L.008.32750 The Holocaust on Screen

Lehrende: Dr. Brad Prager

Veranstaltungsart: Hauptseminar

Orga-Einheit: Anglistik/Amerikanistik

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Semesterwochenstunden: 2

Unterrichtssprache: Englisch

Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: - | 30

Literatur:
Anne Frank Remembered (US/UK, 1995); The Devil’s Arithmetic (US, 1999); Fateless (Hungary, 2005); Fighter (US/ Czech, 2000); A Film Unfinished (Germany/ Israel, 2010); Forgiving Dr, Mengele (US 2006); The Gray Zone (US, 2002); Kapo (France/ Italy, 1959); KZ (UK, 2006); The Last Days (US, 1998); Life is Beautiful (Italy, 1997); Nazi Concentration Camps (US, 1945); Night and Fog (France, 1955); Paperclips (US, 2004); Passenger (Poland, 1963); Photographer (Poland, 1998); Schindler’s List (US, 1993); Shoah (France, 1985 [selections]); 2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihm weiß (Germany, 2006)

Kommentar:
This course explores how the Holocaust has been depicted on film in a variety of national and historical contexts. Drawing on films from 1945 to the present, from the U.S., Germany, Poland, France, and Italy, we will consider to what end images of the Holocaust have been used. The course examines both the question of how the horror of the Holocaust can be represented—or indeed whether it should be—by looking at the very different formal choices made by filmmakers. We will consider the distinction between the still image and the moving image, and we will pay special attention to the problem of the difference between documentary and non-documentary films, in order to assess the particular relevance of these distinctions in the context of Holocaust representation. The course also pays specific attention to a number of related political and ethical issues: the implied audience for Holocaust images; the "hollywoodization" of the Holocaust; the question of whether aspects of this difficult topic can ever be taken lightly; and the cinematic depiction of survivors. The course explores not only critical theoretical responses to major Holocaust filmmaking, but also key intellectual-historical texts, through readings of authors such as Primo Levi, Dominick LaCapra, Jean Améry, Ruth Klüger, and others.

Required Texts include: Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved (New York: Vintage, 1988); and Janina Struk, Photographing the Holocaust. Interpretations of the Evidence (London: I.B. Taurus, 2004).

Wichtige Hinweise:
Note: The screenings, which are open to the public as part of a series, are held outside of class on Monday evenings at 20:00. These are required of all students in the course. Films will also be available for additional viewing through the University library. Students are expected to have seen the film screened for that week’s discussion. Class time will not be used for screenings. Films screened, either in part or entirely, may include:

TN and 3 CP: Three short "response papers" based on, respectively, screenings and/ or readings (ca. 1.5 pages each) and participation in the in-class assignments. The response papers will be graded in the case of the 3CP people.

LN or 6 CP: Same as above for 3CP, plus a research paper of about 4,000-5,000 words.