GM2GDC-Glorification, Denial and Contempt $£ Reconstructing Austria's Past

Module Provider: Languages and Cultures
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites: GM1L3 Advanced German Language I or GM1L2 Intermediate German Language or GM1L1 Beginners German Language
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Ms Regine Klimpfinger
Email: r.klimpfinger@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

The module aims to provides students with insight into several aspects of Austria’s turbulent past and present.?It introduces major turning points in Austrian history, identity and memory.?We examine the ways in which writers and film-makers have reappraised their country’s past, whether through praise, glorification, patriotism and heroism, or through denial, contempt and scorn. By drawing on texts - e.g. novellas, poems, short stories, extracts from plays – and visual sources (film), we explore the different ways in which narratives of the past have reconstructed and refashioned Austrian identity across the 20th and 21st centuries. 

Aims:

To provide students with an understanding of major events in the history of Austria, with particular focus on Austrian discourses about its turbulent past, as well as an understanding of the German language as a cultural and political force in Central Europe; to enable students to hone their writing and analytic skills further, as they read and analyse relevant historical and cultural texts. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module students will be able to:

• analyse a variety of texts from different periods in their relation to the discourse about Austria’s past and reflect on different perceptions of this past; 


• explain changes in society and politics and how these affect perceptions and provoke reiterations of the past in texts;


• critically discuss changes in the central topics of the discourse;


• demonstrate skills in organisation and presentation of their ideas.

Additional outcomes:

This module will enhance students’ textual analysis and reading skills in German as well as their use of adequate terminology and register. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to develop their research skills and conduct individual research tasks. In addition, they will have the chance to explore texts through practical exercises such as active participation in group discussion and seminar presentations.

Outline content:

Using a predominantly chronological structure, this seminar focuses on two principal aspects: politics and society, literature and film. It explores how historic events in Austria have created issues of identity, nationhood and the (critical) portrayal of the country’s past. Historic events and changes of society and policy are discussed through the lens of artistic production and forms of protest, opening up the discussion on the production and reiteration of collective memory, the illusion of homogeneity and the justification of language and cultural policies. Productive points of comparison and contrast across them are identified and opened up for discussion. The topics and themes studied are typically:

a) Politics and Society: end of the Habsburg monarchy, First Republic, The Third Reich, Second Republic 

b) Literature: selected short stories, poems and extracts from dramas by Roth, Musil, Bernhard, Jelinek, Piuk

c) Film: Constructing and deconstructing a myth: Sissi Trilogy, The Sound of Music, 1. April 2000, Waldheims Walzer, Murer: Anatomy of a Trial

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

A series of seminars in both Autumn and Spring Term, plus some lectures in Autumn. Students will be required to watch extracts from films, read original literary and theoretical texts as well as chapters from relevant secondary literature in preparation for classes and essays. Students will also be asked, in small groups or pairs, to carry out analyses of examples and to discuss them in class. Students will acquire important background information from the lectures and will be encouraged to u ndertake independent work and prepare seminar presentations. In addition, students’ interest in texts will be enhanced by exploring selected texts through practical exercises. 

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	4
Seminars	16	10
Guided independent study:	100	70
Total hours by term	120	80	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	50
Project output other than dissertation	50

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Students will hand in ONE commentaryessay of 2500 words (540), due at the beginning of Spring Term. 

Students will hand in ONE creative output with an accompanying reflection (50%) in Summer Term. 

One piece of assessment worth no more than 50% of the module mark can be replaced by a report produced after an academic placement. The placement must be agreed in advance by the module convenor; the length of the report is to be equivalent to standard departmental practice for coursework.? 

Formative assessment methods:

Class discussions and group work presentations.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

40% overall

Reassessment arrangements:

Reassessment, which will be an equivalent assessment, in the event of failure in this module and of failure in Part 2, or (for compulsory modules only) of failure to qualify in Part 2. Continuous assessment and/or coursework will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: 

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 30 March 2023