In 1985, the East German playwright Heiner Müller (1929-95) spoke of the importance of a ‘democratic’ theatre: for Müller, the theatre was to be a space in which audience members are free to produce their own interpretations of the material presented on stage. In turn, the audience is encouraged to question the composition of its material reality but is not presented with a solution. Müller explicitly related this practice to his own production of his three texts Der Lohndrücker (1956-57), Der Horatier (1968), and Wolokolamsker Chaussee IV: Kentauren (1986) together at the Deutsches Theater in 1988-91. As this thesis demonstrates, Müller foregrounds instigating audience participation and the means of creating ‘democratic’ theatre from the very beginning of his career. In studying the composition of Müller’s texts, the historical contexts in which they were written, and their premières we gain new perspectives on the ways in which the possibility for political theatre is anchored in Müller’s texts and just how this political theatre aims to engage its contemporary, implied audiences; indeed, this thesis argues that the politics of Müller’s theatre can be best defined as ‘democratic’. In the introduction, I establish how Müller understands the term ‘democratic’ and how his understanding differs from interpretations of democracy contemporary to him; in doing so, I borrow critical vocabulary from the contemporary French philosopher Jacques Rancière. The introduction also elaborates a methodology for studying both implied and real audiences. While each of the prevalent semiological, phenomenological, or materialist theories of audience response has its strengths, in order to pay sufficient attention to the multiple influences upon and aspects of audience interaction, we must take a more holistic approach to audience research. I therefore articulate a new materialist phenomenological approach to audiences, drawing on Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology. In the following chapters, I study Der Lohndrücker, Der Horatier, and Kentauren in their historical contexts and consider how they were both composed with their contemporary audiences in mind and staged in their premières. This approach sheds new light on each text in question: not only do all three texts demonstrate a concern for a lack of democracy in material reality, but each also contains strategies for engaging audience involvement in a piece of ‘democratic’ theatre. My final chapter analyses Müller’s own staging techniques in Der Lohndrücker in 1988, arguing that they enhance the production’s democratic political potential and contribute to our understanding of Müller’s political theatre. While the productions discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 have largely been overlooked by theatre scholarship to date, they provide important insights into the politics of Müller’s texts and the possible limits of writing political theatre texts. This thesis draws on a wide range of both published and unpublished materials, including rehearsal notes, stage manuscripts, audience letters, newspaper reviews, theatre programmes, records of reactions to Müller’s works within the GDR’s statecraft, and Müller’s own notes for writing his texts. Through this wealth of material we not only gain an insight into the ways in which Müller’s texts were written for his audiences but we also recognise the parameters for his audiences’ responses. In offering a fresh perspective on Müller’s works, this thesis demonstrates both a compelling model for audience research and that a synthesis of textual/performance analysis, historical contextualisation, and audience research provides us with a very adept tool for analysing the making of political theatre and the politics of making theatre.

A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo apresentar uma proposta para o ensino de língua alemã no contexto do curso superior em Letras-Alemão da USP, tomando como base a leitura e o trabalho com uma obra da literatura infantojuvenil em língua alemã. Partindo do pressuposto de que o ensino de línguas estrangeiras nesse contexto envolve, além da aprendizagem de habilidades receptivas e produtivas, também a reflexão sobre a língua (FFLCH, 2013, s/p.), desenvolveu-se e aplicou-se uma sequência didática que tomasse o texto literário como base para a aprendizagem de e sobre a língua alemã. Para isso, foram essenciais tanto os conceitos da didática da literariedade (DOBSTADT, 2009; DOBSTADT & RIEDNER, 2011, 2013, 2014) e da competência simbólica (KRAMSCH, 2006, 2011), no que diz respeito ao trabalho com textos literários em ALE, quanto concepções didáticas sobre planejamento de cursos e aulas (BIMMEL; KAST; NEUNER, 2011; ENDE et al. 2013; RICHARDS, 2011). O objetivo central da sequência didática foi levar os estudantes a perceber e refletir sobre como os sentidos são construídos na língua estrangeira em uso, partindo-se da leitura e análise de diversos elementos de uma obra da literatura infantojuvenil em língua alemã Stolperschritte que foi escolhida com o intuito principal de ampliar o repertório literário dos estudantes. Após a aplicação da sequência didática e da análise de redações produzidas pelos estudantes a partir de um diário de leitura (BUZZO, 2008; HINTZ, 2014), constatou-se que predomina um certo habitus interpretativo (MONTE MÓR, 2007) no ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras, que toma o texto literário como insumo para comunicação e que acaba determinando as expectativas dos estudantes sobre como trabalhar com o texto literário em ALE. Além disso, concluiu-se que é preciso focar mais no desenvolvimento de uma aprendizagem pautada na reflexão sobre a língua e ofereceu-se, por fim, algumas sugestões de como a sequência didática desenvolvida poderia ser melhorada. Com isso, espera-se que essa pesquisa possa colaborar para que outros trabalhos didáticos voltados para esse contexto venham a ser desenvolvidos futuramente. / This research aims to present a proposal for the teaching of German in the context of higher education in German Studies at the University of São Paulo, based on the reading and analysis of a children\'s literature work in German language. Considering the assumption that teaching of foreign languages in this context involves, in addition to receptive and productive skills, also reflection on the language (FFLCH, 2013, s/p.), a didactic sequence, which had a literary text as basis for the learning of and about the German language, was developed and applied. In order to achieve this goal, both concepts of didactic literacy (DOBSTADT, 2009; DOBSTADT & RIEDNER, 2011, 2013, 2014) and of symbolic competence (KRAMSCH, 2006, 2011) were essential for working with literary texts in German as a Foreign Language, as well as theories about didactic conceptions for course and class planning (BIMMEL; KAST; NEUNER, 2011; ENDE et al., 2013; RICHARDS, 2011). The central purpose of the didactic sequence was to get students to perceive and reflect on how the meanings are constructed in the foreign language in use, starting with the reading and analysis of several elements of a children´s literature work in German language- Stolperschritte -, which was chosen with the main intention of broadening students´ literary repertoire. After the application of the didactic sequence and the analysis of essays produced by the students in form of a reading diary (BUZZO, 2008; HINTZ, 2014), it was verified that a certain habitus (MONTE MÓR, 2007) predominates when teaching and learning foreign languages. Regarding this habitus the literary text, for example, is taken as an input for communication and ultimately determines the expectations of the students when working with literary texts in GFL. Furthermore, it was concluded that more focus should be placed on the development of language-based learning. Finally some suggestions for the improvement of the developed didactic sequence were offered. Thus, it is hoped that this research can collaborate to the future development of other didactic works in this context.

The present work deals with the motif of money in contemporary German literature, taking as examples the two novels <i>Die Nacht der Händler</i> (1995) by Gert Heidenreich and <i>MOI</i> by Heiko Michael Hartmann (1997). This motif is investigated through an analysis based mainly on four monetary theories: Karl Marx's <i>Das Kapital</i>, Georg Simmel's <i>Philosophie des Geldes</i>, Niklas Luhmann's <i>Die Wirtschaft der Gesellschaft</i> and Jochen Hörisch's <i>Kopf oder Zahl. Die Poesie des Geldes</i>. Additionally, theorists such as Jean Baudrillard and Marshall McLuhan will be included in the work. Both relatively recent narratives choose to depict money as subject to dysfunction, and by this means show the dependence of western society on the monetary system. Following Jochen Hörisch's argument, this thesis shows that money is the leading medium of modern times: without it, the entire social system would collapse. Through its failure to function as expected, it becomes obvious that money (an artificial human invention) turns against its creator, since money is not only responsible for how people perceive reality but is also the determining factor for human conduct in western society. In depicting this dysfunction, both novels deal with money in its most prominent recent forms - in Heidenreich's novel, virtual money; in Hartmann's, the Euro. These new money form has a big impact on society, as the novels show. As <i>Die Nacht der Händler</i> demonstrates, money is nowadays the reality-generating medium, which has become congruent with the real reality (as far as it is generally perceivable). Money obscures reality; because it duplicates the world and yet remains an abstract medium, this doubling causes people to become estranged from the world, its objects and also themselves. This process culminates in the development of virtual money, which reduces everything to a binary code of zeroes and ones. The growing virtualization of other media further amplifies people's alienation. Because money is the ruling medium in our society, humanity is in the grasp of the "Midas touch," as described by Marshall McLuhan. Money encodes everything, even human conduct. According to Georg Simmel, in a monetarily-ruled society lack of character, recklessness and greediness increase, since this is what money requires. In a rationalized society one can only be successful who acts in selfish interests. The MOI-disease passed on by infected currency in Hartmann's novel is an ego-disease, because humans have become increasingly self-centered since the invention of money. Together with the new media, money causes the diminishment and brutalization of human relations, whereby the individual becomes more and more an object of money-ruled processes, as Hartmann in particular shows. Money thus destroys the subject. This thesis also shows, on the basis of the two novels, how money in modern times has come to replace the older medium of religion, as Jochen Hörisch has argued. Money creates an alliance with the new electronic media, thus strengthening its reality-generating abilities. It is no longer religion that is responsible for giving meaning to our lives, but rather this new alliance. Both novels demand a return to cultural roots: Heidenreich does so by opposing the counting (<i>Zahlen/Zählen</i>) in modern society with the old medium of narration (<i>Erzählen</i>). Hartmann, on the other hand, comes to the conclusion that real knowledge can only be reached by religion and philosophy, since they show the way to one's own real self.

This thesis investigates the assimilation and/or integration of German families in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario into Anglo-Canadian culture. By administering questionnaires to and interviewing members in three three-generational families (n=29), different factors involved in an effort to ascertain what factors, if any, determine one's decision to pass on or continue learning German. The thesis proposes that if participants have a positive attitude towards German, i. e. , they see some use or value in it, then they will pass it on to the following generation. The first chapter outlines the aims of the study, methodology, and important terms. The second chapter describes previous research on the topic of immigrant integration in more detail, explaining the influences of external agents such as the government, school system, and media, and more 'internal' agents such as one's circle of friends and other social contacts as well as the family. The third chapter describes the three families and summarizes the main characteristics of each generation. Chapter four reports the results of the questionnaires and interviews. Chapter five, the conclusion, suggests which individual factors need to be studied further. The findings in this study suggest that there is no single factor which decides if those of German heritage decide to pass on their language or continue learning/using it themselves, or if they prefer to assimilate into Anglo-Canadian culture. Two factors did prove to be very important, namely the practicality of learning German, and how important one's heritage was to a participant. However, not even the presence of these two variables guaranteed a desire to continue learning German, demonstrating that numerous variables are taken into consideration when deciding whether to continue learning German and/or to pass it on to the next generation.

The following thesis examines Süskind?s novella <em>Die Taube</em> (1987) and his short-story <em>Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer</em> (1991) with respect to the literary identities of the outsiders Jonathan Noel and Herr Sommer. The theoretical framework is based on the deep hermeneutic analysis of Alfred Lorenzer?s literary-psychoanalytic theory (1986) which affords one the opportunity of analyzing the personality and concept of life of the literary figures by examining their interactional patterns and relationship to society.

The film <em>Der Untergang</em> (2004), directed by Oliver HIRSCHBIEGEL and written and produced by Bernd EICHINGER, is based on Joachim FEST's historical monograph <em>Der Untergang</em> (2002) and Traudl JUNGE's and Melissa MÜLLER's <em>Bis zur letzten Stunde</em> (2003). Taking place in April, 1945, the movie depicts the last days of Adolf Hitler and his staff in the 'Führerbunker'. The appearance of the film sparked wide-spread controversy concerning the propriety of Germans illuminating this most controversial aspect of their history. Specifically, the debate centred on the historical accuracy of the film and the dangers associated with the filmmakers' goal of portraying Hitler not as a caricature or one-sided figure but rather as a complete human being whose troubles and human qualities might well earn the sympathy of the viewers. <br /><br /> After surveying a variety of films that portray Adolf Hitler, the thesis analyses <em>Der Untergang</em> by focusing first on the cinematic and narrative aspects of the film itself and then on the figure of Hitler. It aims to demonstrate that the presentation of Hitler as a complex character reflects the circumstances of the film's time and culture. In particular, this thesis discusses two main aspects: first, it describes a figure of Hitler constructed in the film and conveyed to the viewers; second, it demonstrates that the film's construction of Hitler is embedded in the sociocultural context of the film's creation, thereby establishing that this is a Hitler for contemporary German society and the current state of German culture's reckoning with its fascist past. <br /><br /> The results of the analysis, in particular the depiction of Hitler and the representation of death and suicide, demonstrate that the film presents a multiple point of view. The film also faces the problematic issue of representing history adequately. The consideration of the German sociocultural context brings up some reasons that can explain the increased interest in the personal side of the perpetrators and especially in the figure of Hitler. <br /><br /> Finally, this thesis maintains that <em>Der Untergang</em> gives a complex but subsequently inconsistent picture of Adolf Hitler because it gets entangled by the attempt to be informative and entertaining at the same time. Though the film cannot replace historical investigation and analysis, it still informs Germans about Adolf Hitler and reflects how their society deals with its own troubled past.

The role of women in society was an important socio?cultural discourse explored in the literature of the late 19th century. The Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler was a key contributor to this discourse. He was well known for the psychological portrayal of his characters and the sexualization of his literary types, especially of his female characters, and in his writings he dared to break societal taboos. Schnitzler created a wide array of social types, such as the "integrated woman," the "ageing spinster," the "woman of the world," the "prostitute" and the widely discussed type the "süße Mädel" ("sweet girl"). In this thesis, however, I will focus on one of the less examined female types in Schnitzler's work: the "widow. " I will examine two narratives by Schnitzler that concentrate on the widow "Frau Berta Garlan" (1901) and "Frau Beate und ihr Sohn" (1913), to investigate this type and to examine the modes of gendered identity?formation as portrayed in the literary texts. <br /><br /> To examine the gender?types that the protagonists reflect in the search for their identity, I will undertake an intratextual analysis of the text, based on the central premises of Michel Foucault's discourse analysis and Judith Butler's analysis of gender as construct. Within this constructivist paradigm of gender and identity, I will undertake a textual analysis of character representation to demonstrate how identity is formed within the constraints of hegemonic discourses, and how resistance against these preformed modes of identity is predicated by fixed notions of social norms. <br /><br /> The texts focus on the lives of the two female protagonists. Both are widowed and fail to break out of the constraints forced upon them by society. With the awakening of their sexual desire, they are caught in an identity crisis, their desires standing at odds with the asexual identity they must assume as widows. In their attempt to combine their sexual desires with their desire to remain respectable in the eyes of society, the widows eventually fail since normative discourses of gender identity do not allow for alternative identities. Although the texts demonstrate the impossibility of living identities that contravene the central tenets of social norm, that the individual is not free to fashion its own identity, Schnitzler's texts also debunk the myth of a natural gender identity and subvert its fatalistic message by demonstrating clearly the constructed character of gender almost a century before the advent of poststructuralist gender?theory.

The authors and translators Erich Arendt and Hans Magnus Enzensberger are two key figures in German literature after 1945, known especially for their appropriation of foreign literatures. They both contributed extensively to the reception of Modern Latin American and Spanish Poetry in East and West Germany by translating poets such as Pablo Neruda, César Vallejo and Rafael Alberti. This is the first study to explore the asymmetrically intertwined literary conditions of the two author-translator figures with regard to the ways in which engaging with a foreign text opens up a perspective on the author-translator’s own poetology.

The topic of this Master's thesis is "Intercultural 'Landeskunde' in the field of German as a foreign language at Canadian unversities: a documentation of a case study in the Department of German Studies at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada". In the introduction "Landeskunde" itself will be defined as well as its role in the teaching of a language. The three main approaches to "Landeskunde" will be studied, by which more emphasis will be laid on the intercultural approach, which will then be elucidated through a practical example. In chapters two, three and four the background information leading up to the development and implementation of the new "Landeskunde" course will be explained. In the main chapter of the thesis, chapter five, the structure of the course will be presented and analysed in detail. This chapter will be completed by a documentation of the course materials used, quotes from the students' logbooks as well as a summary of the main ideas and suggestions for improvement. The sixth chapter is a general assessment of the course, demonstrating how it could be used as a model for intercultural learning in Canadian universities and as such offer suggestions for alternative methods in the teaching of German as a foreign language.

A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo apresentar uma proposta para o ensino de língua alemã no contexto do curso superior em Letras-Alemão da USP, tomando como base a leitura e o trabalho com uma obra da literatura infantojuvenil em língua alemã. Partindo do pressuposto de que o ensino de línguas estrangeiras nesse contexto envolve, além da aprendizagem de habilidades receptivas e produtivas, também a reflexão sobre a língua (FFLCH, 2013, s/p.), desenvolveu-se e aplicou-se uma sequência didática que tomasse o texto literário como base para a aprendizagem de e sobre a língua alemã. Para isso, foram essenciais tanto os conceitos da didática da literariedade (DOBSTADT, 2009; DOBSTADT & RIEDNER, 2011, 2013, 2014) e da competência simbólica (KRAMSCH, 2006, 2011), no que diz respeito ao trabalho com textos literários em ALE, quanto concepções didáticas sobre planejamento de cursos e aulas (BIMMEL; KAST; NEUNER, 2011; ENDE et al. 2013; RICHARDS, 2011). O objetivo central da sequência didática foi levar os estudantes a perceber e refletir sobre como os sentidos são construídos na língua estrangeira em uso, partindo-se da leitura e análise de diversos elementos de uma obra da literatura infantojuvenil em língua alemã Stolperschritte que foi escolhida com o intuito principal de ampliar o repertório literário dos estudantes. Após a aplicação da sequência didática e da análise de redações produzidas pelos estudantes a partir de um diário de leitura (BUZZO, 2008; HINTZ, 2014), constatou-se que predomina um certo habitus interpretativo (MONTE MÓR, 2007) no ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras, que toma o texto literário como insumo para comunicação e que acaba determinando as expectativas dos estudantes sobre como trabalhar com o texto literário em ALE. Além disso, concluiu-se que é preciso focar mais no desenvolvimento de uma aprendizagem pautada na reflexão sobre a língua e ofereceu-se, por fim, algumas sugestões de como a sequência didática desenvolvida poderia ser melhorada. Com isso, espera-se que essa pesquisa possa colaborar para que outros trabalhos didáticos voltados para esse contexto venham a ser desenvolvidos futuramente. / This research aims to present a proposal for the teaching of German in the context of higher education in German Studies at the University of São Paulo, based on the reading and analysis of a children\'s literature work in German language. Considering the assumption that teaching of foreign languages in this context involves, in addition to receptive and productive skills, also reflection on the language (FFLCH, 2013, s/p.), a didactic sequence, which had a literary text as basis for the learning of and about the German language, was developed and applied. In order to achieve this goal, both concepts of didactic literacy (DOBSTADT, 2009; DOBSTADT & RIEDNER, 2011, 2013, 2014) and of symbolic competence (KRAMSCH, 2006, 2011) were essential for working with literary texts in German as a Foreign Language, as well as theories about didactic conceptions for course and class planning (BIMMEL; KAST; NEUNER, 2011; ENDE et al., 2013; RICHARDS, 2011). The central purpose of the didactic sequence was to get students to perceive and reflect on how the meanings are constructed in the foreign language in use, starting with the reading and analysis of several elements of a children´s literature work in German language- Stolperschritte -, which was chosen with the main intention of broadening students´ literary repertoire. After the application of the didactic sequence and the analysis of essays produced by the students in form of a reading diary (BUZZO, 2008; HINTZ, 2014), it was verified that a certain habitus (MONTE MÓR, 2007) predominates when teaching and learning foreign languages. Regarding this habitus the literary text, for example, is taken as an input for communication and ultimately determines the expectations of the students when working with literary texts in GFL. Furthermore, it was concluded that more focus should be placed on the development of language-based learning. Finally some suggestions for the improvement of the developed didactic sequence were offered. Thus, it is hoped that this research can collaborate to the future development of other didactic works in this context.