Biographies of the Berlin Wall - Detailseite

The Berlin Wall - Visual Narratives in History and Memory

Language requirements: English B2

The Berlin Wall was the best known materialization of the Cold War. Once it had disappeared, its surviving remains turned into outstanding objects of commemoration – in private as well as public contexts. This course will apply the concept of “biographies of objects” as developed in ethnology and sociology to the study of the history of the Berlin Wall. The course has three major parts: First, students will get an overview of the history of the division of Berlin with a special emphasis on how it was materialized at the various stages. In this context, we will deal with the construction of the initial fortification in 1961, its changes over time up to its destruction in 1989/1990 and its afterlife in various objects of commemoration, studying the interaction of material objects and social agents. The second part will be dedicated to the reading of classical texts and to the theoretical background of the study of “biographies of objects”. During the third part of the course we will discuss how to apply this theoretical framework to the history of the Berlin Wall and write samples of “biographies of the Berlin Wall”.

Instructor: Elena Demke, MA

elena.demke@posteo.de

The course is offered in four-hour blocks.

The course requires a considerable bit of reading. To make it easier, all the readings will be handed out to students in copies.

Bibliography

Arthur Berger, What Objects Mean: An Introduction of Material Culture, Walnut Creek 2009.

Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge 1977.

Hans-Hermann Hertle, The Fall of the Wall. The Unintended Self-Dissolution of East-Germany’s Ruling Regime, In: Cold War International History Project Bulletin, pp. 131-164, retrieved from: http://zzf- pdm.de/Portals/images/mitarbeiter/2009_04_08_CWIHP_Bulletin_12_Hertle_Fall_Wall.pdf

Hope Harrison, Driving the Soviets up the Wall, Princeton 2005.

Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social. Oxford, 2005.

Alf Lüdtke, The History of Everyday Life: Reconstructing Historical Experiences and Ways of Life, Princeton 1995

Patrick Major, Behind the Wall: East Germany and the frontiers of Power, Oxford 2010.

Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper, London 2005

Julia Sonnevend, Stories without Borders. The Berlin Wall and the Making of a Global sIconic Event, Oxford 2016

This seminar carries 5 ECTS.

For international incoming students and HU students.

Language requirements English B2 minimum.

NO registration via Agnes.

Application via Berlin Perspectives ONLY: BP Module application

International incoming students / Internationale Austauschstudierende.

HU-Studierende im ÜWP.