Introductory description

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Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module explores how social and intellectual change in mid-eighteenth-century Germany unleashed an explosion of new culture. It follows the growth of an increasingly literate, educated German middle class, which seeks to express its own passionate views and affirm its own identity through writing. In so doing this new generation of writers clashes with an antiquated social hierarchy and the vested power interests of a corrupt aristocracy. The texts we study, by pivotal writers such as Lessing, Goethe and Schiller, are on one level works of political and social criticism, though they also open out questions of psychology, emotionality, belonging, love, freedom, sexuality and artistic expression. In so doing German writers of the era make a name both for themselves and place their language and culture on the map of Europe - effectively laying the foundations of modern German culture in the process.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• By the end of this module, students should have gained insight into the social, political, intellectual and cultural forces shaping the formation of Modern Germany in the late 18th century, should be be able to illustrate these developments through the analysis of literary texts across several genres and present their findings lucidly in an appropriate academic written form.
• have gained knowledge and critical understanding of a key period in the culture and history of Germany and insight into the range and variety of its cultural practices;
• be able to apply this knowledge in the independent critical analysis of a range of set texts from the period 1770-1786.

Indicative reading list

Those students beginning their course with post ‘A’ Level German (i.e. those taking GE101 as their
core language module) will study the following texts

• Goethe, Selected Poetry (Penguin Classics, ed. And with an introduction by
  David Luke)
• Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werther (Reclam)
• Lessing, Emilia Galotti (Reclam)
• Schiller, Kabale und Liebe (Reclam)

Those students beginning their course without post ‘A’ Level German (i.e. those taking GE103 as
their core language module) should access the texts in the following English translations:

• Goethe, Selected Poetry (Penguin Classics, ed. with an introduction by
  David Luke) – as above, as the text contains translations
• Goethe, The Sufferings of Young Werther (Penguin)
• Emilia Galotti. A tragedy, in five acts. Translated from the German of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing by Benjamin Thompson · Plays: Friedrich Schiller: ‘Intrigue and Love’ and ‘Don Carlos’ by Friedrich Schiller, trans. By Gordon Craig (German Library S)

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of German culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of German culture in the age of enlightenment will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.