Featured Artist Stefani Kampmann

Coming Soon March Featured Artist Interview

Die Welle

Rhue, Morton and Stefani Kampmann. Die Welle. Ravensburger Buchverlag, 2007.

ISBN 13: 978-473-58381-2

Sample Text: from the first two pages: ,,Es begann an einem ganz normalen Tag…: (two students speaking) ,,Sei bloss froh, dass du kein Französisch mehr hast. Ich hatte heute solche Mühe nicht einzuschlafen.” ,,Wenn ich nur an Mr. Gabondies Stimme denke, fallen mir die Augen zu!” ,,Hoffentlich hält er bei den Prüfungen den Mund. Wenn ich da verpenne, muss ich den Kurs wiederholen.” 

This is a German graphic novel version of the American novel, The Wave (Delacorte Press, 1981).  The novel discusses the question “How does fascism come about?” A young teacher decides to conduct an unusual experiment.  He wants to prove to his students that vulnerability to fascist actions and thoughts are always present.  But his experiment spins out of control.

Although this is not an original German graphic novel, I include it here because of the German feature film Die Welle, released in 2008. The graphic novel and the film can be taught together (which I plan to do this fall).  In addition to the plot and thematic matter, the two forms of visual media allow for a discussion of artistic choices and adaptation.

 From the Graphic Novel

Film Poster from 2008

Media Comparison of Similar Scenes

Reviews:

An opinion piece about the inappropriateness of the medium for the subject matter