Classical Philology Gone Wild! The Use of Classical Texts in the Film All Quiet on the Western Front
1st Student's Major
World Languages and Cultures
1st Student's College
Arts and Humanities
Students' Professional Biography
Tysen Dauer is a graduate and the 2005 valedictorian of Nicollet Public High School. He is currently a senior at Minnesota State University, Mankato where he will graduate with degrees in Humanities and German and a minor in Music. He is the recipient of a MSU, Mankato Presidential Scholarship and a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship to study in Germany during the summer of 2007. Tysen is also an active classical pianist who recently performed a recital of 20th century piano duet music and plans to performlocally commissioned compositions in the spring of 2008. His academic interests include Koine Greek, the history of Christianity, biblical studies, philosophical theology, and philosophy of religion. After graduation, Tysen plans to do community service work before pursuing an advanced degree in religion.
Mentor's Name
Nadja Krämer
Mentor's Email Address
nadja.kramer@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
World Languages and Cultures
Mentor's College
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
Studying the texts of the Greco-Roman era has long been a tradition in the West. Works such as The Odyssey, The Iliad, and The Republic were understood to be liberating texts which enabled students to think more critically and as a result live more wisely. Many of the leading scholars in this field of “Classical Texts” (also known as Classical Philology) hailed from 19th century Germany. The 1930 German film All Quiet on the Western Front presented viewers with a classroom scene set at the start of the First World War where selected classical texts were written on the chalkboard, apparently by the teacher. The camera brings the viewer in from a street scene and focuses on a teacher who is lecturing. The teacher, in an increasingly frenzied state, is persuading his students to join the German war effort. He used the classical tradition represented by the quotations on the chalkboard as ammunition for irrational and self-destructive thinking. He had taken a tradition valued for critical thought and just actions and turned it into an overemotional, anti-rational Nationalist machine. This project sought to understand the means by which the classical tradition was turned on its head and the implications and warnings which it held for viewers then and now.
Recommended Citation
Dauer, Tysen
(2007)
"Classical Philology Gone Wild! The Use of Classical Texts in the Film All Quiet on the Western Front,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 7, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1090
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol7/iss1/3
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