Undergraduate Course: From Girls in Uniform to Men in Drag: Gender, Sexuality and Ethnicity on the German Screen (ELCG10031)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This option will explore how gender, sexuality and ethnicity, central and often contested categories throughout German history, have been represented in German film from the Weimar period to the present day. Weimar film introduced cinema audiences to Marlene Dietrich, famous for her gender-bending, as well as the first feature film with an openly pro-lesbian storyline; both the innovations of New German Cinema and the effects of post-war immigration resulted in a variety of ¿other¿ identities on the German screen; and film since the reunification is increasingly transcultural, featuring multiple ethnicities as well as a high proportion of queer genders and sexualities.
We will begin by considering ideas from film studies to facilitate students¿ ability to ¿read¿ film, before examining themes and theories relating to gender, sexuality and ethnicity and applying these to German film from various periods in order to consider a spectrum of identities including: masculine; feminine; drag; trans; homosexual; heterosexual; ¿Aryan¿; Jewish; German; and Turkish.
Although our central focus is German film, many of the ideas covered can be applied to other disciplines and outside of the German context. Students will, therefore, be encouraged to discuss the representation of gender, sexuality and ethnicity in films of their choice (i.e. other German films, World Cinema, and/or Hollywood) as well as those on the course.
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| Course description |
Week-by-week overview of how the course may look (as a research-led course, there could be some substitutions or additions to secondary literature listed here eg the introduction of significant new scholarship in the field, including my own):
N.B. The film for each session should be screened the week before the corresponding seminar.
WEEK 1 Introduction to Film Studies in the German Context
Literature:
Extracts from Monaco, James How to Read a Film (via Learn)
WEEK 2 The Male Gaze
Film: Der blaue Engel (von Sternberg, 1930)
Literature:
Mulvey, Laura ¿Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema¿, in Visual and Other Pleasures (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), pp. 14-30
Schwarzer, Alice (ed.) ¿Das andere Geschlecht¿, in Simone de Beauvoir ¿ Ein Lesebuch mit Bildern (Berlin: rtv, 1984), pp. 159 ¿ 188
WEEK 3 Queering Desire
Film: Mädchen in Uniform (Sagan, 1931)
Literature:
Fest, Kerstin (2012) ¿Yesterday and/or Today: Time, History and Desire in Christa Winsloe¿s Mädchen in Uniform¿, in German Life and Letters, volume 65, issue 4,October 2012, pp. 457 ¿ 471
Meyer, Veronika (2012) ¿Lesbian Classics in Germany? A Film Historical Analysis of Mädchen in Uniform (1931 and 1958)¿, in Journal of Lesbian Studies. Special Issue: Global Lesbian Cinema, volume 16, issue 3, pp. 340-353.
Rich, B. Ruby (1981) ¿Mädchen in Uniform: From Repressive Tolerance to Erotic Liberation¿, in Jump Cut, volume 24-25, March 1981, pp. 44-50.
WEEK 4 Gender Performativity
Film: Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (Fassbinder, 1972)
Literature:
Butler, Judith ¿Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire¿, in Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (London: Routledge, 2006), pp. 1-34
WEEK 5 Colouring in Characters
Film: Angst essen Seele auf (Fassbinder, 1974)
Literature:
Dyer, Richard ¿The Matter of Whiteness¿, in White: Essays on Race and Culture (New York and London: Routledge, 1997), pp. 1-40
Neale, Steve ¿Masculinity as Spectacle¿ in Cohan, Steven, and Hark, Ina Rae (eds.) Screening the Male (London: Routledge, 1993), pp. 9 ¿ 20
WEEK 6 Gender and Culture
Film: Yasemin (Bohm, 1988)
Literature:
Anderson, Susan C. (2002) ¿Outsiders, Foreigners and Aliens in Cinematic or Literary Narratives by Bohm, Dische, Dörrie, and Ören¿, in The German Quarterly, volume 75, number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 144-159.
Gökturk, Deniz ¿Turkish Delight ¿ Migrant Fright: Migrant Identities in Transnational Cinema¿ in Deniz Derman, Karen Ross and Nevena Dakovic (eds.) Mediated Identities (Istanbul: Bilgi University Press, 2001)
WEEK 7: Femmeinisation
Film: Aimée & Jaguar (Färberböck, 1999)
Literature:
Dawson, Leanne (2012) ¿Aimée, Jaguar and Butlerian Gender Melancholia¿ in Evans, Owen, and Harper, Graeme (eds.) Studies in European Cinema, November 2012, pp. 35- 52.
Whatling, Clare ¿Fantastic Desires¿ in Screen Dreams: Fantasising Lesbians in Film (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), pp. 53 - 78
WEEK 8: Sexuality and Culture
Film: Lola+Bilidikid (Ataman, 1999)
Literature:
Clark, Christopher (2007) ¿Transculturation, Transe Sexuality, and Turkish Germany: Kutlu¿ Ataman's Lola und Bilidikid¿, in German Life and Letters, volume 59, issue 4, pp. 555-572
Tapinc, Husseyin ¿Masculinity, Femininity and Turkish Male Homosexuality¿, in Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experience, ed, Plummer, Ken (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 39 ¿ 51
WEEK 9: Transculturalism
Film: Auf der anderen Seite (Akin, 2007)
Literature:
De Lauretis, Teresa (1988) ¿Sexual Indifference and Lesbian Representation¿, in Theatre Journal, volume 40number 2, May 1998, pp. 155 ¿ 177
Lewis, Rachel (2012) ¿Towards a Transnational Lesbian Cinema¿, in Journal of Lesbian Studies volume 16, issue 3, pp. 273-290
WEEK 10: Revision
Feed-forward discussion of students¿ responses to fictional exam questions (in place of past papers); student queries.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements |
Students need Honours entry (to German) in order to take this option. Non-honours and Visiting Students should be enrolled on the SCQF Level 9 course variant. Advanced knowledge of spoken and written German and the ability to study German literature in the original language is recommended. Ideally, prior experience of university-level German literature courses. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 12 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 1.5,
Other Study Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
150 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
Film Screening: 11 weeks, 2 hours per week
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One course essay of 2500 words (50%)
One 1.5hrs examination essay (50%)
In addition, students will deliver (unassessed) presentations on themes covered during the course.
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge of a variety of German films and locate these within their socio-historical and cultural contexts.
- display a nuanced understanding of complex theories relating to gender, sexuality and ethnicity, and how these relate to film, using appropriate terminology in written and oral form.
- select and apply relevant theoretical and methodological approaches to analyse film, within defined projects of research and assessment.
- analyse and evaluate a range of secondary literature, employing academic work from the fields of film, gender and sexuality studies in their own arguments.
- construct and present clear, sustained arguments on (some of) the texts and themes central to the course, both while carrying out independent research and while working as part of a team.
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Reading List
Reading Lists
Anderson, Susan C. (2002) ¿Outsiders, Foreigners and Aliens in Cinematic or Literary Narratives by Bohm, Dische, Dörrie, and Ören¿, in The German Quarterly, volume 75, number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 144-159.
Bergfelder, Tim, Carter, Erica, and Gokturk, Deniz (eds.), The German Cinema Book (London: BFI, 2002).
Butler, Judith, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (London: Routledge, 2006).
Butler, Judith Undoing Gender (New York: Routledge, 2004).
Clark, Christopher (2007) Transculturation, Transe Sexuality, and Turkish Germany: Kutlu¿ Ataman's Lola und Bilidikid¿, in German Life and Letters, volume 59, issue 4, pp. 555-572.
Dawson, Leanne (2012) ¿Aimée, Jaguar and Butlerian Gender Melancholia¿, in Studies in European Cinema, November 2012, pp. 35-52.
De Lauretis, Teresa (1988) ¿Sexual Indifference and Lesbian Representation¿, in Theatre Journal, volume 40, number 2, May 1998, pp. 155 ¿ 177.
Dyer, Richard, White: Essays on Race and Culture (New York and London: Routledge, 1997).
Fest, Kerstin (2012) ¿Yesterday and/or Today: Time, History and Desire in Christa Winsloe¿s Mädchen in Uniform¿, in German Life and Letters, volume 65, issue 4,October 2012, pp. 457 ¿ 471.
Gökturk, Deniz ¿Turkish Delight ¿ Migrant Fright: Migrant Identities in Transnational Cinema¿, in Deniz Derman, Karen Ross and Nevena Dakovic (eds.) Mediated Identities (Istanbul: Bilgi University Press, 2001).
Isenberg, Noah, Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009).
Kuzniar, Alice, The Queer German Cinema (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000).
Lewis, Rachel (2012) ¿Towards a Transnational Lesbian Cinema¿, in Journal of Lesbian Studies volume 16, issue 3, pp. 273-290.
Meyer, Veronika (2012) ¿Lesbian Classics in Germany? A Film Historical Analysis of Mädchen in Uniform (1931 and 1958)¿, in Journal of Lesbian Studies, volume 16, issue 3, pp. 340-353.
Monaco, James, How to Read a Film: The world of Movies, Media, and Multimedia: Language, History, Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Mulvey, Laura, Visual and Other Pleasures (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Neale, Steve ¿Masculinity as Spectacle¿, in Cohan, Steven, and Hark, Ina Rae (eds.) Screening the Male (London: Routledge, 1993), pp. 9 - 20.
Rich, B. Ruby (1981) ¿Mädchen in Uniform: From Repressive Tolerance to Erotic Liberation¿, in Jump Cut, volume 24-25, March, pp. 44-50.
Schwarzer, Alice, Simone de Beauvoir ¿ Ein Lesebuch mit Bildern (Berlin: dtv, 1984).
Tapinc, Husseyin ¿Masculinity, Femininity and Turkish Male Homosexuality¿, in Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experience, ed, Plummer, Ken (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 39 ¿ 51.
Whatling, Clare, Screen Dreams: Fantasising Lesbians in Film (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997).
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
critical/analytical thinking;
presentational skills: oral and written;
research ability and clear presentation of findings;
independent thinking/working and group/collaborative working.
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| Keywords | DELC Girls in Uniform |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Leanne Dawson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3644
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Becca Hockey
Tel: (0131 6)50 3646
Email: |
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