Discussion of various approaches to writing about literature and film (from research papers to reviews, polemical essays, and informal articles). Students will be trained in the various aspects of composition: locating and organizing material, using sources, building arguments, revising, and editing. This includes analyzing different critical discourses, as well as the implied reader and other relevant theoretical issues. This is a required course for students majoring in Comparative Literature and first-year students are urged to register for it.

This course is primarily an introduction to key concepts and methods for the analysis of film. The first half of the semester will be devoted to a systematic engagement with the language of film, by addressing in considerable detail cinematography, editing, narrative, sound, etc. Screening sessions will allow students to apply the concepts studied to specific film texts. The second half of the course will emphasize different modes of filmmaking (including documentary and experimental cinema), and introduce criticism addressing both film genre and authorship.

Few nations have contributed more to the art of cinema than France.  This course covers the history of French cinema from its beginning until today.  In the course we go over major  keyworks,  movements and currents, putting them in a social context at each given time.  The French New Wave and the “auteur” concept will receive special attention.  French contemporary cinema is introduced and the course highlights exciting and interesting new French film directors. Among the films that will be screened in class are Napoléon (1927) by Abel Gance, Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Godard, Le Samouraï (1967) by Jean-Pierre Melville, La haine (1995) by Mathieu Kassovitz, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) by Céline Sciamma og Titane (2021) by Julie Ducournau.

In this course, a number of  wonder tales will be read and analysed, especially from the viewpoint of what they have to say about society. Emphasis will be placed on the folk tale tradition, the performances of storytellers, the way they regularly recreate stories, and then the various motifs that they use in this process. The wonder tales will also be analysed from the viewpoint of the variety of raw material that was available for use in such recreation, and with regard to the range of variants and story types that were known, different motifs being compared in the process. Following this, attempts will be made to consider the "meaning" of different wonder tales. They will also be examined with regard to their social meaning and context, especially with regard to the nature of the society that helped shape them, and then how they are now reused and recreated in different media.

The course will review the career of Loftur Guðmundsson, one of the main pioneers of Icelandic film history. In the course, we will examine Loftur's filmmaking and look at his better-known films along with newly discovered nuggets of great cultural and historical value for Iceland. Loftur the photographer will be explored, but first and foremost the filmmaker will be examined, and students will have the opportunity to view newly scanned material from the Icelandic Film Archive and participate in new discoveries about this remarkable filmmaker.

Loftur was widely involved in Icelandic filmmaking, at its beginning in the 1920s he began making promotional films about the country, its nation, and various companies that were willing to pay him. Loftur was active in the 1930s and, among other things, made the first Icelandic commercial for margerine company. He is probably best known for having made the first full length Icelandic feature film, Milli fjalls og fjöru in 1949. Loftur died prematurely in 1952.

The course is taught in collaboration with the Icelandic Film Archive.

The „zone“ (r. zona) is at once a non-place and stark reality, the source from which artistic works such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979) originate but also closely intertwined with the darkest corners of the Russian national soul: The nightmare behind the dream of the Soviet Union as a model state, the Second World War, the Gulag, the Chernobyl disaster, the invasion of Ukraine. 

The class will examine representations of „the Zone“ in the Russian films of Tarkovsky (Stalker and Solaris, 1972), the married couple Larisa Shepitko (The Ascent, 1977) and Elem Klimov (Come and See, 1985), Ilya Khrzhanovsky (4, 2004 and DAU, 2019), and others. Inquiries will be made into the metaphysical foundations and the affective reactions of „the zone“ – not only in films but also in Russian literature, Russian-Ukrainian video games and musical works originating on both sides of the newly re-arisen Iron Curtain. 

The class will lead students to the borders of east and west, place and non-place, horror and beauty, trauma and transcendence. The study of the peaks of Russian and Soviet cinema through the prism of „the zone“ endows students with a precious hermeneutic key – not only to Russian/Soviet/Slavic history and culture but also to pressing philosophical, ecological, historical and aesthetic questions that citizens of the Western world face in the 21st century. 

The path leads into uncertainty, mystery, creation, the darkness of the human soul. 

In-class discussions will be emphasized as well as class presentations (in the latter half of the course) in order to foster dialogue, independent understanding and the open and mutually beneficial approach to class materials for students as well as the teacher. 

A survey course which will focus on chief aspects of film noir. Anselection of films from the period 1940-1999 will be analysed in order tonobserve the historical development of the genre. Some novels will also benread for comparison. Among the central films in the course are thenfollowing: The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Laura, Out of the past, Body Heat and The Last Seduction

This course is a historical overview of Japanese cinema from its origins in 1898 to the present day. Screenings are comprised of films by Japan's most prominent directors such as Ozu Yasujirō, Kurosawa Akira, and Mizoguchi Kenji, alongside examples that reflect important trends in contemporary Japanese film. While the course addresses questions regarding genre, style, and authorship, we will also work to situate these categories within the broader cultural, social, and historical currents of Japanese cinema. Topics include but are not limited to, the impact of WWII and occupation on Japanese filmmaking, the studio system, and the Japanese New Wave. 

Teaching language is English. 

This introductory course deals with global history from 1815 to the First World War. The connecting theme of the course is the development of democracy in the 19^th century, in a wide sense. Three interwoven issues are emphaised: 1)  Women’s rights and the women’s movement in relation with the right to vote (in general), the abolishment of slavery and social welfare. 2) These are discussed in relation with nationalism and the construction of nation states in relation with who is seen as citizen/subject. 3) And finally, a topic that touches upon the two first: the colonialism of European nations, as well as of the United States and Japan, and the its influence on African and Asian societies.

The course will discuss Ingmar Bergman's films, primarily the earliest films from the period 1950-60, where rebelling against patriarchy forms a sort of psychological core. Emphasis will be placed on the development of the theme of the religious man's need for some sort of sign from God in Sjunde inseglet (1956) in order to agree to believe in this cruel God in Jungfrukällan (1960) and onwards to a confrontation with the negative image of God in Såsom i spegel (1961), Nattvardsgästerna (1962) and Tystnaden (1963). Students will watch five films that will be discussed in class.

A historical overview of cinema from its emergence in the late 19th century to it contemporary role. The course will introduce students to influential film movements and styles from around the world, including Soviet Montage, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, classical Hollywood cinema, Italian Neorealism, Japanese Minimalism, the French New Wave, New German cinema, Third cinema, and Hong Kong action cinema. Diverse readings will provide a comprehensive overview supplementing screenings of key films. Particular emphasis will be placed on the aesthetic development of the film medium and its social and cultural relevance.

The course provides a historical overview of film theory, with students reading a wide range of texts by important theorists and philosophers of cinema, and watching historically relevant films. It will cover the work of such pioneers as Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Arnheim, Siegfried Kracauer and André Bazin, before addressing major theoretical shifts beginning with structuralism in the 1960s, while also including Althusserian Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial theory and cultural studies. Screened films will emphasize the heterogeneity of film theory and provide fruitful ground for further discussions.

Art films – or the „Art House“ – enjoys a level of prestige denied to some other types of cinema, genre films for example and films deemed to be „mere entertainment“. This involves the allocation of culture capital and manifests itself in a variety of ways, art films may screen in certain cinemas and they enjoy a robust life in the festival circuit. A certain sector of the audience – the film conneseur and the discriminating spectator – may even define themselves in relation to these films and the taste culture they represent.

But what is an art film? What is a non-art film, or unartistic cinema? Is the art film a mode of film practice, or is it a category of special, even transcendental masterpieces? Who decides? All films were once deemed highly suspect by the cultural elite – and to even consider aligning the medium with art would have been considered foolish, even vulgar – but when did that change and what has been the role of the art film in global film culture? These are among the questions that we will address in the class, in tandem with students being introduced to a series of films that have at one time or another been considered the high points of the medium as an art form.

The class will not however limit itself to the aesthetics and history of the art film, to contrary, the art film will also be examined through its opposites: trash cinema, the cult film, midnight movies and video nasties. We will also consider the impact of the dissolution of traditional categories of value in the postmodern as well as the relationship of cinephilia to the art house. The class will include texts by scholars and figures such as David Bordwell, Susan Sontag, François Truffaut, John Waters, Jeffrey Sconce and others. Among films screened in the class are Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927), Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953), Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966), Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989), Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1998), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (J. Sharman, 1975) and Polyester (John Waters, 1981).

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

The course centers on Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, examining selected works, adaptations, Japanese culture and society, and Kurosawa‘s legacy. We will discuss what sets Kurosawa apart as a director – his style, trademarks, and his impact on both Japanese and Western film culture.  Among the themes the course will focus on are the circumstances of war, the nuclear threat, various inner psychological struggles, power struggles, sexual violence, and crime. The stories conjure pictures of heroes and villains, the dissolution of the family, fights over inheritance, conflict between parents and children, bitter sibling rivalries and bloody, brutal murders, self-justification, and different points of view. The staging and style of drama draws inspiration from, among others, the Japanese theater world, such as the Noh theater tradition and legacy and samurai culture. There is also a clear tie to Japanese folklore. Many of Kurosawa‘s films also have forerunners in the Western film world, such as John Ford‘s cowboy westerns, the works of authors like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky, and even the Greek tragedies.   The films we will examine in the course include Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Ran (1985), Dreams (1990) and Rhapsody in August (1991). We will also read selected literary works (in whole or in part) that Kurosawa adapted for the screen, including works by Shakespeare and the Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In addition, we will look at films from other directors that bear marks of Kurosawa‘s influence. 

The objective of the course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of Italian cinema from the post-war to the present day. Through a dozen of films of the best known directors of the period, students will gain an understanding of the particular styles and achievements of the protagonists and the body of modern Italian cinema. The course will be comprised of lectures, group discussions and individual critical viewing. Students will play an active role in the discussions. Their participation is an important component of the course and their final grade.

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? International art exhibits shown in Iceland will be visited and tied into the course if possible.

This introductory course deals with international history in the 20th century with an emphasis on the changes in the international system and international politics.  Special attention wil be devoted to several themes: (1) the new state system after the end of World War I; (2) the impact of political ideologies, notably, communism and Nazism/fascism; (3) The origins and nature of World War II and its effects on decolonization and national liberation struggles in Africa and Asia; (4) the ideology of the Cold War and the power politics exercised by the United States and the Soviet Union; (5) geopolitical shifts in the present, especially with respect to strategic competition between the United States and China.

Both fixed and relative, lived and imagined, the North has been a reservoir of imaginary potential. In this potentiality, modern subjects -- local and distant -- might regenerate and reinvigorate. The North contains apparent contradictions: beautiful and terrifying, invigorating and deadly. The imagery of such an imagined and real north, read through history, folklore, literature, film, is the subject of this course. Comparative, interdisciplinary, and multi-sited, our investigations focus on the ways in which the construction of the North has been a contested field representing different agendas and offering divergent outcomes.

Teacher of the course: JoAnn Conrad

Few nations have contributed more to the art of cinema than France.  This course covers the history of French cinema from its beginning until today.  In the course we go over major  keyworks,  movements and currents, putting them in a social context at each given time.  The French New Wave and the “auteur” concept will receive special attention.  French contemporary cinema is introduced and the course highlights exciting and interesting new French film directors. Among the films that will be screened in class are Napoléon (1927) by Abel Gance, Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Godard, Le Samouraï (1967) by Jean-Pierre Melville, La haine (1995) by Mathieu Kassovitz, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) by Céline Sciamma og Titane (2021) by Julie Ducournau.

In this course, a number of  wonder tales will be read and analysed, especially from the viewpoint of what they have to say about society. Emphasis will be placed on the folk tale tradition, the performances of storytellers, the way they regularly recreate stories, and then the various motifs that they use in this process. The wonder tales will also be analysed from the viewpoint of the variety of raw material that was available for use in such recreation, and with regard to the range of variants and story types that were known, different motifs being compared in the process. Following this, attempts will be made to consider the "meaning" of different wonder tales. They will also be examined with regard to their social meaning and context, especially with regard to the nature of the society that helped shape them, and then how they are now reused and recreated in different media.

The course will review the career of Loftur Guðmundsson, one of the main pioneers of Icelandic film history. In the course, we will examine Loftur's filmmaking and look at his better-known films along with newly discovered nuggets of great cultural and historical value for Iceland. Loftur the photographer will be explored, but first and foremost the filmmaker will be examined, and students will have the opportunity to view newly scanned material from the Icelandic Film Archive and participate in new discoveries about this remarkable filmmaker.

Loftur was widely involved in Icelandic filmmaking, at its beginning in the 1920s he began making promotional films about the country, its nation, and various companies that were willing to pay him. Loftur was active in the 1930s and, among other things, made the first Icelandic commercial for margerine company. He is probably best known for having made the first full length Icelandic feature film, Milli fjalls og fjöru in 1949. Loftur died prematurely in 1952.

The course is taught in collaboration with the Icelandic Film Archive.

The „zone“ (r. zona) is at once a non-place and stark reality, the source from which artistic works such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979) originate but also closely intertwined with the darkest corners of the Russian national soul: The nightmare behind the dream of the Soviet Union as a model state, the Second World War, the Gulag, the Chernobyl disaster, the invasion of Ukraine. 

The class will examine representations of „the Zone“ in the Russian films of Tarkovsky (Stalker and Solaris, 1972), the married couple Larisa Shepitko (The Ascent, 1977) and Elem Klimov (Come and See, 1985), Ilya Khrzhanovsky (4, 2004 and DAU, 2019), and others. Inquiries will be made into the metaphysical foundations and the affective reactions of „the zone“ – not only in films but also in Russian literature, Russian-Ukrainian video games and musical works originating on both sides of the newly re-arisen Iron Curtain. 

The class will lead students to the borders of east and west, place and non-place, horror and beauty, trauma and transcendence. The study of the peaks of Russian and Soviet cinema through the prism of „the zone“ endows students with a precious hermeneutic key – not only to Russian/Soviet/Slavic history and culture but also to pressing philosophical, ecological, historical and aesthetic questions that citizens of the Western world face in the 21st century. 

The path leads into uncertainty, mystery, creation, the darkness of the human soul. 

In-class discussions will be emphasized as well as class presentations (in the latter half of the course) in order to foster dialogue, independent understanding and the open and mutually beneficial approach to class materials for students as well as the teacher. 

A survey course which will focus on chief aspects of film noir. Anselection of films from the period 1940-1999 will be analysed in order tonobserve the historical development of the genre. Some novels will also benread for comparison. Among the central films in the course are thenfollowing: The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Laura, Out of the past, Body Heat and The Last Seduction

This course is a historical overview of Japanese cinema from its origins in 1898 to the present day. Screenings are comprised of films by Japan's most prominent directors such as Ozu Yasujirō, Kurosawa Akira, and Mizoguchi Kenji, alongside examples that reflect important trends in contemporary Japanese film. While the course addresses questions regarding genre, style, and authorship, we will also work to situate these categories within the broader cultural, social, and historical currents of Japanese cinema. Topics include but are not limited to, the impact of WWII and occupation on Japanese filmmaking, the studio system, and the Japanese New Wave. 

Teaching language is English. 

This introductory course deals with global history from 1815 to the First World War. The connecting theme of the course is the development of democracy in the 19^th century, in a wide sense. Three interwoven issues are emphaised: 1)  Women’s rights and the women’s movement in relation with the right to vote (in general), the abolishment of slavery and social welfare. 2) These are discussed in relation with nationalism and the construction of nation states in relation with who is seen as citizen/subject. 3) And finally, a topic that touches upon the two first: the colonialism of European nations, as well as of the United States and Japan, and the its influence on African and Asian societies.

The course will discuss Ingmar Bergman's films, primarily the earliest films from the period 1950-60, where rebelling against patriarchy forms a sort of psychological core. Emphasis will be placed on the development of the theme of the religious man's need for some sort of sign from God in Sjunde inseglet (1956) in order to agree to believe in this cruel God in Jungfrukällan (1960) and onwards to a confrontation with the negative image of God in Såsom i spegel (1961), Nattvardsgästerna (1962) and Tystnaden (1963). Students will watch five films that will be discussed in class.

BA-thesis in film studies

What does Sunset Boulevard, double entendres, self-censorship, the Coen Brothers, and #metoo have in common? They all reveal that Hollywood is not quite the fantasy it poses to be.

A very real place and industry within Los Angeles, California, Hollywood has led in film production since the beginning of narrative film, yet its magic is created within the bland and sometimes devastating concrete lots, sound stages and offices of producers and agents.

This course aims to explore the reality of Hollywood and how it has functioned over time, to examine and critique its presentation and reputation through film and media. The course includes critical viewings of films that are based on both the myth and reality of Hollywood as well as critical readings on historical context, news/gossip, and the history of American narrative film.

Only 35 seats are available for ENS352M. Once the course is filled please contact Nikkita (nhp1@hi.is) to be added onto a waiting list in case a spot opens up.

The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

Art films – or the „Art House“ – enjoys a level of prestige denied to some other types of cinema, genre films for example and films deemed to be „mere entertainment“. This involves the allocation of culture capital and manifests itself in a variety of ways, art films may screen in certain cinemas and they enjoy a robust life in the festival circuit. A certain sector of the audience – the film conneseur and the discriminating spectator – may even define themselves in relation to these films and the taste culture they represent.

But what is an art film? What is a non-art film, or unartistic cinema? Is the art film a mode of film practice, or is it a category of special, even transcendental masterpieces? Who decides? All films were once deemed highly suspect by the cultural elite – and to even consider aligning the medium with art would have been considered foolish, even vulgar – but when did that change and what has been the role of the art film in global film culture? These are among the questions that we will address in the class, in tandem with students being introduced to a series of films that have at one time or another been considered the high points of the medium as an art form.

The class will not however limit itself to the aesthetics and history of the art film, to contrary, the art film will also be examined through its opposites: trash cinema, the cult film, midnight movies and video nasties. We will also consider the impact of the dissolution of traditional categories of value in the postmodern as well as the relationship of cinephilia to the art house. The class will include texts by scholars and figures such as David Bordwell, Susan Sontag, François Truffaut, John Waters, Jeffrey Sconce and others. Among films screened in the class are Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927), Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953), Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966), Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989), Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1998), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (J. Sharman, 1975) and Polyester (John Waters, 1981).

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

The course centers on Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, examining selected works, adaptations, Japanese culture and society, and Kurosawa‘s legacy. We will discuss what sets Kurosawa apart as a director – his style, trademarks, and his impact on both Japanese and Western film culture.  Among the themes the course will focus on are the circumstances of war, the nuclear threat, various inner psychological struggles, power struggles, sexual violence, and crime. The stories conjure pictures of heroes and villains, the dissolution of the family, fights over inheritance, conflict between parents and children, bitter sibling rivalries and bloody, brutal murders, self-justification, and different points of view. The staging and style of drama draws inspiration from, among others, the Japanese theater world, such as the Noh theater tradition and legacy and samurai culture. There is also a clear tie to Japanese folklore. Many of Kurosawa‘s films also have forerunners in the Western film world, such as John Ford‘s cowboy westerns, the works of authors like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky, and even the Greek tragedies.   The films we will examine in the course include Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Ran (1985), Dreams (1990) and Rhapsody in August (1991). We will also read selected literary works (in whole or in part) that Kurosawa adapted for the screen, including works by Shakespeare and the Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In addition, we will look at films from other directors that bear marks of Kurosawa‘s influence. 

The objective of the course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of Italian cinema from the post-war to the present day. Through a dozen of films of the best known directors of the period, students will gain an understanding of the particular styles and achievements of the protagonists and the body of modern Italian cinema. The course will be comprised of lectures, group discussions and individual critical viewing. Students will play an active role in the discussions. Their participation is an important component of the course and their final grade.

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? International art exhibits shown in Iceland will be visited and tied into the course if possible.

This introductory course deals with international history in the 20th century with an emphasis on the changes in the international system and international politics.  Special attention wil be devoted to several themes: (1) the new state system after the end of World War I; (2) the impact of political ideologies, notably, communism and Nazism/fascism; (3) The origins and nature of World War II and its effects on decolonization and national liberation struggles in Africa and Asia; (4) the ideology of the Cold War and the power politics exercised by the United States and the Soviet Union; (5) geopolitical shifts in the present, especially with respect to strategic competition between the United States and China.

Both fixed and relative, lived and imagined, the North has been a reservoir of imaginary potential. In this potentiality, modern subjects -- local and distant -- might regenerate and reinvigorate. The North contains apparent contradictions: beautiful and terrifying, invigorating and deadly. The imagery of such an imagined and real north, read through history, folklore, literature, film, is the subject of this course. Comparative, interdisciplinary, and multi-sited, our investigations focus on the ways in which the construction of the North has been a contested field representing different agendas and offering divergent outcomes.

Teacher of the course: JoAnn Conrad

BA-thesis in film studies

An interdisciplinary and introductory course entailing a dialogue between the academic fields of the department, i.e. comparative literature, film studies, gender studies, art studies, linguistics, cultural studies, sign language and interpreting studies and translation studies. The latest international developments in the field of humanities will be examined and questions asked about the relationship of academic studies and our world view(s). We will analyse the semiotic system of language, inquiring whether it can serve as the basis for our understanding of other semiotic systems. We will ask about the connection and relationship between different languages and linguistic worlds. What is "multiculture"? How are spoken language, written language and visual language interconnected within society? What constitutes cultural literacy? Literature, art, film and other visual material will be examined in both a national and international context, with a view to how these semiotic systems influence the borderlines of gender, race, class, nation, and different world cultures. The study materials include theoretical and critical writings, literary works, visual art and images, and films, as well as some current media coverage. Evaluation is based on four assignments and a written exam.

Discussion of various approaches to writing about literature and film (from research papers to reviews, polemical essays, and informal articles). Students will be trained in the various aspects of composition: locating and organizing material, using sources, building arguments, revising, and editing. This includes analyzing different critical discourses, as well as the implied reader and other relevant theoretical issues. This is a required course for students majoring in Comparative Literature and first-year students are urged to register for it.

This course is primarily an introduction to key concepts and methods for the analysis of film. The first half of the semester will be devoted to a systematic engagement with the language of film, by addressing in considerable detail cinematography, editing, narrative, sound, etc. Screening sessions will allow students to apply the concepts studied to specific film texts. The second half of the course will emphasize different modes of filmmaking (including documentary and experimental cinema), and introduce criticism addressing both film genre and authorship.

Few nations have contributed more to the art of cinema than France.  This course covers the history of French cinema from its beginning until today.  In the course we go over major  keyworks,  movements and currents, putting them in a social context at each given time.  The French New Wave and the “auteur” concept will receive special attention.  French contemporary cinema is introduced and the course highlights exciting and interesting new French film directors. Among the films that will be screened in class are Napoléon (1927) by Abel Gance, Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Godard, Le Samouraï (1967) by Jean-Pierre Melville, La haine (1995) by Mathieu Kassovitz, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) by Céline Sciamma og Titane (2021) by Julie Ducournau.

In this course, a number of  wonder tales will be read and analysed, especially from the viewpoint of what they have to say about society. Emphasis will be placed on the folk tale tradition, the performances of storytellers, the way they regularly recreate stories, and then the various motifs that they use in this process. The wonder tales will also be analysed from the viewpoint of the variety of raw material that was available for use in such recreation, and with regard to the range of variants and story types that were known, different motifs being compared in the process. Following this, attempts will be made to consider the "meaning" of different wonder tales. They will also be examined with regard to their social meaning and context, especially with regard to the nature of the society that helped shape them, and then how they are now reused and recreated in different media.

The course will review the career of Loftur Guðmundsson, one of the main pioneers of Icelandic film history. In the course, we will examine Loftur's filmmaking and look at his better-known films along with newly discovered nuggets of great cultural and historical value for Iceland. Loftur the photographer will be explored, but first and foremost the filmmaker will be examined, and students will have the opportunity to view newly scanned material from the Icelandic Film Archive and participate in new discoveries about this remarkable filmmaker.

Loftur was widely involved in Icelandic filmmaking, at its beginning in the 1920s he began making promotional films about the country, its nation, and various companies that were willing to pay him. Loftur was active in the 1930s and, among other things, made the first Icelandic commercial for margerine company. He is probably best known for having made the first full length Icelandic feature film, Milli fjalls og fjöru in 1949. Loftur died prematurely in 1952.

The course is taught in collaboration with the Icelandic Film Archive.

The „zone“ (r. zona) is at once a non-place and stark reality, the source from which artistic works such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979) originate but also closely intertwined with the darkest corners of the Russian national soul: The nightmare behind the dream of the Soviet Union as a model state, the Second World War, the Gulag, the Chernobyl disaster, the invasion of Ukraine. 

The class will examine representations of „the Zone“ in the Russian films of Tarkovsky (Stalker and Solaris, 1972), the married couple Larisa Shepitko (The Ascent, 1977) and Elem Klimov (Come and See, 1985), Ilya Khrzhanovsky (4, 2004 and DAU, 2019), and others. Inquiries will be made into the metaphysical foundations and the affective reactions of „the zone“ – not only in films but also in Russian literature, Russian-Ukrainian video games and musical works originating on both sides of the newly re-arisen Iron Curtain. 

The class will lead students to the borders of east and west, place and non-place, horror and beauty, trauma and transcendence. The study of the peaks of Russian and Soviet cinema through the prism of „the zone“ endows students with a precious hermeneutic key – not only to Russian/Soviet/Slavic history and culture but also to pressing philosophical, ecological, historical and aesthetic questions that citizens of the Western world face in the 21st century. 

The path leads into uncertainty, mystery, creation, the darkness of the human soul. 

In-class discussions will be emphasized as well as class presentations (in the latter half of the course) in order to foster dialogue, independent understanding and the open and mutually beneficial approach to class materials for students as well as the teacher. 

A survey course which will focus on chief aspects of film noir. Anselection of films from the period 1940-1999 will be analysed in order tonobserve the historical development of the genre. Some novels will also benread for comparison. Among the central films in the course are thenfollowing: The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Laura, Out of the past, Body Heat and The Last Seduction

This course is a historical overview of Japanese cinema from its origins in 1898 to the present day. Screenings are comprised of films by Japan's most prominent directors such as Ozu Yasujirō, Kurosawa Akira, and Mizoguchi Kenji, alongside examples that reflect important trends in contemporary Japanese film. While the course addresses questions regarding genre, style, and authorship, we will also work to situate these categories within the broader cultural, social, and historical currents of Japanese cinema. Topics include but are not limited to, the impact of WWII and occupation on Japanese filmmaking, the studio system, and the Japanese New Wave. 

Teaching language is English. 

This introductory course deals with global history from 1815 to the First World War. The connecting theme of the course is the development of democracy in the 19^th century, in a wide sense. Three interwoven issues are emphaised: 1)  Women’s rights and the women’s movement in relation with the right to vote (in general), the abolishment of slavery and social welfare. 2) These are discussed in relation with nationalism and the construction of nation states in relation with who is seen as citizen/subject. 3) And finally, a topic that touches upon the two first: the colonialism of European nations, as well as of the United States and Japan, and the its influence on African and Asian societies.

The course will discuss Ingmar Bergman's films, primarily the earliest films from the period 1950-60, where rebelling against patriarchy forms a sort of psychological core. Emphasis will be placed on the development of the theme of the religious man's need for some sort of sign from God in Sjunde inseglet (1956) in order to agree to believe in this cruel God in Jungfrukällan (1960) and onwards to a confrontation with the negative image of God in Såsom i spegel (1961), Nattvardsgästerna (1962) and Tystnaden (1963). Students will watch five films that will be discussed in class.

A historical overview of cinema from its emergence in the late 19th century to it contemporary role. The course will introduce students to influential film movements and styles from around the world, including Soviet Montage, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, classical Hollywood cinema, Italian Neorealism, Japanese Minimalism, the French New Wave, New German cinema, Third cinema, and Hong Kong action cinema. Diverse readings will provide a comprehensive overview supplementing screenings of key films. Particular emphasis will be placed on the aesthetic development of the film medium and its social and cultural relevance.

The course provides a historical overview of film theory, with students reading a wide range of texts by important theorists and philosophers of cinema, and watching historically relevant films. It will cover the work of such pioneers as Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Arnheim, Siegfried Kracauer and André Bazin, before addressing major theoretical shifts beginning with structuralism in the 1960s, while also including Althusserian Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial theory and cultural studies. Screened films will emphasize the heterogeneity of film theory and provide fruitful ground for further discussions.

Art films – or the „Art House“ – enjoys a level of prestige denied to some other types of cinema, genre films for example and films deemed to be „mere entertainment“. This involves the allocation of culture capital and manifests itself in a variety of ways, art films may screen in certain cinemas and they enjoy a robust life in the festival circuit. A certain sector of the audience – the film conneseur and the discriminating spectator – may even define themselves in relation to these films and the taste culture they represent.

But what is an art film? What is a non-art film, or unartistic cinema? Is the art film a mode of film practice, or is it a category of special, even transcendental masterpieces? Who decides? All films were once deemed highly suspect by the cultural elite – and to even consider aligning the medium with art would have been considered foolish, even vulgar – but when did that change and what has been the role of the art film in global film culture? These are among the questions that we will address in the class, in tandem with students being introduced to a series of films that have at one time or another been considered the high points of the medium as an art form.

The class will not however limit itself to the aesthetics and history of the art film, to contrary, the art film will also be examined through its opposites: trash cinema, the cult film, midnight movies and video nasties. We will also consider the impact of the dissolution of traditional categories of value in the postmodern as well as the relationship of cinephilia to the art house. The class will include texts by scholars and figures such as David Bordwell, Susan Sontag, François Truffaut, John Waters, Jeffrey Sconce and others. Among films screened in the class are Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927), Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953), Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966), Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989), Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1998), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (J. Sharman, 1975) and Polyester (John Waters, 1981).

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

The course centers on Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, examining selected works, adaptations, Japanese culture and society, and Kurosawa‘s legacy. We will discuss what sets Kurosawa apart as a director – his style, trademarks, and his impact on both Japanese and Western film culture.  Among the themes the course will focus on are the circumstances of war, the nuclear threat, various inner psychological struggles, power struggles, sexual violence, and crime. The stories conjure pictures of heroes and villains, the dissolution of the family, fights over inheritance, conflict between parents and children, bitter sibling rivalries and bloody, brutal murders, self-justification, and different points of view. The staging and style of drama draws inspiration from, among others, the Japanese theater world, such as the Noh theater tradition and legacy and samurai culture. There is also a clear tie to Japanese folklore. Many of Kurosawa‘s films also have forerunners in the Western film world, such as John Ford‘s cowboy westerns, the works of authors like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky, and even the Greek tragedies.   The films we will examine in the course include Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Ran (1985), Dreams (1990) and Rhapsody in August (1991). We will also read selected literary works (in whole or in part) that Kurosawa adapted for the screen, including works by Shakespeare and the Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In addition, we will look at films from other directors that bear marks of Kurosawa‘s influence. 

The objective of the course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of Italian cinema from the post-war to the present day. Through a dozen of films of the best known directors of the period, students will gain an understanding of the particular styles and achievements of the protagonists and the body of modern Italian cinema. The course will be comprised of lectures, group discussions and individual critical viewing. Students will play an active role in the discussions. Their participation is an important component of the course and their final grade.

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? International art exhibits shown in Iceland will be visited and tied into the course if possible.

This introductory course deals with international history in the 20th century with an emphasis on the changes in the international system and international politics.  Special attention wil be devoted to several themes: (1) the new state system after the end of World War I; (2) the impact of political ideologies, notably, communism and Nazism/fascism; (3) The origins and nature of World War II and its effects on decolonization and national liberation struggles in Africa and Asia; (4) the ideology of the Cold War and the power politics exercised by the United States and the Soviet Union; (5) geopolitical shifts in the present, especially with respect to strategic competition between the United States and China.

Both fixed and relative, lived and imagined, the North has been a reservoir of imaginary potential. In this potentiality, modern subjects -- local and distant -- might regenerate and reinvigorate. The North contains apparent contradictions: beautiful and terrifying, invigorating and deadly. The imagery of such an imagined and real north, read through history, folklore, literature, film, is the subject of this course. Comparative, interdisciplinary, and multi-sited, our investigations focus on the ways in which the construction of the North has been a contested field representing different agendas and offering divergent outcomes.

Teacher of the course: JoAnn Conrad

Few nations have contributed more to the art of cinema than France.  This course covers the history of French cinema from its beginning until today.  In the course we go over major  keyworks,  movements and currents, putting them in a social context at each given time.  The French New Wave and the “auteur” concept will receive special attention.  French contemporary cinema is introduced and the course highlights exciting and interesting new French film directors. Among the films that will be screened in class are Napoléon (1927) by Abel Gance, Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Godard, Le Samouraï (1967) by Jean-Pierre Melville, La haine (1995) by Mathieu Kassovitz, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) by Céline Sciamma og Titane (2021) by Julie Ducournau.

In this course, a number of  wonder tales will be read and analysed, especially from the viewpoint of what they have to say about society. Emphasis will be placed on the folk tale tradition, the performances of storytellers, the way they regularly recreate stories, and then the various motifs that they use in this process. The wonder tales will also be analysed from the viewpoint of the variety of raw material that was available for use in such recreation, and with regard to the range of variants and story types that were known, different motifs being compared in the process. Following this, attempts will be made to consider the "meaning" of different wonder tales. They will also be examined with regard to their social meaning and context, especially with regard to the nature of the society that helped shape them, and then how they are now reused and recreated in different media.

The course will review the career of Loftur Guðmundsson, one of the main pioneers of Icelandic film history. In the course, we will examine Loftur's filmmaking and look at his better-known films along with newly discovered nuggets of great cultural and historical value for Iceland. Loftur the photographer will be explored, but first and foremost the filmmaker will be examined, and students will have the opportunity to view newly scanned material from the Icelandic Film Archive and participate in new discoveries about this remarkable filmmaker.

Loftur was widely involved in Icelandic filmmaking, at its beginning in the 1920s he began making promotional films about the country, its nation, and various companies that were willing to pay him. Loftur was active in the 1930s and, among other things, made the first Icelandic commercial for margerine company. He is probably best known for having made the first full length Icelandic feature film, Milli fjalls og fjöru in 1949. Loftur died prematurely in 1952.

The course is taught in collaboration with the Icelandic Film Archive.

The „zone“ (r. zona) is at once a non-place and stark reality, the source from which artistic works such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979) originate but also closely intertwined with the darkest corners of the Russian national soul: The nightmare behind the dream of the Soviet Union as a model state, the Second World War, the Gulag, the Chernobyl disaster, the invasion of Ukraine. 

The class will examine representations of „the Zone“ in the Russian films of Tarkovsky (Stalker and Solaris, 1972), the married couple Larisa Shepitko (The Ascent, 1977) and Elem Klimov (Come and See, 1985), Ilya Khrzhanovsky (4, 2004 and DAU, 2019), and others. Inquiries will be made into the metaphysical foundations and the affective reactions of „the zone“ – not only in films but also in Russian literature, Russian-Ukrainian video games and musical works originating on both sides of the newly re-arisen Iron Curtain. 

The class will lead students to the borders of east and west, place and non-place, horror and beauty, trauma and transcendence. The study of the peaks of Russian and Soviet cinema through the prism of „the zone“ endows students with a precious hermeneutic key – not only to Russian/Soviet/Slavic history and culture but also to pressing philosophical, ecological, historical and aesthetic questions that citizens of the Western world face in the 21st century. 

The path leads into uncertainty, mystery, creation, the darkness of the human soul. 

In-class discussions will be emphasized as well as class presentations (in the latter half of the course) in order to foster dialogue, independent understanding and the open and mutually beneficial approach to class materials for students as well as the teacher. 

A survey course which will focus on chief aspects of film noir. Anselection of films from the period 1940-1999 will be analysed in order tonobserve the historical development of the genre. Some novels will also benread for comparison. Among the central films in the course are thenfollowing: The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Laura, Out of the past, Body Heat and The Last Seduction

This course is a historical overview of Japanese cinema from its origins in 1898 to the present day. Screenings are comprised of films by Japan's most prominent directors such as Ozu Yasujirō, Kurosawa Akira, and Mizoguchi Kenji, alongside examples that reflect important trends in contemporary Japanese film. While the course addresses questions regarding genre, style, and authorship, we will also work to situate these categories within the broader cultural, social, and historical currents of Japanese cinema. Topics include but are not limited to, the impact of WWII and occupation on Japanese filmmaking, the studio system, and the Japanese New Wave. 

Teaching language is English. 

This introductory course deals with global history from 1815 to the First World War. The connecting theme of the course is the development of democracy in the 19^th century, in a wide sense. Three interwoven issues are emphaised: 1)  Women’s rights and the women’s movement in relation with the right to vote (in general), the abolishment of slavery and social welfare. 2) These are discussed in relation with nationalism and the construction of nation states in relation with who is seen as citizen/subject. 3) And finally, a topic that touches upon the two first: the colonialism of European nations, as well as of the United States and Japan, and the its influence on African and Asian societies.

The course will discuss Ingmar Bergman's films, primarily the earliest films from the period 1950-60, where rebelling against patriarchy forms a sort of psychological core. Emphasis will be placed on the development of the theme of the religious man's need for some sort of sign from God in Sjunde inseglet (1956) in order to agree to believe in this cruel God in Jungfrukällan (1960) and onwards to a confrontation with the negative image of God in Såsom i spegel (1961), Nattvardsgästerna (1962) and Tystnaden (1963). Students will watch five films that will be discussed in class.

BA-thesis in film studies

What does Sunset Boulevard, double entendres, self-censorship, the Coen Brothers, and #metoo have in common? They all reveal that Hollywood is not quite the fantasy it poses to be.

A very real place and industry within Los Angeles, California, Hollywood has led in film production since the beginning of narrative film, yet its magic is created within the bland and sometimes devastating concrete lots, sound stages and offices of producers and agents.

This course aims to explore the reality of Hollywood and how it has functioned over time, to examine and critique its presentation and reputation through film and media. The course includes critical viewings of films that are based on both the myth and reality of Hollywood as well as critical readings on historical context, news/gossip, and the history of American narrative film.

Only 35 seats are available for ENS352M. Once the course is filled please contact Nikkita (nhp1@hi.is) to be added onto a waiting list in case a spot opens up.

The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

Art films – or the „Art House“ – enjoys a level of prestige denied to some other types of cinema, genre films for example and films deemed to be „mere entertainment“. This involves the allocation of culture capital and manifests itself in a variety of ways, art films may screen in certain cinemas and they enjoy a robust life in the festival circuit. A certain sector of the audience – the film conneseur and the discriminating spectator – may even define themselves in relation to these films and the taste culture they represent.

But what is an art film? What is a non-art film, or unartistic cinema? Is the art film a mode of film practice, or is it a category of special, even transcendental masterpieces? Who decides? All films were once deemed highly suspect by the cultural elite – and to even consider aligning the medium with art would have been considered foolish, even vulgar – but when did that change and what has been the role of the art film in global film culture? These are among the questions that we will address in the class, in tandem with students being introduced to a series of films that have at one time or another been considered the high points of the medium as an art form.

The class will not however limit itself to the aesthetics and history of the art film, to contrary, the art film will also be examined through its opposites: trash cinema, the cult film, midnight movies and video nasties. We will also consider the impact of the dissolution of traditional categories of value in the postmodern as well as the relationship of cinephilia to the art house. The class will include texts by scholars and figures such as David Bordwell, Susan Sontag, François Truffaut, John Waters, Jeffrey Sconce and others. Among films screened in the class are Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927), Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953), Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966), Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989), Beau travail (Claire Denis, 1998), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (J. Sharman, 1975) and Polyester (John Waters, 1981).

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

The course centers on Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, examining selected works, adaptations, Japanese culture and society, and Kurosawa‘s legacy. We will discuss what sets Kurosawa apart as a director – his style, trademarks, and his impact on both Japanese and Western film culture.  Among the themes the course will focus on are the circumstances of war, the nuclear threat, various inner psychological struggles, power struggles, sexual violence, and crime. The stories conjure pictures of heroes and villains, the dissolution of the family, fights over inheritance, conflict between parents and children, bitter sibling rivalries and bloody, brutal murders, self-justification, and different points of view. The staging and style of drama draws inspiration from, among others, the Japanese theater world, such as the Noh theater tradition and legacy and samurai culture. There is also a clear tie to Japanese folklore. Many of Kurosawa‘s films also have forerunners in the Western film world, such as John Ford‘s cowboy westerns, the works of authors like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky, and even the Greek tragedies.   The films we will examine in the course include Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Ran (1985), Dreams (1990) and Rhapsody in August (1991). We will also read selected literary works (in whole or in part) that Kurosawa adapted for the screen, including works by Shakespeare and the Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In addition, we will look at films from other directors that bear marks of Kurosawa‘s influence. 

The objective of the course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of Italian cinema from the post-war to the present day. Through a dozen of films of the best known directors of the period, students will gain an understanding of the particular styles and achievements of the protagonists and the body of modern Italian cinema. The course will be comprised of lectures, group discussions and individual critical viewing. Students will play an active role in the discussions. Their participation is an important component of the course and their final grade.

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? International art exhibits shown in Iceland will be visited and tied into the course if possible.

This introductory course deals with international history in the 20th century with an emphasis on the changes in the international system and international politics.  Special attention wil be devoted to several themes: (1) the new state system after the end of World War I; (2) the impact of political ideologies, notably, communism and Nazism/fascism; (3) The origins and nature of World War II and its effects on decolonization and national liberation struggles in Africa and Asia; (4) the ideology of the Cold War and the power politics exercised by the United States and the Soviet Union; (5) geopolitical shifts in the present, especially with respect to strategic competition between the United States and China.

Both fixed and relative, lived and imagined, the North has been a reservoir of imaginary potential. In this potentiality, modern subjects -- local and distant -- might regenerate and reinvigorate. The North contains apparent contradictions: beautiful and terrifying, invigorating and deadly. The imagery of such an imagined and real north, read through history, folklore, literature, film, is the subject of this course. Comparative, interdisciplinary, and multi-sited, our investigations focus on the ways in which the construction of the North has been a contested field representing different agendas and offering divergent outcomes.

Teacher of the course: JoAnn Conrad

BA-thesis in film studies

An interdisciplinary and introductory course entailing a dialogue between the academic fields of the department, i.e. comparative literature, film studies, gender studies, art studies, linguistics, cultural studies, sign language and interpreting studies and translation studies. The latest international developments in the field of humanities will be examined and questions asked about the relationship of academic studies and our world view(s). We will analyse the semiotic system of language, inquiring whether it can serve as the basis for our understanding of other semiotic systems. We will ask about the connection and relationship between different languages and linguistic worlds. What is "multiculture"? How are spoken language, written language and visual language interconnected within society? What constitutes cultural literacy? Literature, art, film and other visual material will be examined in both a national and international context, with a view to how these semiotic systems influence the borderlines of gender, race, class, nation, and different world cultures. The study materials include theoretical and critical writings, literary works, visual art and images, and films, as well as some current media coverage. Evaluation is based on four assignments and a written exam.