One of the most fascinating aspects of Weimar modernism is the emergence of new forms of perception and consumption, reflected in a new urban consumer culture that generated an ever-changing array of visual and aural stimulations. This changed reality was perhaps best captured by the young medium of film, but older media like literature and painting also responded to this modernist challenge. This course will examine not only exemplary works of literary and visual production from the Weimar period, but also other aspects of Weimar modernism, such as the development of radio, design, fashion, advertising, and architecture, emphasizing analyses of the new mass culture of entertainment, distraction, and "pure exteriority" (Kracauer) in combination with left-wing cultural and political criticism. The city of Berlin, then the third largest in the world and in many ways the international capital of modernism, will provide the main locus of investigation. All course readings, discussions, and assignments will be in German. |