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070469 KU Text and Discourse Analysis (2011W)

"Hammer and Tickle"- A History of Communist Europe Told Through Communist Jokes

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte

Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Registration is open from Th 15.09.2011 06:00 to Tu 27.09.2011 23:59
Registration is open from Mo 17.10.2011 06:00 to We 19.10.2011 23:59
Deregistration possible until Mo 31.10.2011 23:59

Details

max. 25 participants

Language: German

Lecturers

Muriel Blaive

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Monday 10.10. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 17.10. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 24.10. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 31.10. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 07.11. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 14.11. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 21.11. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 28.11. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 05.12. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 12.12. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 09.01. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 16.01. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 23.01. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27
Monday 30.01. 17:00 - 19:00 Seminarraum des Instituts für Osteuropäische Geschichte UniCampus Hof 3 2Q-EG-27

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course will apprehend the history of communist Central and Eastern Europe from 1945 to 1989 as described in the jokes told by the people and which journalist Ben Lewis carefully retraced to particular countries and particular times (stalinism, post-stalinism, etc.) On the basis of this source material, we will try to restitute key aspects of everyday life under communism, such as economic shortages, delicate power relationships between individuals and authorities at all levels, relationship to Moscow and cultural stereotypes between countries of the bloc, the denunciation atmosphere between small citizens, but also positive aspects such as the luxury of time and the assistance of the state in various social matters.
First, we will set the general historical context. Then, famous (and less famous) jokes will be contextualized and analyzed so as to restitute their implicit meaning. Lastly, we will reflect on the current «ostalgia» (Ostalgie) for the communist period. Communist jokes will be understood as a key cultural legacy of the communist times, and complemented by audio-video material so as to recreate a lively impression of the main issues at stake under a dictatorship of the communist kind. Small amounts of reading or watching video material will be demanded from session to session. This seminar will thus combine training in the key topic of East European history with the study of a specific type of sources.

Assessment and permitted materials

Source interpretation
Oral participation
Final exam

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Examination topics

Reading list

-James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance. Hidden Transcripts, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1990.
-Ben Lewis, Hammer & Tickle. A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008.

Association in the course directory

Bachelor Geschichte: Quellen und Methoden 2 - Text- und Diskursanalyse (3ECTS);
Lehramt Geschichte: Text- und Diskursanalyse (4ECTS);
Diplom Geschichte: Text- und diskursanalytische Methoden in der Geschichtswissenschaft (M1)

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:31