Topics in 20th-Century Literature: Alexander Kluge in his Time

The literary author, filmmaker, and social theorist Alexander Kluge has produced a body of work since 1962 that functions as a seismograph for the culture of the Federal Republic of Germany. Focusing on work produced before the German "reunification," we examine Kluge's main works in literature, film, theory, and video on their own terms and in comparison to other important work by his contemporaries. A particular emphasis of the seminar is the manner in which Kluge represents an important branch of the second generation of the Frankfurt School, a branch that departs from the better known branch initiated by Jürgen Habermas.