TTh 2:30-4 pm

Taught in English by Megan Ewing

Course Description

What should be the relationship of art and politics? How have they influenced (or failed to influence) each other over the course of the modern era? In our investigation of the historical events of the 20th century and the art and literature that developed alongside them, we will discuss not only the political aims and impact of certain art and writing practices (e.g. sound poetry, psychogeography, event score, automatic writing, photomontage and collage, film etc.) but also the nuts and bolts of these practices. We will be using what we learn about these methods to produce our own politically informed art and creative writing as course assignments. The course will focus primarily on post-1945 art and literature in the German-speaking context (Group 47, the Vienna Group, Nestbeschmutzer, Pop Art, Conceptualism, New York Underground, New Subjectivity) and culminate with examinations of the German 1960s and ‘70s with special emphases on the revolutionary days of the 1968 student movement, the domestic terrorism of the left-radical Baader-Meinhof group and the “German Autumn” of 1977.

Requirements

Short response papers or creative assignments; 6-8 page final paper or creative project with analytical abstract.

Course Guide: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/cg/cg_detail.aspx?content=2160GERMAN449001&termArray=f_17_2160

Students may register for this course in Wolverine Access.