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GRMN 490-001: Skandal! Artistic Scandals at the turn of the Millennium: From Rainald Goetz to Stefanie Sargnagel
Course Description
While the openness of western liberal societies, according to Klettenhammer (2007), makes it difficult for artists and public figures alike to cause scandals in contemporary society, the “Kulturbetrieb” witnessed a rapid increase of artistic scandals as at the turn of the century. Such scandals ranged from plagiarism in Helen Hegemann’s Axolotl Roadkill, the liberation of female sexuality in Charlotte Roche’s Feuchtgebiete, personal right violations in works of autofiction such as Birgit Kempker’s Als ich das erste Mal mit einem Jungen im Bett lag, media hate campaigns against the Austrian author Stefanie Sargnagel, to the “Schmähkritik” by Jan Böhmermann.
All scandals mentioned above had in common that they are triggers, symptoms, and provocations against socially constructed boundaries and limitations of the “Kulturbetrieb.” In this course, we will examine recent artistic scandals and their media representation, author performance, and legal violations to unpack their contributions to contemporary German and Austrian society by challenging its societal norms.
By zooming in on the artistic violations of societal, political, and legal expectation, we will deepen our understanding of German and Austrian culture and reflect upon the institutions that constitute those norms in the first place. With completion of this course you will be able to argue for a standpoint, participate in discussions in German, and analyze the mechanisms, marketing, and politics behind each selected scandal. To strengthen our German language skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking, we will review, analyze, and evaluate the aforementioned artistic works and their representation in versatile media. By the end of the semester, we will organize our very own “Festival der Empörung,” which will culminate in an award ceremony in which we will vote for the most impactful scandal at the turn of thr century. Lastly, in a final research paper, you will engage with the global perspective on a selected artistic scandal of your choice and tease out its applicability in the Northamerican cultural context.
All readings and discussions are in German.
Learning Goals
Speech: Narrating the plot of a literary work and expressing reactions (B1) Taking active part in a discussion and supporting and sustaining viewpoints (B2) Explaining a viewpoint on an issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various (B2)
Writing: Writing an essay giving reasons for or against a certain point of view (B2) Writing a letter highlighting and interpreting the the personal significance of events and experiences (B2) Expressing oneself in a clear, well-structured text, expressing points of view at some length (C1)
Reading: Understanding long and complex literary texts and appreciating distinctions of style (C1) Understanding contemporary literary prose (B2)
Listening: Understanding extended speech and follow even complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably (B2) Understanding extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are not only implied and not signaled explicitly (C1)