in Nazi costumes by some Greek media. This resurgence of clichés shows that we should be aware of the potential national stereotypes have. In this class we will look into the American mirror and see whether we see representations or refractions of images about the Germans and Germany in America.
In order to understand the origins of German perceptions in America, it will be useful to sketch the history of German immigration to America since the 17th century. This will be followed by a theoretical exploration of what (national) stereotypes and clichés are, how they can be employed by whom and for which purposes. In doing so, we will look at rhetorical figures often employed when talking about nations, e.g. pars pro toto, metonymy, and synecdoche.
Having acquired this background knowledge we will have to select periods in time that promise to be particularly revealing. What was the perception of Germans and Germany during the time before unification of Germany (1871)? What happened when millions of people from Germany immigrated into America late in the 19th century? We will see that having German roots became a disadvantage during World War I when Americans became quite hostile before the mood mellowed again in the interwar period. World War II and the revelation of Nazi atrocities early in 1945 finally brought the image of Germany and the Germans to the lowest point so far. For political and economic reasons, this quickly changed once more in the early Cold War. The last period to be discussed will be the period since German unification in 1990.
Although this course will not be limited to images of Germany in American literature, we will use the study Images of Germany in American Literature by Waldemar Zacharasiewicz as a guidebook. It does not limit itself to literature but encompasses historical and cultural aspects. It will be supplemented by the wealth of materials available in other fields such as history, politics, economics, media studies, and culture.
In order for students to pick up some skills necessary in academia, we will spend some time on how to do presentations, how to do research, and how to write papers. The university library (OPAC, MLA-IB and other databases) will be a topic as will be the Internet as a research tool (JStor, Google Scholar etc.). In addition, there will be an introduction to CITAVI and how to use that bibliographical tool. Our model for all written work will be the MLA and its style sheet in its latest edition.
LITERATURE
TEXTBOOK (check StudIP "Dateien" NOW)
Zacharasiewicz, Waldemar. Das Deutschlandbild in der amerikanischen Literatur. Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchges, 1998. Print.
Zacharasiewicz, Waldemar. Images of Germany in American literature. Iowa City, Iowa: Univ. of Iowa Press, 2007. Print. [check StudIP]
SELECTED SECONDARY
Adams, Willi P., Vern J. La Rippley, and Eberhard Reichmann. The German-Americans: An Ethnic Experience. American ed. Indianapolis: Max Kade German-American Center Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 1993. Print.
Ashbrock, Peg. The German Americans. Philadelphia: Mason Crest Publishers, 2009. Print. Major American immigration.
Barclay, David E., and Elisabeth Glaser-Schmidt, eds. Transatlantic Images and Perceptions: Germany and America since 1776. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997. Print. Publications of the German Historical Institute.
Fischer, Heinz-Dietrich. Germany through American Eyes: Pulitzer Prize Winning Reports. Berlin: LIT, 2010. Print. Pulitzer Prize panorama 1.
Freese, Peter, ed. Germany and German Thought in American Literature and Cultural Criticism: Proceedings of the German-American conference in Paderborn, May 16 - 19, 1990. Essen: Verl. Die Blaue Eule, 1990. Print. Arbeiten zur Amerikanistik 6.
Galicich, Anne, and Sandra Stotsky. The German Americans. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1996. Print. The immigrant experience.
Heeb, Inken. Deutschlandbilder im amerikanischen Spielfilm: 1946 bis 1993. Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verl., 1997. Print.
Hönicke Moore, Michaela. Know Your Enemy: The American Debate on Nazism, 1933-1945. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Publications of the German Historical Institute.
Meyer, Martin. Nachkriegsdeutschland im Spiegel amerikanischer Romane der Besatzungszeit: (1945 - 1955). Tübingen: Narr, 1994. Print. Buchreihe zu den Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik 9.
Raab, Josef, and Jan Wirrer, eds. Die deutsche Präsenz in den USA: The German Presence in the U.S.A. Münster: LIT, 2008. Print. Literatur, Forschung und Wissenschaft 11.
Reichmann, Eberhard, Vern J. La Rippley, and Jörg Nagler. Emigration and Settlement Patterns of German Communities in North America. Indianapolis, Ind., Nashville, IN: Max Kade German-American Center, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis; Produced and distributed by NCSA LITERATUR, 1995. Print. Max Kade German-American Center, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis v. 8.
Reuther, Thomas. Die ambivalente Normalisierung: Deutschlanddiskurs und Deutschlandbilder in den USA, 1941-1955. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2000. Print. Transatlantische historische Studien Bd. 11.
Schröder, Hans-Jürgen. Deutsch-amerikanische Beziehungen im 20. Jahrhundert: Geschichtsschrei¬bung und Forschungsperspektiven: <http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2008/6275/>. Web.
Stapf, Kurt H., Wolfgang Stroebe, and Klaus Jonas. Amerikaner über Deutschland und die Deutschen: Urteile und Vorurteile. Opladen: Westdt. Verl., 1986. Print.
Trommler, Frank, ed. Amerika und die Deutschen: Bestandsaufnahme einer 300jährigen Geschichte. Opladen: Westdt. Verl., 1986. Print.
Trommler, Frank, et al. The many faces of Germany: Transformations in the study of German culture and history : Festschrift for Frank Trommler. New York: Berghahn Books, 2004. Print.
Yancey, Diane. The German Americans. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2005. Print. Immigrants in America.
SECONDARY SOURCES ON THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF AMERICA
Berg, Manfred. Geschichte der USA. München: Oldenbourg, 2013. Print. Oldenbourg-Grundriss der Geschichte 42.
Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey. 11th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print.
Brogan, Hugh. The Penguin History of the United States of America. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books, 2008. Print.
Dippel, Horst. Geschichte der USA. 9., überarb. und aktualisierte Aufl. München: Beck, 2010. Print. Beck'sche Reihe C.-H.-Beck-Wissen 2051.
Gassert, Philipp, Mark Häberlein, and Michael Wala. Kleine Geschichte der USA. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007. Print.
Heideking, Jürgen, Christof Mauch, and Michael Wala. Geschichte der USA. 6., überarb. und erw. Aufl. Tübingen: Francke, 2008. Print. UTB Geschichte 1938.
Mauch, Christof, Rüdiger B. Wersich, and Angelika Möller, eds. USA-Lexikon: Schlüsselbegriffe zu Politik, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft, Kultur, Geschichte und zu den deutsch-amerikanischen Beziehungen. 2., völlig neu bearb. und wesentlich erw. Aufl. Berlin: Schmidt, 2013. Print.
Raeithel, Gert. Geschichte der nordamerikanischen Kultur. 3 Bde. Weinheim: Quadriga, 1987-1989. Print.
[Vol. 1: Vom Puritanismus bis zum Bürgerkrieg: 1600 – 1860. (1987)]
[Vol. 2: Vom Bürgerkrieg bis zum New Deal: 1860 – 1930. (1988)]
[Vol. 3: Vom New Deal bis zur Gegenwart: 1930 – 1988. (1989)]
Sautter, Udo. Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. 7., völlig überarb. und erw. Aufl. Stuttgart: Kröner, 2006. Print. Kröners Taschenausgabe 443.
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Students showing up on 5 April will be given priority.
