Civilisation of the German-speaking countries : cultural aspects

Teacher(s)

Roland Hubert;

Language

Deutsch

Prerequisites

Niveau-seuil dit B1 du Cadre Européen Commun de Référence pour les Langues

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

The course studies the major cultural, artistic and political trends and developments in the European countries that have German, English or Dutch as a principal language (intellectual life, visual arts, music, architecture, etc.).

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	General survey of the cultural developments of the German-/ English-/ Dutch-speaking countries. By the end of the course, students are expected to have acquired an understanding of the culture of the European countries where German/ English/ Dutch is a major language.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

The course will study the specificities of the German cultural space since the 18th century. A global approach will be favoured, taking the different fields of humanities and arts (literature, theatre, painting, cinema for contemporary times, etc.) into consideration, as well as the relations between culture, politics and society. The study of artistic currents and 'macro-movements' like Romantics, Realism and Avant-Garde will help to structure the course.
The course is inspired by contemporary research methods like cultural transfers, comparative Imagology, the analysis of lieux de mémoire/ sites of memory as well as nation-building processes. The importance of the concepts of cultural memory (Gedächtniskultur, Aleida Assmann) and of a 'community based on remembrance' at the European level will be particularly studied via the history of Franco-Belgo-German cultural exchange.

Teaching methods

Formal lectures. Common discussion at the end based on the preliminary reading of course materials by the students.

Evaluation methods

Oral exam, with written preparation of the main question. A partial (written) evaluation with dispensatory character about the history of Germany will be organized at the beginning of November.

Other information

/

Online resources

/

Bibliography

Un portefeuille de textes spécialisés, critiques et théoriques est d'ores et déjà disponible à la DUC.

Faculty or entity

LMOD