Cultural Representations of Europe in Film and Literature
The growth of the European Union represents one of the most significant developments in the 21st century. In times of economic crises and challenges of a common European migration policy, there is an ever-increasing demand for defining the European Project on a (inter-)cultural level to ensure European humanity, solidarity and identity.
This course will focus on the representation of the controversial and challenging concepts of European “unity” and “diversity” in contemporary film and literature. Students will reflect on their own cultural backgrounds and actively engage in a dialogue about Europe. Thereby, the following questions will be addressed in a critical analysis of a variety of that represent different perspectives on Europe, European Identity and European Integration:
- What constitutes European unity and diversity? How do these concepts simultaneously interfere with one another as assets and challenges? Where are the differences in representations from within (and from without) Europe?
- What constitutes the common cultural European identity?
- Is there a European cultural awareness? Where is it shown? How can it be analyzed?
- How are unity, diversity, individualism, solidarity, national and European democracy, stereotypes and identities represented in contemporary film and literature? What are the assets and where are the challenges?
- How are majority and minority members/cultures represented in the European dialogue?
- What opportunities emerge to make the widely proposed bottom-up European model possible?
- What are the contributions of artistic and cultural representations in the European dialogue? What are their specific possibilities, where are their limits?
Students will be equipped with knowledge and tools to analyze artistic representations of Europe in their various forms, develop research projects in groups, pursue their own interests within the thematic field of the course, select and critically discuss their own sources and topics, and present their research in elaborate and in-depth presentations on the European dialogue.
Requirements: Attendance and performance in class (40%), assignments (20%), oral and written project presentation (40%).
