American Dreams and American Nightmares in Film
Announcement
Hauptseminar Cultural Studies
Bachelor Anglophone Studies, Bachelor KuWi, alle Lehrämter, Magister.
Modul VI und Modul XVI
In this class we will explore numerous facets of a central cultural key concept of the U.S.A., namely the American Dream. After discussing historical sources and developments of the American Dream we will analyze how this concept and its negation - the American Nightmare - are represented in a variety of films. The films we will discuss include The Gold Rush (1925), Citizen Kane (1941), A Star Is Born (1954), Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Malcolm X (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), American Beauty (1999), Requiem for a Dream (2000), World Trade Center (2006), and The Joneses (2009).
All participants are asked to purchase their own copy of
Cullen, Jim P. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. ISBN-10: 0195173252. ISBN-13: 978-0195173253.
A reader of additional texts will be available from the copy shop on Reckhammerweg 4 after the first class meeting.
First session: Wednesday, April 18, 2012.