Berlin, capital of the Weimar Republic between the two World Wars, was one of the most exciting cities in Europe–the place of the most radical experimentation in the visual and performing arts, in mass entertainment and theater, in literature and architecture. Berlin was a laboratory of modernity. While the cultural stage was vibrant and intoxicating, the celebrated roaring twenties also was haunted by the shell shock of World War I and by economic instability, social upheaval, and political turmoil. This class explores avant-garde movements like Expressionism and Dada, as well as major works like Bertolt Brecht’s innovative play Three Penny Opera and Fritz Lang’s monumental film Metropolis. In this seminar we will consider the period’s challenges to notions of art, vast social changes, and the impact of mass culture and technological developments on twentieth-century sensibilities. And we will come to see why this period still fascinates us today.
