Visions of Power, Power Envisioned:

Film, literature and the Gaze

Professor: Cecilia Novero

Office: Burrowes 408

Email: cin1@psu.edu

Class: Monday 6-9 pm in Burrowes 304

Office hours: Mondays: 1:00-3:00.

Description

Have you ever wondered whether when sitting in the darkness of the movie-theatre you are the spectatorwho watches or whether you are the one who is being watched? How many times have you looked at your face in the mirror trying to convince yourself that that reflection is really you? How does the gaze—anyone’s gaze, including our own in the mirror, or that of the camera—help shape our subjectivity? How can we distort, manipulate or circumvent the power of the gaze? When and how are we captive of the screen and under what circumstances do we let ourselves be seduced by it?

Starting with a crucial text by Foucault on modern society and subjectivity as being structured around the Power of Vision, this course investigates how the masters of the gaze –namely filmmakers—use the cinema to visually engage and expose power as it takes shape on the screen and as it “acts” through the gaze.

We analyze how the discourse of power in post-war German cinema intertwines with the search for new film styles, new genres and new subjectivities. The majority of the films we watch are by women and/or depict women’s lives.
We examine how the camera becomes a weapon in these filmmakers’ hands who use it to describe their struggles with the institutions as subversive youngsters, women, gays, and lesbians. These directors turn the camera against the privileged position of the observer, who is now forced to witness the violence of his own authoritarian gaze.

After touching on the subversive mechanisms of gay and lesbian cinema, as well as the self-reflexive appropriation of the legacy of the French “ecole du regard”, mediated through the fascination for the American-style road-camera (Wenders), the course ends with Austrian director Michael Haneke’s violent critique of violence in the media. In conjunction with Haneke’s sadistic manipulation of violence, that which enables him to turn violence against itself by tying the spectator to his or her voyeurism, we read Elfriede Jelinek’s sado-masochistic novel Die Klavierspielerin (The Pianist). Both this novel—recently filmed by Haneke-- and Kluge’s Case Stories, are two literary texts that elicit the question about what kind of gaze returns in literature and to what end, after the most celebrated experiments of Alain Robbe Grillet in France, as well as Peter Handke and Thomas Bernhard in Austria.

Goals

This course offers you the occasion

A)to learn how to read a film, technically, comparatively and historically

B)to familiarize yourself with some basic theoretical texts in the fields of cinema studies, gender theory and German studies. The readings and the critical analyses are intended to help you become more aware of current debates around the topic of power in literary and cinematic texts.

Organization

The course will be organized as a seminar. Most of the films will be viewed the first 1 ½ hours of class. Sometimes you will be asked to attend out of class screenings, although the latter will be kept to a minimum. Emphasis will be given to in-class discussions of the texts and films assigned, thus your attendance and participation will be a determining factor in creating an atmosphere conducive to learning.

Each one of you will be responsible for the presentation of a position paper on one of the films and/or texts on the syllabus. In order to facilitate the discussion with your peers, I am asking you to email to your classmates the outline of your presentation at least one day in advance. Please also send me a copy of your typewritten presentation (no longer than 4 single-spaced pages). I will grade the written version 30% of your final presentation grade. This exercise will be useful when you find yourself working on a conference paper.

You may want to follow the following advice when preparing your presentation:

i) summarize briefly the film or text’s thesis

ii) offer your analysis through a close reading of the text/film

iii) take a position and defend it with evidence from one or more theoretical readings.

At the end of the seminar, a final paper is due. You may choose a topic of interest to you, related to the notions of power and the gaze. Before finalizing your choice, you should discuss it with me in time for you to write the paper by the last day of classes (I suggest that we meet no later than Week 12).

Requirements and Grading

1.)Regular attendance and informed participation in class discussion (20%).

This involves reading all assigned articles on a regular basis and posting on Course-Talk electronically your film-response after each viewing. These are brief comments that offer you the chance to write down your thoughts and share them with your classmates. I will keep track of your interventions and occasionally respond to them too.

2.)Oral presentation. The presentation itself should take no more than thirty minutes (40%).

3.)A 12-15-page paper due on the last day of classes. (40%).

Both the oral presentation and the paper will be graded based on the quality of your comments and on the organization of your materials.

Course materials:

Films: Whenever possible the films (videos) will be on reserve on the Second Floor of Pattee, in the Art and Music Department. Most films will be screened in class, when this is difficult, the place and time for the screenings will be announced.

Books: The texts listed below are divided in required texts (books and articles) and suggested readings. The required texts are available at Webster’s Bookstore on Allen Street. The articles required are available through the Electronic Reserve or will be handed out in class. Please remember to bring to class a print-out of the articles when you download them from the Electronic Reserve. Also, try to print the article a couple of days before it is due, just so as to be aware in time of any problems that may occur when accessing it online. Let me know if you have any difficulty ahead of time! As far as the suggestions for further readings are concerned, you may want to see what texts interest you for this class or for future courses. Some articles on Reserve or distributed in class are excerpted from the books or journals listed in the suggested readings. You may consider purchasing some of the books, if you like the excerpts.

Academic Integrity Statement: Penn State defines academic integrity as the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. All students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts (Faculty Senate Policy 49-20). Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course. Dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. Students who are found to be dishonest will receive academic sanctions and will be reported to the University’s Judicial Affairs office for possible further disciplinary sanction.

Disability Statement:The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified people with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal access to programs, facilities, and admissions without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell the instructor as soon as possible.

WEEKLY SYLLABUS

(Please note that the syllabus IS NOT binding and may be changed if deemed necessary)

WEEK ONE: Introduction

Syllabus, Description of Course and Discussion of the Notions of Power, Cinema (the Gaze)and Gender

WEEK TWO: Disciplinary Gaze

READ Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish

WEEK THREE: The Perverse Power of the Gaze

READ Alexander Kluge’s Case Studies (focus in particular “An Experiment in Love” and “Anita G.”)

WEEK FOUR: Experience Exposed

Helke Sander’s Redupers. (1977) READ in Rentschler: “Manifesto of Women Film Workers,” (5-6), Helke Sander “Men are Responsible” (25-30) and “Feminism and Film” (75-81)

WEEK FIVE: Illness as Metaphor

Lothar Warneke, script Helga Schubert.Apprehension (DEFA,1982). READ: Ute Lischke Mc Nab: „Interview: Women, Film and Writing in the GDR: Helga Schubert and the DEFA”; Gisela Bahr: “Film and Consciousness: The Depiction of Women in East German Movies”; Joyce Marie, Mushaben: “GDR Cinema De-/Reconstructed: An Introduction to the Forbidden Films”.

WEEK SIX: Coming of Age

Jutta Brückner’s Hungerjahre (1979) READ: Jutta Brückner: “Women’s Films are Searches for Traces” in Rentschler, West German Filmmakers on Film, 85-89. Foucault: “The Repressive Hypothesis” “Scientia Sexualis” (1976) in History of Sexuality, Vol. I, 15-74.

WEEK SEVEN: Love and the Law of the Family

Kurt Maetzig’s Das Kaninchen bin Ich (DEFA,1965) READ: Frölich Margrit “Behind the Curtains of a State-Owned Film Industry: Women Filmmakers at the DEFA” in Triangulated Visions, 43-63 or IF AVAILABLE: Katie Trumpener “La guerre est finie”

WEEK EIGHT: Father State

Volker Schlöndorff’s and Margarethe von Trotta’s Katharina Blum (1975) READ: Jack Zipes:„The Political Dimensions of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum” NGC 13, 75-84.

WEEK NINE: Father State II

Fassbinder, Kluge etc. Germany in Autumn (1978) READ: Miriam Hansen: “Introduction to Adorno, ‘Transparencies on Film’ (1966)” in New German Critique 24-25, Fall/Winter 1981-1982, 186-198; Hansen “Cooperative Auteur Cinema and Oppositional Public Sphere: Alexander Kluge’s contribution to Germany in Autumn”, Ibid., 36-56; Theodor W.Adorno: “Transparencies on Film” (1966), Ibid. 199-205, originally in Ohne Leitbild Frankfurt am Main, 1967; Alexander Kluge: “On Film and the Public Sphere”, Ibid., 206-220.

WEEK TEN: War, National and Sexual Identity

Helma Sanders-Brahms’ Germany Pale Mother (1979) READ in Anton Kaes: From Hitler to Heimat, chapter 5, “Our Childhoods, Ourselves: Helma Sanders-Brahms’ Germany Pale Mother”, 139-159; Angelika Bammer: “Through a Daughter’s Eyes: Helma Sanders-Brahms’ Germany Pale Mother” NGC 36 (1985) 91-109. Further Reading: McCormick “Women’s Discourse and the German Past: Germany Pale Mother” in Politics of the Self, 186-207.

WEEK ELEVEN: The Other Gaze: Gay and Lesbian Cinema

Monika Treut’s My Father is Coming (1991) READ: Alice Kuzniar: chapter 6 “Lesbians Abroad: The Queer Nationhood of Monika Treut et. Al.” 157-173; Judith Butler, Gender Trouble Introduction, plus “Foucault, Herculine, and the Politics of Sexual Discontinuity”.

WEEK TWELVE: The Other Gaze II

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) READ:

Butler, Gender Trouble: “Prohibition, Psychoanalysis, and the Production of the Heterosexual Matrix”; Biddy Martin “Extraordinary Homosexuals and the Fear of Being Ordinary” (1993), 100-125in Weed and Schor, eds., More Gender Trouble: Feminism Meets Queer Theory.

WEEK THIRTEEN: The Eye of the Camera

Wim Wenders’ The State of Things (1982) or Nick’s Film (1980) or Kings of the Road (1975-6) READ: chapter 7 in Thomas Elsaesser: New German Cinema. A History. Also Timothy Corrigan “Wenders’ Kings of the Road: The Voyage from Desire to Language” in Perspectives on German Cinema. It is recommended that you read Silverman’s the Thresholds of the Visible World, chapter on the gaze.

WEEK FOURTEEN: Fascist Visions

Fassbinder’s Lili Marleen (1980) or Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss (1981) READ: Thomas Elsaesser: Fassbinder’s Germany. History, Identity, Subject 109-118, plus ch. 5 and 6.

WEEK FIFTEEN: Voyeurism and Violence

Michael Haneke’s Der siebente Kontinent (1989) or Funny Games (1997) HAVE READ: Novel by Elfriede Jelinek: Die Klavierspielerin; Laura Mulvey „Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema“ Screen, Vol. 16, no. 3 (1975): 6-18; Kaja Silverman: “Masochism and Male Subjectivity” in Camera Obscura 17 (1988): 55-67; Linda R. Williams: “Submission and Reading” new formations 7 (1989): 9-21.

YOUR PAPER IS DUE TODAY, LAST DAY OF CLASSES!!!

Texts Required

Fiction:

Alexander Kluge: Case Studies
Elfriede Jelinek: Klavierspielerin

Theoretical Books:

Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish

---. “The Repressive Hypothesis” “Scientia Sexualis” (1976) in History of Sexuality, Vol. I, 15-74.

Judith Butler: Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York and London: Routledge, 1990c, 1999. Introduction required, plus “Foucault, Herculine, and the Politics of Sexual Discontinuity”, “Prohibition, Psychoanalysis, and the Production of the Heterosexual Matrix”.

Books on German Cinema

Eric Rentschler: West German Filmmakers on Film. Visions and Voices. New York and London: Holmes and Meier 1988.

Articles or Excerpts from Books:

Miriam Hansen: “Introduction to Adorno, ‘Transparencies on Film’ (1966)” in New German Critique 24-25, Fall/Winter 1981-1982, 186-198. (Photocopy)

---. “Cooperative Auteur Cinema and Oppositional Public Sphere: Alexander Kluge’s contribution to Germany in Autumn”, Ibid., 36-56. (Photocopy)

Theodor W.Adorno: “Transparencies on Film” (1966), Ibid., 199-205, originally in Ohne Leitbild Frankfurt am Main, 1967. (Photocopy)

Alexander Kluge: “On Film and the Public Sphere”, Ibid., 206-220. (Photocopy)

Jack Zipes:„The Political Dimensions of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum” NGC 13, 75-84 (Electronic Reserve)

Weed and Schor, eds., More Gender Trouble: Feminism Meets Queer Theory. Read Biddy Martin “Extraordinary Homosexuals and the Fear of Being Ordinary” (1993), 100-125 (photocopy)

Alice Kuzniar: chapter 6 “Lesbians Abroad: The Queer Nationhood of Monika Treut et. Al.” in The Queer German Cinema. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000. 157-173.

Ute Lischke Mc Nab: „Interview: Women, Film and Writing in the GDR: Helga Schubert and the DEFA“ in Triangulated Visions: Women in Recent German Cinema. 199-205 (Electronic Reserve)

Gisela Bahr: “Film and Consciousness: The Depiction of Women in East German Movies” in Gender and German Cinema: Feminist Interventions. Vol. 1: Gender and Representation in New German Cinema. Ed. Sandra Frieden, Richard W. (Electronic Reserve)

Joyce Marie, Mushaben: “GDR Cinema De-/Reconstructed: An Introduction to the Forbidden Films” GDR Bulletin 19.1 (Spring 1993): 5-11 (Electronic Reserve)

Anton Kaes, “Our Childhoods, Ourselves: Helma Sanders-Brahms’ Germany Pale Mother”, in From Hitler to Heimat. 139-159 (photocopy)

McCormick “Women’s Discourse and the German Past: Germany Pale Mother” in Politics of the Self, 186-207 (Electronic Reserve)

Angelika Bammer: “Through a Daughter’s Eyes: Helma Sanders-Brahms’ Germany Pale Mother” NGC 36 (1985) 91-109. (Electronic Reserve)

Frölich Margrit “Behind the Curtains of a State-Owned Film Industry: Women Filmmakers at the DEFA” in Triangulated Visions, 43-63 (Electronic Reserve)

IF AVAILABLE: Katie Trumpener “La guerre est finie: New Waves, Historical Contingency, and the GDR Kaninchenfilme” forthcoming in Cultural Authority in Contemporary Germany: Intellectual Cultures between Security Surveillance and Media Society (Photocopy).

Laura Mulvey „Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema“ Screen, Vol. 16, no. 3 (1975): 6-18 (Photocopy or Electronic Reserve)

Kaja Silverman: “Masochism and Male Subjectivity” in Camera Obscura 17 (1988): 55-67 (Electronic Reserve)

Linda R. Williams: “Submission and Reading” new formations 7 (1989): 9-21 (Electronic Reserve)