Description
At its core, this class traces and analyses the history of film and music in Europe during the first three quarters of the twentieth century. We will pay close attention to the varying content and aesthetic development of these two forms, but we will also be primarily concerned with placing their transformation within larger historical contexts. This class will, above all, chart European music and film in relation to the emergence and transfiguration of the modern mass media and commercial culture. Beyond this central theme, we will touch on a number of other important subjects and contexts: the state, politics, cultural nationalism, debates over high and low culture, the global integration of economies, and shifts within the larger history of perception.
Required Reading
(Texts are Subject to Change)
- Pierre Sorin, European Cinemas, European Societies 1939-1990 (Taylor and Francis, 2007)
- Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007)
- Selected articles and short pieces to posted on Blackboard
We will also watch and listen to a significant amount of films and music. Students will be required to attend prearranged screenings outside of class or keep up with the films and music on their own time.
Grading Policy
3 Papers: 30% each
Attendance and Participation: 10%
