LFU:online

Student gain an appreciation of German literature within historical and social contexts and of literary concepts in general.

(Open to all students, including German and German Education majors, for degree credit as an elective.)  German works in translation are chosen each time for reading, analysis, and discussion.

This course involves the reading and discussion of great works of literature from the German language during a two-hundred year period from roughly 1750-1950.  Considerations of what “great works” means must by course definition be included, and students are expected to read the primary works and consult secondary literature with the questions in mind: What constitutes a “masterpiece”, in our case of German literature, and is this to be distinguished from masterful writing?  We will consider various literary genre, narrative methods, motifs and Zeitgeist.  German and English-language versions of the assigned readings will be distributed to each student.  This course is conducted in Innsbruck, Austria, as part of the Academic Year Abroad (AYA) program.  Therefore, despite the course title, discussions will be conducted in German.

Final grades are based upon regular attendance, thoroughness of preparation and class participation, an individual presentation and a final written exam.

The following reading list has been determined in consideration of the overall context of this course within the Academic Year Abroad in Innsbruck, Austria, and in the hopes of complimenting other program courses in Central European/Austrian geography, history and culture under the Habsburgers and in the 20^th Century.  The works selected cover a period of roughly 200 years from the late Enlightenment to the last breaths of the old order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which emotionally/psychologically extend well beyond the historical marker.  There are master(piece)s not represented here, to be sure.  The list below is nonetheless ambitious.  With the exception of expository writing (and there are masterful essays in German!), all major literary genre are represented.

Gotthold Ephriam Lessing: Nathan der Weise/Nathan the Wise
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust I
Heinrich Heine: Ausgewählte Lyrik/Selected lyric poetry
Theodor Fontane: Eine Frau in meinen Jahren/A Woman of my Years
Adalbert Stifter: Bergkristall/Rock Crystal (time permitting)
Arthur Schnitzler: Der blinde Geronimo und sein Bruder/The blind Geromino and his Brother;  Amerika
Rainer Maria Rilke: ausgewählte Gedichte/selected poems
Franz Kafka: Selected parables
Thomas Mann: Der Tod in Venedig/Death in Venice
Stefan Zweig: Ungeduld des Herzens/Beware of Pity

Language of instruction: German/English 

UNO Policies:
Students must conduct themselves in an appropriate manner and abide by all policies outlines in the UNO Judicial Code. Cheating, plagiarism, and academic misconduct will not be tolerated. 

This course is open to University of Innsbruck students.
Registration till March 15th 2015.
Personal contact required: Dr. Margaret Davidson: margaret.davidson@uibk.ac.at