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Beyond the Glockenspiel: Teaching Race and Gender in Mozart's Zauberflöte
Author(s) -
Howards Alyssa
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
die unterrichtspraxis/teaching german
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1756-1221
pISSN - 0042-062X
DOI - 10.1111/tger.10151
Subject(s) - enlightenment , opera , mozart , context (archaeology) , german , entertainment , race (biology) , sociology , aesthetics , popular culture , gender studies , art , literature , visual arts , media studies , history , linguistics , epistemology , philosophy , archaeology
Die Zauberflöte is simultaneously one of Mozart's most accessible and most complex operas. Yet while this duality makes it a potentially valuable cultural artifact for the language classroom, students' unfamiliarity with both its operatic genre and Enlightenment context can pose a challenge to teachers. This article functions as a historical backdrop and teaching guide, offering a focused look at the opera's treatment of two of its central themes that remain relevant today: gender and race. By comparing the treatment of these social issues seen in Der Zauberflöte and with contemporary German pop songs, we can help students peer beyond the surface‐level entertainment of the opera, giving them both a richer understanding of its Enlightenment context while adding a new layer with which to understand contemporary German and U.S. culture.