Introductory description

In her 2012 study, 'Why Love Hurts', Eva Illouz diagnosed a loss of the 'cultural pathos' of love wich she ascribed to the increasing rationalisation of emotions and the destabilization of clear gender roles in the latter half of the 20th century. This, according to Illouz resulted in uncertainty and irony towards love relationships. The paradigmatic expression of what Illouz calls a “de-structuring of romantic desire”, an ironic disillusionment with discourses of love and passion is the globally successful TV-series 'Sex and the City'.
In contrast, and partially in response to the ironic malaise diagnosed by Illouz, German literature and culture since the early 2000s experiences a renaissance of literary 'love stories' that explore the conditions of love, intimacy and romance in the present, and against a cultural horizon of representations of love that goes back to Goethe's first novel 'Die Leiden des jungen Werthers' (1774). The module focuses on a series of exemplary texts from the early to mid-2000s that all thematise the literary, social and cultural issues surrounding love and intimacy and their representation. Beginning with an introduction to the cultural history of representations of love and central conceptions of love from contemporary Social Theory (Giddens, Illouz, Bauman), the module will explore the renaissance of the literary romance with Ortheil's bestselling 'Die grosse Liebe' (2003) and Hans-Ulrich Treichel's ironic deconstruction of Ortheils model in 'Mein Sardinien' (2014). Navid Kermani's 'Grosse Liebe' (2014) combines a reflection on Islamic (Sufi) traditions of romance with an ironic reflection on the German protest movement of the 1980s from the perspective of an Iranian teenager. The module then focuses on two texts that explore romance from non-heterosexual perspectives Strubel's, 'Kältere Schichten der Luft' (2008) from a transgender perspective while Sulzer's 'Ein perfekter Kellner' (2006) is a novel about male homosexuality. The module concludes with two films, Maren Ade's study of couple power dynamics 'Alle Anderen' (2009) and Thomas Stuber's underclass romance 'In den Gängen' (2018). Issues of gender, diversity, ethnicity, power and normativity in relation to (Western European) traditions of representing love and romance will be addressed throughout the module.

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.

Week 1: Introduction: The Tradition of Love and Romance in German and European Literature and Culture: From Petrarch and Goethe to classical Hollywood and beyond. Text: Extract from Eva Illouz: Cold Intimacies (2007)
Week 2: Contemporary Social Theories of Love and Intimacy: Anthony Giddens, Eva Illouz and Zygmunt Bauman
Texts: Extracts from Anthony Giddens, 'The Transformation of Intimacy' (1993) and Eva Illouz, 'Warum Liebe wehtut/Why Love Hurts' (2012), and Zygmunt Bauman's 'Liquid Love' (2003).
Week 3: The Literary Romance and its Ironic Deconstruction I: Hanns-Josef Ortheil's 'Die grosse Liebe' (2003) and the Renaissance of the 'Liebesroman.
Week 4: The Literary Romance and its Ironic Deconstruction II: Hans-Ulrich Treichel's 'Mein Sardinien' (2014) as critical response to Ortheil.
Week 5: Gendered Power Dynamics in Maren Ade's, 'Alle Anderen' (Film, 2009).
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Post-Migrant Identities and Islamic Romance Traditions: Navid Kermani's 'Grosse Liebe' (2014) and Sufi Mysticism.
Week 8: Non-Heteronormativity I: Transgendered Intimacy and the Subversion of Heterosexual Romance Traditions in Antje Ravic Strubel's 'Kältere Schichten der Luft' (2008).
Week 9: Non-Heteronormativity II: The Representation of Male Homosexuality in Alain Claude Sulzer's, 'Ein perfekter Kellner' (2006).
Week 10: Love, Class and Social Exclusion: Thomas Stuber's, 'In den Gängen' (Film, 2018)

Primary Texts:
Hanns-Josef Ortheil, 'Die grosse Liebe', Munich, 2003.
Hans-Ulrich Treichel, 'Mein Sardinien', Frankfurt, 2014.
Navid Kermani, 'Grosse Liebe', Munich, 2014.
Antje Ravic Strubel, 'Kältere Schichten der Luft', Frankfurt, 2008.
Alain Claude Sulzer, 'Ein perfekter Kellner', Frankfurt, 2006.
Maren Ade, 'Alle Anderen' (Film, 2009)
Thomas Stuber, 'In den Gängen' (Film, 2018)

Learning outcomes

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

• By the end of this module, students should be able to demonstrate a broad understanding of the key issues in German discourses about love, romance and intimacy, both historical and contemporary
• By the end of this module, students should be able to critically analyse and contextualise a range of texts representing love, romance and intimacy.
• By the end of this module, students should be able to analyse and deploy a range of critical approaches to representations of love, romnance and intimacy.
• By the end of this module, students should be able to demonstrate their ability to research primary sources relating to a chosen topic from the module.
• By the end of this module, students should be able to contextualise set texts in terms of their relation to the social history of the period.
• In addition, the module will provide you with the opportunity to develop further the following skills: • the ability to abstract and synthesize key information from written sources in German and English; • the ability to organize, present, and defend ideas within the framework of a structured and reasoned argument; • the ability to formulate your opinions with reference to established interpretations; • the ability to analyse critically a range of materials in German and English (primary texts, secondary sources, contextualizing historical material); • the ability to apply critical methodologies to the analysis of literary texts; the ability to conduct independent research using library and bibliographic resources and ICT skills.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Interdisciplinary

The module incorporates readings and concepts from Social Theory, Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis.

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 historical and contemporary discourses of intimacy 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.