Fiction literature and movies as a primary source

The main subject of the course is the question how primary sources of a fictional character – like novels and feature movies – could be used by historians in their analysis. Can such sources be regarded as reliable sources at all? What kind of critical questions should a historian formulate when using such sources? Is poetry useful as a source, or is it only a realistic novel that can be used by a historian? The same problems and issues appear when dealing with movies, especially feature (fiction) movies. But what about the documentary? Is a reliable and true primary source? Or an artistic creation of the director? The above questions will be asked when dealing with all examples of literature and movies. As an introduction to the course we’ll discuss methodological and theoretical problems. All movies and novels are only my proposition, I’m open to any new examples.

Upon completion of the course, the student is introduced to the basic knowledge how to deal with fictional primary sources like feature movies and belle lettre. Upon completion of the course, the student is familiar to the methodological aspects and is capable to analyse various examples of the above mentioned sources.