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FUBiS Term II: German Exile Literature - Thomas Mann, Bertholt Brecht, Theodor W. Adorno
(Course # 1.3)
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Type: |
A Track |
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Instructor(s): |
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Language: |
German |
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Contact hours: |
72 (6 contact hours per day) |
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Credit Points: |
6 Credit Points |
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Capacity: |
18 |
Course description
This class focuses on German-speaking authors who were forced to leave their country in the wake of Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor. While exile literature is often discussed and categorized in terms of its biographical, political, and moral content, a consideration of its impressive aesthetic heterogeneity can open up new paths of interpretation. Examining selected works of prose, poetry, drama, and theoretical writings, we will address the following questions: How do authors further develop or reject modernist aesthetics? What is the impact of the exile’s environment on aesthetic approaches and cultural theory? To what extent do the conditions of exile influence literary production and notions of artistic identity? In addition to lectures and discussions, this course features several excursions to important sites of literary and artistic production.
Grading and Course Requirements:
- 25% Regular attendance and active class participation. This course is run as a seminar, i.e. your participation in class is crucial. Please notify me in advance if you have to miss class.
- 25% Submit a total of 3 response papers of about 2 pages. I will grade these short papers (check plus, check, check minus).
- 25% One oral presentation of approximately 10 minutes. Intended to kick off the class discussion, the presentations should primarily reflect your very own insights, questions, and arguments. Topics will be distributed in the first week of classes.
- 25% Final paper of approximately ten pages.
Required texts:
- Reader (Available on the first day of classes.)
- Seghers, Anna. Transit. Berlin: Aufbau Tb, 1993. ISBN 978-3-7466-5153-8*
- Brecht, Bertolt. Der kaukasische Kreidekreis. 47. Aufl. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2000. 978-3518100318
*Students are expected to have read Anna Seghers’ novel before the beginning of the semester.
Student profile
Other than a good working knowledge of German, this class does not require any special knowledge of German literature or history. While open to students from various backgrounds, participants should have an interest in history, literature, and politics from the early 1930s until post World War II. Ideal for undergraduate students, this class can also serve as a tool for graduate students to deepen their knowledge of a particular author, period or topic in the field of exile studies in general, and/or German exile literature in particular.
Course requirements
Language requirements:
German Intermediate II or better (Mittelstufenniveau)
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