Germany Today
Politics, Culture, and Nationhood
 

Washington University
German 4O4, Spring 1998
Lutz Koepnick
 

Course Description
This course offers an introduction to political and cultural aspects of contemporary Germany. Special emphasis is given to the cultural construction of individual and collective identities in post-war and post-unification Germany; to the role of literature, music, visual culture, and intellectual discourse today; to current controversies over the definition of gender, race, and ethnicity; and to present debates about nationalism, multiculturalism, popular culture, and so-called Americanization. Other topics include Germany and the "New World Order," the role of the universities, the styles of subcultures, and the emergence of a new type of German leisure culture. The course is required for candidates for the Year Abroad in Tuebingen. Prerequisite: two courses on the 300 level including German 302 or permission of instructor. Discussions, readings, and papers in German. Some readings in English. Credit 3 units.
 

Required Texts
Most readings (marked "[Rd]" in the syllabus) will be available in a reader to be purchased from the German department. The following books can be purchased at the Bookstore:

    Ardagh, John. Germany and the Germans. 3 ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1995.
    Fullbrook, Mary. The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
    Parkes, Stuart. Understanding Contemporary Germany. London: Routledge, 1997.

All films are on two-hour reserve in Olin Library.
Asterisks (*) in the course schedule signify recommended readings.

Grade Breakdown
Participation: 40%
Presentation: 10%
Mid-term exam: 20%
Final exam: 30%

Office Hours
Ridgley 422
Tu 4:15-5:30 & Th 1:15 - 2:15

Telephone / Email
314.935.4007
lkoep@artsci.wustl.edu
 
 

COURSE SCHEDULE

---

NEGOTIATING GERMAN IDENTITY AFTER AUSCHWITZ

---

Week One
Negotiating German Identity after AuschwitzI

1/13
Introduction: "From Tacitus to Goldhagen and Back: Vicissitudes of German Identity"

1/15
Thomas Mann, "Deutsche Hörer!" [Rd]
Walter von Molo, "Offener Brief an Thomas Mann" [Rd]
Thomas Mann, "Offener Brief für Deutschland" [Rd]
Alfred Andersch, "Das junge Europa formt sein Gesicht" [Rd]
Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany (139-160)

Week Two
Negotiating German Identity after AuschwitzII

1/20
Film: Die Mörder sind unter uns (dir. Wolfgang Staudte, 1946)
Hannah Arendt, "Organisierte Schuld" [Rd]
Paul Celan, "Todesfuge" [Rd]
Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany (161-183)

1/22
Alexander und Margarete Mitscherlich, Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern (sel) [Rd]
Norbert Muhlen, "Das Land der großen Mitte: Notizen aus dem Neon-Biedermeier" [Rd]
Hans Magnus Enzensberger, "bildzeitung" [Rd]
Christoph Meckel, "Hymne" [Rd]

Week Three
Negotiating German Identity after Auschwitz III

1/27
Rudolf Augstein, "Geht Berlin verloren?" [Rd]
Günter Grass and Wolfdietrich Schnurre, "Offener Brief and die Mitglieder des Schriftstellerverbandes der DDR" [Rd]
Stephan Hermlin, "Antwort" [Rd]
"Offener Brief an den Präsidenten der UNO" [Rd]
Ulrike Marie Meinhof, "Vietnam und Deutschland" [Rd]
Hans Magnus Enzensberger, "Notstand" [Rd]

1/29
Film: Deutschland, bleiche Mutter (dir. Helma Sanders-Brahms, 1980)
Joachim Fest, "Nachwort zu Holocaust" [Rd]
Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, "Eine deutsche Geschichtsstunde" [Rd]
Birgit Weidinger, "Trivialität als Maxime der Medienarteit?" [Rd]
"'Es waren Tage, da war ich wie tot...' Leser schreiben über 'Holocaust'" [Rd]
 

Week Four
Negotiating German Identity after AuschwitzIV

2/3
"Alexanderplatz: 4. November 1989" [Rd]
"Bundeskanzler Kohl zur Lage der Nation am 8. November 1989" [Rd]
Peter Schneider, "West-Östliche Passagen" [Rd]

2/5
Film: In weiter Ferne, so nah! (dir. Wim Wenders, 1993)
Wim Wenders, "Über Deutschland reden" [Rd]
Botho Strauß, "Anschwellender Bocksgesang"
 

---

THE DIVIDED NATION: HISTORY, POLITICAL SYSTEM, SOCIETY

---

Week Five & Six

No class meeting
John Ardagh, Germany and the Germans (104-171,172-236, 261-272, 298-367)
Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany (IX-XIX, 3-92)

Week Seven
National Socialism and the Division of Germany

2/24
Ralf Dahrendorf, Gesellschaft und Demokratie in Deutschland (sel) [Rd]
Kurt Sontheimer, Grundzüge des politischen Systems der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (sel) [Rd]
*Mary Fullbrook, The Divided Nation (129-167)

2/26
Ralf Dahrendorf, Gesellschaft und Demokratie in Deutschland (sel) [Rd]
Rüdiger Thomas, Modell DDR (sel) [Rd]
*Mary Fullbrook, The Divided Nation (168-196)

Week Eight
Springbreak

Week Nine
The Political System of the Federal Republic

3/10
Kurt Sontheimer, Grundzüge des politischen Systems der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (sel) [Rd]
*Mary Fullbrook, The Divided Nation (253-264)

3/12
K.-W. Brand, D. Büsser, D. Rucht, Aufbruch in eine andere Gesellschaft (sel) [Rd]
Mary Fullbrook, The Divided Nation (278-290)

Week Ten
Life in Real Existing Socialism

3/17
Rüdiger Thomas, Modell DDR (sel) [Rd]
Stephan Hermlin, "Die Kommandeuse" [Rd]
Mary Fullbrook, The Divided Nation (221-243)

3/19
Rüdiger Thomas, Modell DDR (sel) [Rd]
Mary Fullbrook, The Divided Nation (265-278; 318-332)
In-class screening: Ein Volk sprengt seine Mauern
 

---

UNDERSTANDING UNIFIED GERMANY

---

Week Eleven
Unification and Its Discontents

3/24
Günter Grass, "Kurze Rede eines vaterlandslosen Gesellen" [Rd]
Michael Schneider, "Wirtschaftsreich der Mitte" [Rd]
Stefan Heym, "Auf Sand gebaut" [Rd]
Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany (93-116)

3/26
Wolf Biermann, "Über das Geld und andere Herzensdinge" [Rd]
Spiegel 27/1995, "Das Ost-Gefühl: Heimweh nach der alten Ordnung" [Rd]
John Ardagh, Germany and the Germans (421-496)

Week Twelve
Culture Wars: Intellectuals, Universities, and the Future of the German Language

3/31
Christa Wolf, Was bleibt (sel) [Rd]
Andreas Huyssen, "After the Wall: The Failure of the German Intellectuals" [Rd]
Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany (184-207)

4/2
Spiegel 29/1996, "Apathie im Hörsaal" [Rd]
Ulrich Stock, "Wie wär's mit Schif³ahrt: Ein Frontbericht aus dem Rechtschreibkrieg" [Rd]
John Ardagh, Germany and the Germans (236-260)

Week Thirteen
Promises and Perils of Globalization: Germany and the "New World Order"

4/7
Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Aussichten auf den Bürgerkrieg (sel) [Rd]
Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany (117-135)

4/9
Ulrich Beck, "Kapitalismus ohne Arbeit" [Rd]
John Ardagh, Germany and the Germans (563-584)

Week Fourteen
Towards a Multicultural Democracy?

4/14
Spiegel 16/1997, "Zeitbomben in den Vorstädten" [Rd]
Bodo Morshäuser, "Die ghuten Menschen von Deutschland" [Rd]
John Ardagh, Germany and the Germans (273-297)

4/16
Daniel Cohn-Bendit / Thomas Schmid, Heimat Babylon: Das Wagnis der multikutlurellen Demokratie (sel) [Rd]
Spiegel 29/1996, "An kein Land binden: Vier junge Türken über Einbürgerung und das Leben in zwei Kulturen" [Rd]

Week Fifteen
Fun-Kultur? Remodeling the Body Politic

4/21
Diedrich Diedrichsen, "Coole Kinder können wieder warten" [Rd]
Rainer Schmidt, "Deutschland, liebes Technoland" [Rd]
Spiegel 23/1996, "Sex muß schärfer werden" [Rd]
Spiegel 23/1996, "Armor trägt Trauerflor: Über den Sex in deutschen TV-Talkshows" [Rd]
In-class screening: German Rock Music since 1989

4/23
Spiegel 8/1996, "Sei schlau, hab Spaß" [Rd]
Frank Schüre, "Generation @" [Rd]