CU/SO 350 - German Popular Culture

This course provides fundamental insights into contemporary German popular culture: Who or what is “pop(ular)“ in the German context? How are German pop phenomena related to U.S. culture? Which formats are original, which transcultural? This course focuses on different pop-cultural phenomena of the 21th century from diverse media: from cinema and music, to TV, and club culture. The seminar follows a historical approach. It is based on the assumption that German popular culture has been influenced by U.S. popular culture from its beginnings in the 20th century. As a cultural practice of “Self/Americanization”, specific German formats have emerged that continue today, both in the East, the West, and the reunited Germany. Furthermore, the seminar investigates the political subtexts of German pop cultural practices. One theme of the seminar is that popular culture always works with 'the abject', i.e. the rejected and traumatic elements of a culture. At the end of the seminar, students will be familiar with the latest trends, the trendsetters, and the historical-theoretical discourses of German pop culture. In excursions and workshops, students will also be encouraged to experience and participate in German pop culture.