GERM 470 | Writing with Light: Literature and Photography

From the very beginning of its history, photography has served as a device to reflect on and about representation. In this seminar students explore the many interrelations between literature and photography specifically in the German context as they are represented in genres of fiction, illustrated texts, autobiography, photo books, and others. Students will read and discuss selected texts, photo narratives, and combinations of photos and texts, as well as the supposed affinities and analogies between story-telling and photographic images. The course highlights theoretical texts about photography and its inclusion (or intrusion) into the literary discourse, including a short history of the medium.