GER358

This course explores the ways in which literature and film reflect and refract the social and political experiments of the GDR. Topics include the doctrine of Socialist Realism and its (mis)applications, coming to terms with the past, the emergence and problematization of new gender models, youth culture and generational tensions, the role of the individual in socialist society, censorship and artistic experimentation, conformity and resistance, popular culture and the artistic underground, and industrialization and environmental concerns. Attention is given to the sociohistorical contexts of the examined works and the means and ends of literary and cinematic creations of (alternate) realities. Prerequisite(s): GER 233 and another 200-level course in German.