ENGL 40527 - Of Guests and Aliens: Transnational Immigration and Politics of Multiculturalism in European Cinema

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

The globalization of capital and labor over the course of the 20th century, as well as innovations in technology, telecommunications and international travel has created a political, social and economic interdependence among nation states. This globalization, however, has created a paradox where the transnationalization of capital, and advances in communication and technology promote a porosity of borders which increases and even advocates the mobility of people, while at the same time individual nation-states consciously control their borders in an attempt to contain the presumed homogeneity of their cultures. This is particularly evident in Europe, where European national borders have become unstable due to geopolitical changes like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Balkan wars, and the constant growth of the European Union. This seminar will examine fundamental aspects of immigration in the European Union and the way this is represented in contemporary film. The course is loosely divided into four thematic units. The first will consider the paradox where on the one hand the European Union in its constant growth promotes a cosmopolitan, borderless society, while on the other hand it attempts to curb what it considers an invasion by the immigrant other. In the second unit we will examine the legacies of France's and England's colonial past and how second- and third-generation national subjects enrich and complicate the countries' cultural terrains. In addition, we will also examine how the effects of Germany's gasterbeiter (guest worker) program were initially represented in German cinema of the 1970s. In the the third unit we will study how the immigration wave of the early 1990s affected the southern European countries of Spain, Italy and Greece, and how the massive influx of immigrants challenges each country's preconceived notion of a homogeneously imagined community. We will spend the last part of the semester concentrating on subtler issues of nation, gender, politics and religion, and the possible solutions that directors offer in the beginning of the 21st century as a way of escaping the ideological and cultural impasse of the end of the 20th century.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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