ATS2285 · German visual culture: Images and imagination

Overview

The unit engages with the rich history of visual cultures in Germany, especially text-image relations in art, literature, film, and digital media: from the invention of print in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg in 1452 to today. The unit will focus on various significant hybrid forms of text-image combinations, from the early emblem books to texts in paintings; from text-image montages in literature (incl. Photo-Novel, Graphic Novel, Comic Books) to film, theatre, and on digital platforms. The unit will address questions and develop skills to deal with contemporary challenges by looking at past and present forms of visual culture: How do we look at things? Is what we see informed or limited by what we know? How can we evaluate visual information compared to written information? How do we write about images? Do images impact on the way we write about the world?

Areas of study: European languages German studies

Offerings

The Handbook publishes no offerings for this unit.

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Discuss the specificities of German visual culture within the European context;
2. Analyse the implications of theoretical concepts for a broader understanding of visual and non-visual culture;
3. Identify and describe the ambiguities of cultural expressions through the analysis of different literary, artistic, psychological, philosophical, and filmic texts;
4. Undertake a research analysis of an important aspect of German visual culture, utilising primary and secondary-source material;
5. Collaborate on a project and present work orally;
6. Gain knowledge on the interconnectedness of image and text in non-academic contexts.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.