Introductory description

This module examines the major themes in German literary culture during a key period of its development, from the formation of Germany as a nation in 1871 to the downfall of the Empire following World War I. During this era of accelerated modernisation in a patriarchal and militaristic state, authors reflected in new and often radical ways the complexity of the relationship between self and society. Gender roles, class positions, sexuality, the impact of new technologies and competing notions of identity were the subject of intense inquiry in the social sciences and the arts, and it is on those aspects on which this module focuses.
We also explore the relationship between literary form and identity by exploring complexities in narrative and form from Naturalism (Hauptmann) through Expressionism (poetry) to the honed style of Thomas Mann to the 'New Objectivity' of Irmgard Keun.

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.

Gerhart Hauptmann, Bahnwaerter Thiel (novella, Naturalism/Impressionism/Expressionism[?]): technology, individual's milieu and psychology, narrative complexity)
Frank Wedekind, Fruehlings Erwachen (play: sexuality, education, formal complexity)
Expressionist poetry selection (themes: love and loss; identity; the modern city; war)
Thomas Mann, Der Tod in Venedig (novella: encapsulates almost all concerns of modernism from the role of the artist to sexuality to the importance of place/space)
Irmgard Keun, Gilgi: eine von uns (novel: the 'new woman', gender and identity, the 'modern world' of work)

Learning outcomes

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

• gain: (1) intercultural awareness, understanding and competence;
• (2) knowledge of German-speaking cultures, communities and societies of the German language
• (3) ability to access, read and critically analyse primary and secondary source materials in German
• (4) knowledge and understanding of one or more aspects of German-speaking literatures, cultures, linguistic contexts, history, politics, social and economic structures
• (5) familiarity with the methodologies and approaches appropriate to the discipline
• (6) an appreciation of internal diversity and transcultural connectedness in relation to German-language cultures

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

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 (native speaker) 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 and secondary 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 Imperial Germany will be enhanced through seminars which engage with scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC 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 the target language; intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between cultures and languages; ICT literacy in both English and the target language; personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.