Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: THE EXPRESSIONIST VISION OF "NEW MAN"

Department: German Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Inspired by Nietzsche's concept of the "Superman," the Expressionist writers and artists (roughly between 1910 and 1920) strived towards a total renewal of society. They attached its patriarchal foundation, blamed the anonymity of the metropolitan mass society with the newly formed proletariat on hand and the materialistic life-style on the other for the general dissociation of individuals. The major literary forms were poetry and drama, which were either activist or experimenting with newly created metaphors. The prose employs the genre of the grotesque. The visual artists are influenced by van Gogh. As a totally new medium, the film incorporates all these aspects and elements. Taught in German.