Picturing German: Teaching Languageand Literature through Visual Art

Thyra E. KnappUniversity of North Dakota

“In a sense, art is an education. Art is communica-tive and can help people understand aspects of theworld that they could not gain access to throughother means.”

—Freedman, 2003

From the very first semester to advancedclasses on language, literature, and culture, Ger-man instructors aim to teach a wide range of skillsand topics in each course. To this end, visual mediasuch as images from daily life (photographs of peo-ple doing routine things) or pop culture (particu-larly magazine advertisements and catalogues) areused to facilitate the learning of language and cul-ture. The use of these everyday images certainlycontributes one understanding of culture, yet visualart of the German-speaking world, be it painting,sculpture, or fine-art photography, brings with it therichness and texture of the time, place, and space inwhich it was created. The immediacy of visual artengages students, draws their interest, and invitesthem to explore language and literature in a cultur-ally contextualized, meaningful way. The goal ofthis article is to show how the use of visual art in theGerman classroom can contribute to the whole be-coming greater than the sum of its parts. I first out-line the benefits and concerns associated withteaching visual culture in the classroom, then pres-ent practical ideas for its use in beginning, interme-diate, and advanced courses. From the acquisitionof basic vocabulary, to practicing grammaticalstructures, to the illustration of literary conceptsand movements, I will show here how visual art canbe used on all levels of instruction to enrich lan-guage acquisition, cultural competency, and criti-cal thinking skills.

The way in which German textbooks presentvisual culture has improved in recent decades, withsome programs integrating interactive, web-based

activities that include visual art, but there still existcopious examples in which cultural informationand concepts are offered in a box, set apart fromthe rest of the lesson. In place of the passive activityof reading about a culture, active communicationinvolving German works of art offers opportunitiesto engage with various aspects of culture while in-spiring student self-reflection. As a 1992 ACTFL-sponsored teacher-guide supports, paintings arean excellent source of inspiration for such dialogue“because the fine arts stir the human soul, expressindividuality as well as community, and are at onceuniversal and culturally specific” (ACTFL, 1992).This medium is especially beneficial for studentsbecause it fosters the creation of what Kramsch(1993, p. 205) has called a “sphere of intercul-turality,” in which a cultural exchange takes placethrough expression, interpretation, and negotia-tion. In this process, the work of visual art often canbe accessed by the student more quickly than theliterary text—precisely because the information isnot linguistic—yet the interpretation of the imagerequires the student to engage language.

In the process of creating this intertextual cul-tural exchange, students not only acquire the lin-guistic, literary, and cultural lessons of conven-tional language instruction, but they also learnabout themselves while thinking critically withinthe context of traditional German cultural worlds.Thus, the German classroom can become a spacein which diverse pedagogical goals are set andachieved. By acknowledging that students areproducts of what some have identified as our con-temporary visually-oriented culture (Mitchell, 1994;Mirzoeff, 1999; Dikovitskaya, 2005), it then followsthat paintings could provide a more immediatemanner of engaging their interest than a text. Whenvisual artworks are related to verbal artworks, stu-dents may more quickly see connections between

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what they sometimes consider lofty pieces of litera-ture and their own quotidian realities. Best of all, inthis space of negotiation and interpretation be-tween image and text, students are encouraged tothink critically in order to make discoveries aboutGerman culture and themselves.

Concerns and Considerations

Despite the fact that “recent studies show thatthe use of visually engaging, authentic materials inthe classroom has a definite, positive effect in ac-quiring language and forming cultural attitudes”(Ortuño, 1994, p. 500), some instructors may re-main hesitant to employ visual art in everydayclassroom activities. Perhaps they share their stu-dents’ apprehension “that artworks are mysteriousicons to be considered only at a reverential dis-tance” (Carr, 1985, p. 79), or fear that they are notqualified to speak about art, or are concerned thatpreparing a lesson on visual culture would take toomuch time away from a focus on language. Ratherthan thinking of working with paintings or other artforms as something that takes additional time, ortime away from language use, one could lookahead to a given classroom text and determinewhich exercises could be supplemented or substi-tuted with a visual-art-based activity. It may requirea different sort of preparation, but as Ortuño(1994, p. 500) notes, “including ‘culturally loaded’visual material in the curriculum can transform alanguage class into a cross-disciplinary coursewhich not only combines language, art, literature,and history, but also helps students take a majorstep toward reaching proficiency standards.” BethBerghoff and Cindy Bixler Borgmann (2007, p. 23)further conclude that, “[a]esthetic experiences areapt to happen when students interpret artworksandwhen theyuse themediaand toolsof thearts tocapture their new ideas—to represent, explore, re-spond emotionally, confirm, formulate plans, andtake action based on what they have come to un-derstand differently or on a deeper level.”

Ortuño’s (1994) list of benefits related to teach-ing Spanish through visual art is particularly usefulto the present discussion. Her eight ways in whichthe use of art in the Spanish classroom are benefi-cial areequally applicable to theGermancontext:

1. Exposure to art sets the proper social, histori-cal, geographical, and religious context for theacquisition of language skills

2. The introduction of visual images lowers class-room anxiety

3. Students who are ordinarily too shy to volun-teer answers in a typical classroom setting tendto come alive when artworks are presented inan inclusive, non-threatening environment

4. The culturally significant scenes provided inpaintings broaden student cognition whilenaturally creating a learner-centered contextfor teaching

5. Visual stimulation promotes active explora-tion of the language

6. Communicating about artworks develops an-alytical thinking skills

7. Visual art eases the transition from languageacquisition to the exploration of literary con-cepts

8. Artworks motivate students to continue theirstudy of a foreign language and culture basedon the sense of personal accomplishment theyfeel when they are capable of talking about artin a meaningful way (Ortuño, 1994, p. 501;see also Brooks, 1968).

In the following, I make use of these observationsto structure the presentation of uses of paintings inGerman language classes at all levels.

Visual Art in Introductory

German Courses

From the acquisition of concrete vocabulary tothe illustration of grammatical concepts, paintingsprovide a meaningful cultural context in which stu-dents are able to freely produce language while fa-miliarizing themselves with German artists (seealsoLafayette, 1988). If there is access toanartmu-seum on campus or in the community where worksby German painters are displayed, this is an oppor-tunity to expose students to the artworks firsthand.If originals are not readily available, however, theInternet as well as printed reproductions are thenext best thing. Although the range of excellentartworks by painters of German, Austrian, andSwiss origins is vast indeed, it may be best to beginwith works that are representational and rich incolor, such as August Macke’s Dame in GrünerJacke (1913).

Before introducing the painting, the instructorcan begin with simply a list of colors and articles ofclothing:

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Hier sind sechs Farben:

grünschwarzgraurotblaubraun

Was verbinden Sie mit diesen Farben? Finden Sieeinen Partner, und schreiben Sie einen kurzenSatz für jede Farbe.

Hier sind sechs Kleidungsstücke:

das Kleidder Rockder Hutdas Hemddie Jackeder Schuh

Bilden Sie jetzt kurze Sätze, in denen Sie dieKleidungsstücke mit den Farben verbinden.

Once the pairs have composed their sentences,the instructor can ask for examples and comparethe results. As Ortuño (1994) and Dolphin (1987)note, the anonymity of a dimly lit space, combinedwith the stimulation of a visual image, can some-times bring about enthusiastic participation andlanguage production, so one can dim the class-room lights and project the image. Address the en-tire class with a combination of description and in-quiry to pique student interest, pausing for their re-

sponses after each question, for example:

Dieses Gemälde von August Macke heißt Dame inGrüner Jacke (1913). Gibt es nur eine Frau indiesem Bild? Wie viele Frauen sehen Sie? Wieviele Männer? Was sehen Sie noch im Bild? DieFrau in der Mitte trägt eine grüne Jacke. Wastragen die anderen Figuren? Beschreiben Sie dieanderen Figuren in zwei bis drei Sätzen.

Next, the focus of vocabulary work can moveto nature, weather, and seasons of the year. If thesehave not yet been taught, this colorful, visual pre-sentation serves as an effective teaching device:“Man sieht hier einen Fluss und einige Bäume.” Bypointing these things out on the screen, one can ad-vance the exercise in several ways: “Welche Farbehat dieser Fluss? Der blaue Fluss fließt durch dieseschöne Landschaft. Welche Flüsse in Deutschlandkennen Sie? Wie heißt der Fluss, der durch unsereStadt fließt?” If weather and seasons have alreadybeen taught, Macke’s painting provides an excel-lent review activity: “Wie ist das Wetter im Bild? Istes wohl kalt oder heiß? Regnet es? Schneit es?Welche Jahreszeit sehen wir wohl hier? Beschrei-ben Sie diesen Tag.” Just as with the river, ques-tions about the weather and seasons can be per-sonalized to include the students’ own experiences:“Wie ist das Wetter heute hier in…?”

Working with vocabulary in the above fashioncan naturally be expanded to grammatical formssuch as two-way prepositions. The instructor canbegin by listing the prepositions and modeling twoor three sentences for the students:

Hier sind die Wechselpräpositionen: an, auf, hin-ter, in, neben, über, unter, zwischen, vor. Hierstehen zwei Bäume. Wo stehen die Leute? Sindsie hinter den Bäumen? Vor den Bäumen? Wiekann man das Bild mit diesen Präpositionenweiter beschreiben? Finden Sie einen Gesprächs-partner, und beschreiben Sie das Bild in fünf bissechs Sätzen.

After composing the description with a partner,ask the pairs to share their narratives. Emphasizethe correct dative uses of these prepositions and theverbs that often accompany them (liegen, sitzen,stehen). Next, to use the two-way prepositions inthe accusative case, students can remain with theirpartners and write a fictional account of who thepeople may be (names, ages, occupations) andwhat actions we might see them perform if this pic-ture were set into motion:

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Fig. 1. August Macke, Woman in a Green Jacket. 1913.Oil on canvas, 44 x 43.5 cm. Museum Ludwig, Cologne.Gianni Dagli Orti. The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

Wer sind diese Leute? Wie heißen sie? Wie altsind sie? Wohin gehen sie? Was machen sie andiesem schönen Sommernachmittag? SchreibenSie eine kurze Geschichte, in der Sie und Ihr Part-ner die Leute und ihre Aktivitäten beschreiben.

After partner work, selected pairs can share theirshort narratives, emphasizing usage of accusativephrases and comparing them to the dative exam-ples given earlier.

At this point, students should be familiar withthe formal aspects of the painting and primed tolearn more about its inception. The teacher cantake the opportunity to introduce Expressionismusas a concept, the two primary German schools (DieBrücke and Der Blaue Reiter), and a bit aboutMacke himself. For example:

Dieses Gemälde ist ein Beispiel von Expressionis-mus. Expressionismus ist ein Kunststil, der Gefühleund Emotionen durch Farben und Formen aus-drückt. Sind die Farben in Frau in Grüner Jacke(1913) eher glücklich oder traurig? In der deut-schen Tradition gab es zwei expressionistischeKünstlergruppen: Die Brücke befand sich inDresden und Der Blaue Reiter in München. (Woliegen Dresden und München auf der Landkarte?)Macke war Mitglied des Blauen Reiters.

As homework, students can find other works byMacke and bring those images to the next classmeeting. With these paintings in hand, studentswill be able to compare various works by Macke,and eventually works by other Expressionist artistsas well.

Visual Art in Intermediate

German Courses

The same advantages to using visual culturewith an introductory language class certainly applyin the case of intermediate students. One couldtake the abovementioned Macke or a similar paint-ing and advance the activity in a fashion that wouldengage students with one or two years of languageinstruction. For these students, visual art easily canbe utilized as a springboard for imaginative writingprojects in which grammar topics such as adjectiveendings and subjunctive forms are practiced andreviewed within a creative cultural context. Thepreparatory phase of this lesson would dependupon the source chosen by the instructor. Will theclass visit a museum, browse reproductions, or in-dividually find an artwork online?

Whichever source is decided upon, studentscan view several paintings at their leisure andchoose one that speaks to them. This type of activ-ity has the advantage of allowing students to takean active part in choosing the material they willstudy, giving them a sense of control over the ma-terial they are learning. After choosing a painting tostudy, students can then examine it and take notes,considering what it is about the artwork that firstdrew their attention. If some students seem lost orhave trouble choosing an image they like, the in-structor can remind them that that they can writeequally well about a painting they dislike; the pointbeing to choose something about which they havean opinion. From here, the written project can bestructured in five sections: a formal description ofthe image, a personal reflection on why the studentchose it, a biographical sketch of the artist, how thatartist fits into his/her school/movement, and a criti-cal comparison of that work with either anotherfrom that period, or the same theme represented inanother period.

After they have chosen their artwork, studentsbring a copy of it to class. The teacher can begin byintroducing art terms and modeling the activity forthe class with a teacher-selected image, for exam-ple August Macke’s Mädchen unter Bäumen(1914).

With a combination of descriptive statements andquestions, teacher and students can examine thecomposition together: “Dieses Gemälde von Au-gust Macke heißt Mädchen unter Bäumen und istaus dem Jahre 1914. Macke war Mitglied desBlauen Reiters und hat ästhetische Ideen mit denKünstlern Franz Marc und Wassily Kandinsky aus-getauscht.” Here one could show sample images

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Fig. 2. August Macke, Girls among Trees, 1914. Oil oncanvas, 120 x 159 cm. Neue Pinakothek, Munich.TheArt Archive at Art Resource, NY.

from Marc and Kandinsky. “Nach seiner Reisenach Paris hat man auch den Einfluß der franzö-sichen Impressionisten in seinen Werken sehenkönnen.” One could also show an image by Re-noir, such as Luncheon of the Boating Party, in or-der to make a connection between Macke and theFrench tradition, and of course make comparisonsbetween the two. Returning to the Macke: “Wiekann man die Farben in diesem Bild beschreiben?Wie werden die Farben mit den Formen verbun-den? Sehen Sie hier eine Harmonie oder einenKontrast? Was steht im Vordergrund/im Hinter-grund? Was ist im Mittelpunkt? Warum? Wasmeinen Sie?” Once students have begun to get afeel for analyzing a composition, they can move onto their own painting: “Benutzen Sie die folgendenKunstbegriffe, um die Formen und Farben IhresKunstwerkes zu beschreiben: Linie, Form, Farbe,Raum, Textur, Gleichgewicht, Harmonie, Wieder-holung, Kontrast, Rhythmus, Mittelpunkt, Vorder-grund, Hintergrund.” Students should start with aformal analysis, analogous to the one completedby the group, and then continue with a personalreflection.

In my experience teaching with this materialand these lessons, I have found that the reflectiveportion of the essay can evoke strong emotional re-sponses in students; something about connectingwith a work of art appears to allow some to open upand write about parts of their lives or the way theyare feeling in a manner not often facilitated by othermaterials we use in the classroom. Students maywell be inspired to discuss their thoughts and reac-tions with the group, thus bringing a visceral, emo-tional component to the classroom that is often oth-erwise lacking. The act of sharing their reflectionsnot only builds on their knowledge, but alsoprompts them to think critically about how the im-ages affect certain responses and what those re-sponses say about elements of German culture. Ifsome students are hesitatant to participate at thisphase, the teacher can return to Mädchen unterBäumen and ask them to consider: “Was für einenTag stellt Macke hier dar? Was machen die Mäd-chen unter den Bäumen? Warum sehen wir hierwohl keine Gesichter? Welche Emotionen oderGefühle werden durch die Farben und Formenevoziert?”

The next part of this assignment involves back-ground research on the painting and the artist whocreated it, as well as his/her place in that particularepoch or artistic movement. This functions particu-larly well as homework, which will then be pre-sented to the class at the next session. In sharing this

sort of information with the rest of the class, stu-dents take an active role in the entire group’s acqui-sition of new knowledge about what was or isimportant about the artist’s work in German, Aus-trian, or Swiss culture. The final step in the assign-ment is a comparison with another work of art,either a second image by the same artist, or a simi-lar theme explored by another artist. As an exam-ple, one can compare Macke’s Mädchen unterBäumen with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s PotsdamerPlatz (1914).

The teacher can present the images side-by-sideand point out to students that both works werepainted by Expressionists in the year 1914 andthat both highlight female subjects, yet they repre-sent two very different styles, interpretations, andviews on German culture. By asking contextu-alizing questions, the instructor can facilitate criti-cal engagement with the images, emphasizinghistorical, geographical, and cultural knowledge.Working with a partner, students consider ques-tions such as: “Wo liegt Potsdamer Platz? Wo sindwohl die Mädchen unter den Bäumen? Was ma-chen die weiblichen Figuren in den zwei Bildern?Wie können wir die Stimmungen in beiden Bildern

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Fig. 3. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Potsdamer Platz, 1914.Oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm. bpk, Berlin, NeueNationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Jörg P.Anders, Art Resource, NY.

beschreiben? Wie war das Leben im Jahre 1914 ineiner Großstadt wie Berlin? Wie werden die Le-bensumstände der Stadt in diesem Gemälde dar-gestellt?” Taken together, these two paintings canbe used to illustrate the bourgeois conservatism ofWilhelminismus as well as the dark, decadent re-action to it—and moreover to show the tensionsand conflicts found in Germany the year in whichWorld War I began.

Art in Advanced German

Literature/Culture Courses

When teaching works of literature in German atthe advanced level, the greatest challenge is oftenmaking authentic literary texts accessible to stu-dents who may have little or no experience readingand analyzing such texts in their first language, letalone in German as a foreign language. So in addi-tion to overcoming linguistic barriers, many mayview literature as something obscure or worse, un-related to their own lives. I would suggest that thisproblem could be mitigated by using visual art asa way of introducing aspects of literary texts. Thewealth of paintings in the German tradition avail-able through the Internet, library collections, and ofcourse in brick-and-mortar galleries provide im-ages that can be used to illustrate a single scene in anovel, engage the emotions evoked in a poem,make concrete the tenets of a given cultural move-ment, and much more.

For example, when introducing the key ideasand characteristics of a particular period or epoch,a painting or set of paintings can often convey thesame ideas one might have needed to conveythrough a formal lecture. The tenets of German Ro-manticism, Naturalism, or Expressionism mightbecome not only easily accessible, but also quitememorable, through the linkage to the visual mani-festations of those movements. Consider a lessonon Romanticism. One can begin by asking studentsto engage their existing, usually pop-culture basedideas about “romanticism.” Often they associatethe term with roses, greeting cards, chick flicks, andso forth, yet by working with a painting from theRomantic tradition, the distance from those con-ceptualizations and the Romantic literary periodimmediately become evident. Before projectingthe image, students are asked to brainstorm ingroups to explicate what they associate with theterm “Romantik”:

Was bedeutet ‘die Romantik’? Woran/An wendenken Sie, wenn Sie diesen Begriff hören? Gibt

es bestimmte Assoziationen oder Symbole dafür?Schreiben Sie zusammen eine Liste von diesenAssoziationen.

The instructor writes the words and/or draws thesymbols students suggest on the board, and asksthem to visualize a “romantic scene” in theirminds. At this point, students can be asked to drawthe scene and then compare their renderings withthose of their classmates.

Once students have shared their results on pop-ular ideas about “die Romantik,” the instructorwould then introduce an image. There are of coursemany possibilities, but Caspar David Friedrich’sMann und Frau den Mond betrachtend (1830–1835) contains in visual form many of the centralthemes and ideas of German Romanticism.

When viewing and analyzing a work of art, Rose-mary Lloyd (2000) looks to Baudelaire and hispractice of transposition d’art as inspiration; stu-dents are not expected to write transpositions inthe style of great literature, but rather utilize a simi-lar thought process. As Lloyd states, Baudelairebelieved that the source of inspiration (outsideworld) must combine with a subjective reflection(inner world), striking the kind of objective/subjec-tive balance that makes the analysis of visual im-ages so valuable for our students. The steps usedby the French poet in his transpositions of art canbe transferred to the classroom: (1) his interest iscaptured by an artwork, (2) his “curiosity isaroused by how and why it should interest him,”and then (3) he looks for greater understanding inthe form of allegory or symbol (Lloyd, 2000, pp.155–156). Inspired by this Baudelairean ap-proach, the instructor can begin with the concrete

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Fig. 4. Caspar David Friedrich, Man and Woman Con-templating the Moon, 1830–1835. Oil on canvas, 34 x44 cm. bpk, Berlin. Alte Nationalgalerie, StaatlicheMuseen, Berlin. Jörg P. Anders, Art Resource, NY.

description of what the students see. In pairs orgroups, students create lists of nouns and adjec-tives that describe Friedrich’s painting. Next, theymove to the level of explanation of what, in thiscase, these two people might be up to. These firsttwo steps can lead naturally to extrapolating fromliteral observation to symbolic understanding, witha focus on any or all of the following: the setting(out in a generic wilderness, far from civilization);the use of light and shadow in the image (much ofthe foreground and both figures in shadow/silhou-ettes); the composition (the couple framed, oreven ensnared?—by the trees); the nature of thelines (no straight lines or right angles—and con-sider what this might “mean”); the fact that onedoes not see the faces of the people (they remains“types”); and so forth. Beginning with first impres-sions, the teacher can ask students to consider thefollowing questions with a partner or in smallgroups:

Was fällt Ihnen hier auf? Was steht im Mittelpunktder Leinwand? Was sehen Sie im Vordergrund/imHintergrund? Wie wird die Natur hier dargestellt?Wie werden die menschlichen Figuren dargestellt?Wie können wir ihr Verhältnis zur Naturbeschreiben? Welche Rollen spielen Licht undSchatten in diesem Bild? Können wir dieMenschen erkennen? Wie ist die Stimmung hier?

All of this can hopefully lead to students discover-ing for themselves some of the central themes andtenets of German Romanticism.

Linking the visual to the textual is also key; it isultimately the goal of this approach to using visualart in the literature course. Thus it would be impor-tant to explore those connections, for examplethrough the genre of poetry, with works such as Jo-seph von Eichendorff’s (2006, pp. 322–323) beau-tifully atmospheric “Mondnacht” (1835):

Es war, als hätt’ der HimmelDie Erde still geküßt,Daß sie im Blüten-SchimmerVon ihm nun träumen müßt’.

Die Luft ging durch die Felder,Die Ähren wogten sacht,Es rauschten leis die Wälder,So sternklar war die Nacht.

Und meine Seele spannteWeit ihre Flügel aus,

Flog durch die stillen Lande,Als flöge sie nach Haus.

The instructor can again project the Friedrichpainting and read the poem aloud, allowing thestudents the opportunity to hear the words as theyview the image. Distribute the poem and ask stu-dents to read it aloud in pairs. They can identifywords, phrases, and ultimately textual imagerythat correspond or relate to Friedrich’s picture.The class can then discuss their findings and im-pressions. The teacher’s job at this point is likely tofacilitate a dialogue which incorporates both stu-dent observations and salient aesthetic motifs forthat lesson: the centrality of the natural world inboth image and text, the fact that the human spiritis/seems moved by nature, the focus here onman’s reaction or response to the natural worldaround him. Unpacking these connections be-tween the painting and poem creates the basis forsubsequent writing tasks, in which students couldreplicate the classroom activity on their own, per-haps with a comparison of a different painting anda different poem from the period.

Conclusion

Although a lesson involving a work of visual artmight begin as a straightforward introduction tonew vocabulary, such as a review of prepositions,or the illustration of an aesthetic concept, the use ofpaintings such as those discussed here by Macke,Kirchner, and Friedrich afford the German class agreat deal more; as Ortuña (1994, p. 502) ob-served, “[b]ecause each picture serves as a win-dow opening onto an authentic view of human ex-perience, paintings lend themselves well to theteaching of language and culture, along with his-tory, literature, and art itself.” For twenty-first cen-tury students brought up in a society dominated byvisuality, paintings provide an immediate connec-tion, inviting them to explore linguistic structures,literary texts, and cultural constructs in new andmemorable ways. Picturing German—critically en-gaging with an image and asking why and how itserves as a reflection of the time, place, and spacein which it was created—can give students a moremeaningful and personal understanding how Ger-man language, literature, and culture are inextrica-bly connected.

26 UP 45.1 (Spring 2012)

References

American Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Lan-guages (1992). Integrating the fine arts into the foreignlanguage classroom: Toward global education. ACTFLReport.

Berghoff, B., and Bixler Borgmann, C. (2007). Imaginingnew possibilities with our partners in the arts. English Ed-ucation, 40(1), 21–40.

Brooks, N. (1968). Teaching culture in the foreign languageclassroom. Foreign Language Annals, 1(3), 204–217.

Carr, T. (1985). Contemporary culture: A model for teach-ing a culture’s heritage. In P. Westphal, (Ed.), Meeting thecall for excellence in the foreign language classroom (pp.71–83). Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Dikovitskaya, M. (2005). Visual culture: The study of the vi-sual after the cultural turn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Dolphin, E. (1987). Enhancing vocabulary acquisition andcomprehension by visual stimuli. The Canadian ModernLanguage Review/ La revue canadienne des languesvivantes, 43(2), 239–244.

Eichendorff, J. (2006). Werke in sechs Bänden, Band I.Sämtliche Gedichte und Versepen: Text und Kommen-tar. Frankfurt am Main: Deutscher Klassiker Verlag.

Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum,aesthetics, and the social life of art. New York: TeachersCollege Press.

Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teach-ing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lafayette, R. C. (1988). Integrating the teaching of cultureinto the foreign language classroom. In A. J. Singerman(Ed.), Toward a new integration of language and culture(pp. 47–62). Middlebury VT: Northeast Conference.

Lloyd, R. (2000). Teaching Les Fleurs du Mal with CD-ROM: Visual and verbal art. In L. M. Porter (Ed.), Ap-proaches to teaching Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil (pp.154–161). New York: Modern Language Association ofAmerica.

Mirzoeff, N. (1999). An introduction to visual culture. Lon-don: Routledge.

Mitchell, W. J. T. (1994). Picture theory: Essays on verbaland visual representation. Chicago: University of Chi-cago Press.

Ortuño, M. M. (1994). Teaching language skills and culturalawareness with Spanish paintings. Hispania, 77(3),500–511.

Images

Friedrich, Caspar David (Artist). Man and Woman Contem-plating the Moon, 1830–1835. Oil on canvas, 34 x 44cm. bpk, Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen,Berlin. Jörg P. Anders, Art Resource, NY.

Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig (Artist) Potsdamer Platz, 1914. Oilon canvas, 200 x 150 cm. bpk, Berlin, Neue National-galerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Jörg P. Anders, ArtResource, NY.

Macke, August (Artist) (1913). Woman in a Green Jacket.1913. Oil on canvas, 44 x 43.5 cm. Museum Ludwig,Cologne. Gianni Dagli Orti. The Art Archive at Art Re-source, NY

Macke, August (Artist) (1914). Girls among Trees, 1914. Oilon canvas, 210 x 159 cm. Neue Pinakothek, Munich.The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

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