Picturing History

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Every day, when we read magazines, newspapers, or posts on social media, and even when we just briefly look at advertisements, we do neither just read nor just look – we always do both, as those forms of media have become inherently intermedial. We also find in literary texts and films intermedial forms of expression, ranging from the integration of photos, paintings, maps etc. to the development of a story primarily with visual elements, as in albums, photobooks, or graphic novels. Moreover, intermediality is not only about the inclusion of visual elements; authors may also transpose elements of visual culture or music via literary strategies into their texts. In this course, we will examine intermediality and how it influences the relationships between texts, images, and reality, particularly regarding the representation of German history. German history and visual culture became more and more connected in the 20th and 21st century, when not only texts and paintings could depict historical events, but also photographs and films. Intermediality allows us to examine this relationship of history and visual culture. Texts and films that combine various media are able to represent historical events and express memory and trauma in ways that make both history and (personal) stories visible in unique and innovative ways that other forms of expression may not achieve. In the first half of this course, we will first read theoretical texts and define the terms relevant for analyzing intermedial works. The second half of the course will first focus on film adaptations and documentary films, before we turn to the intermedial representation of German history in novels, photobooks, and graphic novels. This course is taught in German.