WHAT IF Nazi Germany won? Alternate histories of the Second World War in academic studies, prose fiction and film 3301-LB2036
Course for MA level students.
The aim of this course is the study of the phenomenon of alternate histories of the Second World War which have become one of the most vivid examples of a re-assessment of the functions of history during the so-called "Entertainment Revolution." The topics for discussion will include the defining characteristics of alternate history as genre, the impact of postmodernism, the issue of historical "truth" in academic re-writings of the war, a comparison of novel and film in their capacity to generate a credible alternate reality, the differences in national approaches to the re-imagining of the Second World (e.g. British, American and German examples of alternate histories), the attitudes to the Third Reich in the context of a cultural "normalization" of the subject of Nazi Germany. We will also attempt to define the document in relation to history, in the context of the purposes of speculation in historical analyses of the past.
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Knowledge: the graduate will be able to
Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary and culture studies within the humanities
Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies research within English studies
Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems
identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright
Abilities: the graduate is able to
Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (literary and culture studies)
Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law
Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture studies
Analyze literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal and historical factors on an advanced level
Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline
Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project
Social competences: the graduate is ready to
Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies
Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the studies
Value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions
English competence B2+ level
Assessment criteria
20% of absences is allowed.
Final grade on the basis of an academic essay.
Retake on the basis of a revised version of the academic essay.
Bibliography
LITERATURE/FILM
Katherine Burdekin Swastika Night
Kevin Brownlow (dir.) It Happened Here
Channel Islands Occupied (documentary film about an actual occupation)
Hitler’s Britain (documentary about an occupation that never took place)
Len Deighton SS-GB
SS-GB mini-series 2017
Robert Harris Fatherland
Fatherland (dir. Christoper Menaul)
Murray Davies Collaborator
Inglorious Basterds dir. Quentin Tarantino
Philip K. Dick The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle, TV series 2015, Frank Spotnitz
Daniel Quinn, After Dachau
Stephen Fry Making History
Polish versions of alternate histories
CONTEXTS
The Empty Mirror (1996) dir. Barry J. Hershey
Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) dir. Christian Duguay
Der Untergang, / The Downfall (2004) dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Mein Kampf / Dawn of Evil - Rise of the Reich (2009) dir. Urs Odermatt
Er ist wieder da / Look Who's Back (2015) dir. David Wnendt (novel by Timur Vermes)
Jojo Rabbit (2019) dir. Taika Waititi
SECONDARY SOURCES
Niall Ferguson, “Introduction” to Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals: “Towards Chaohistory”
Richard J. Evans „Wishful Thinking” (Altered Pasts)
Karen Hellekson The Alternate History: Refiguring Historical Time
Gavriel D. Rosenfeld „Introduction” to The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism
Gavriel D. Rosenfeld Hi Hitler! How the Nazi Past is Being Normalized in Contemporary Culture
Gavriel D. Rosenfeld The Fourth Reich: The Specter of Nazism from World War II to the Present
Susan Sontag “Fascinating Fascism” (Under the Sign of Saturn
Michael Rothberg, “Introduction” to Multidirectional Memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization
Daniel Goldhagen Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: