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

Module code: GM2GDC

Module provider: Languages and Cultures; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Ms Regine Klimpfinger, email: r.klimpfinger@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): Before taking this module, you must take GM1L3 Advanced German Language I or GM1L2 Intermediate German Language or GM1L1 Beginners German Language, or equivalent. (Open)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 11 November 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module provides students with the tools to critically examine discourses about Austrian identity, culture, and history. Starting with the dissolution of the Habsburg empire, the module discusses key events and turning points in Austrian history and closely examines the commemoration, evaluation, and potential reinterpretation of these events, e.g., by different generations or political groups. Students will engage with discourses on memory, nostalgia, and Vergangenheitsbewältigung in the Austrian context by analysing a variety of primary sources (e.g., historical documents, films, literature) paired with secondary reading.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Contextualise and analyse historical documents and objects.
2. Apply theoretical concepts to the analysis of historical events, objects, monuments, literary texts, and films.
3. Compare and contrast competing discourses on history, memory, and commemoration.
4. Create art or design a project to demonstrate their understanding.

Module content

The module will provide students with an overview of Austrian history from the end of the Habsburg empire to today, with a focus on the interplay of hegemonic culture and official representation versus s counterculture, art, and protest movements. Students will be introduced to discourses on memory, nostalgia, and Vergangenheitsbewältigung in the Austrian context with a focus on shifts in the interpretation and commemoration of historical events. Examples of such contested historical events include Austro-Fascism and the end of democracy or the victim myth and Austria’s refusal to accept responsibility for its involvement in NS atrocities and war crimes.

Students will study literary texts and films on the Habsburg empire and Habsburg nostalgia, on the Holocaust, and on representations of Heimat. The module will analyse documentaries on iconic political figures (e.g., Kurt Waldheim, Johanna Dohnal), political speeches, autobiographical accounts of e.g., refugees, exile and Kindertransport, monuments, different forms of political activism etc. The module will also look at the lasting impact of political events and movements, e.g., on how policies of Red Vienna shaped living conditions in the city for a century and are still felt today or how antagonism in the interwar years shaped political culture in the Second Republic.

Throughout the module, students will examine Austrian history and culture in a wider context, with a focus on the German-speaking world and the UK, e.g., by comparing Austria’s denazification with Germany’s, or by looking at Austrian exiles in the UK.

In order to both analyse and contribute to the discourse on Austria’s past, students will be introduced to, and learn how to apply, theoretical concepts and literary theory.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module will be taught through a combination of interactive lectures and seminars. Students will be required to do preparatory reading for each lecture or seminar and participate in class discussion.

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

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

Assessments with numerical marks

• 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 three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/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.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will receive feedback on their project plan for the un-essay.

Reassessment

Additional costs