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The Challenge of Modernity: Literature and Culture from 1870 to the Present
Course code: GERM2108.
Course unit value: 0.5 cu.
Autumn Term
1 and 2 Modern Culture at Risk: Friedrich Nietzsche, 'Über Wahrheit und Lüge im aussermoralischen Sinne'
3 and 4 Wilhelmine Germany: Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest
5 and 6 Fin de Siècle: Arthur Schnitzler, Reigen
7 and 8 Modernism: Rainer Maria Rilke, Neue Gedichte
9 and 10 Culture and Chaos: Thomas Mann, Der Tod in Venedig
Spring Term
1 and 2 Radical Displacement: Franz Kafka, Die Verwandlung
3 and 4 Aesthetics and Politics: Walter Benjamin, Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit
5 Leni Riefenstahl, Olympiade
6 Bertolt Brecht, Kuhle Wampe
7 and 8 Post-war identity: Ingeborg Bachmann, Das Buch Franza
9 and 10 The Unreadable Past: Günter Grass, Im Krebsgang
Assessment: one assessed 2 500 word essay (45%); one unseen two-hour written examination (45%); and a 1 000-2 500 word coursework (10%).
Tutor: Dr Judith Beniston and Dr Ernest Schonfield
Preparatory reading and set texts:
- Anthony Phelan, Rilke. Neue Gedichte (London, 1992).
- Alan Bance, Theodor Fontane. The Major Works (Cambridge, 1982).
- T. J. Reed, Thomas Mann: The Uses of Tradition (Oxford, 1974).
- Michael Tanner, Nietzsche. A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 1994).
- Martin Swales, Arthur Schnitzler. A Critical Study (Oxford, 1971).
- Heinz Politzer, Franz Kafka. Parable and Paradox (Cornell University Press, 1962).
- Keith Dickson, Towards Utopia. A Study of Brecht (Oxford University Press, 1978).
- Stephanie Bird, Women Writers and National Identity (Cambridge, 2003).
