Berlin Perspectives: Berlin as a multiple stage - Detailseite

‘All the world's a stage’ – and Berlin is that in a special way. As a matter of fact, different and multicultural social spaces coexist in the capital of Germany. As many districts of Berlin present themselves more or less spontaneously in a certain form to a ‘public’ of visitors or tourists, they can be considered and examined as independent stages.

Methodology and learning objectives

This seminar is aimed at students of the humanities (in first instance theater, media and cultural studies and sociology, but also literature and urban studies) and is a short journey through the panorama of different staging areas in Berlin. A selection of theater, cultural, philosophical and sociological theories on the concept of ‘staging’ (E. Fichte-Lichte, A. Boal, G. Gadamer, E. Goffman) will be first discussed, in order to acquire different theoretical tools and important cultural studies methodologies. With the help of these background tools, the students will be able to recognize and describe not only latent and manifest aspects of staging in the city, but also their causes and socio-cultural implications. So after the preliminary theoretical work, it will be possible to analyze different theater institutions (Berliner Ensemble, Hebbel am Ufer, but also off-scene theaters), socio-cultural projects (Prime Time Theater, das Theater der Migranten, Forumtheater) and urban interventions (field research and interviews).

Every student will be expected to hold a short presentation and write a field research report in German or in English.

Short bibliography:

Abel, Lionel: Tragedy and Metatheatre. New York 2003
Boal, Augusto: Theatre of the Oppressed. New York 1979
Goffman, Ervin: The presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York 1959
Fischer-Lichte, Erika: Berliner Theater im 20. Jahrhundert, Berlin 1998
Ders.: Theatre, sacrifice, ritual: exploring forms of political theatre, London 2005.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg: Wahrheit und Methode, Tübingen 1960