In the Shadow of the Holocaust

Subject GERM40005 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2.5 hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: 2.5 contact hours/week, 6 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: Admission to the postgraduate diploma, postgraduate certificate or fourth-year honours in German. European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed 37.5 points of European studies at second/third year and the language prerequisite for this subject.
Corequisites: none
Recommended Background Knowledge: none
Non Allowed Subjects: Students who have completed 126-469 Post-Holocaust Literature and 671-364 In the Shadow of the Holocaust may not enrol in this subject.
Core Participation Requirements: For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements for this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Coordinator

Dr Birgit Lang

Contact

langb@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

Theodor Adorno has famously stated that writing poetry after the Holocaust is a barbaric act. This subject examines the very crisis of representation that has been brought about by the Holocaust for different generations of German and Austrian writers and filmmakers from the immediate post-war period until today. The main focus of the course will be on questions of memory (and forgetting), which run like a thread through all works of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, i.e. coming to terms with the past. Theories of memory will also allow students to explore how the different subject position of the writers and filmmakers in question informed their exploration of the topic.
Objectives:
  • be familiar with German-language literary texts and films, which are concerned with the representation of the Holocaust from the 1940s until today.
  • have an understanding of relevant theories of memory and literature to further their understanding of the topic.
Assessment: A team project consisting of 1000 word written assignment and 10 minute oral presentation 20%, a written mid-semester assignment of 1,000 words 20%, and 3,000 word essay due at the end of semester (60%). Attendance at 75% of tutorials is a hurdle requirement in this subject.
Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available at the University Bookshop.

  • The Fragility of Empathy After the Holocaust. Ithaca (Dean, Carolyn J) Cornell UP, 2004
  • After Hitler. Recivilizing the Germans, 1945-1995 (Jarausch, Konrad) Oxford: OUP, 2006
  • Lyrik nach Auschwitz? Adorno und die Dichter (Kiedaisch, Petra (ed.)) Reclam, 1995
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • be able to apply new research skills and critical methods to a field of inquiry.
  • develop critical self-awareness and shape and strengthen persuasive arguments.
  • communicate arguments and ideas effectively and articulately, both in writing and to others in speech.
  • have an increased understanding of social and cultural diversity.
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: German
German
German

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