LFU:online

This course examines international “short stories” of the modern period (1825 – 1925). The course aims at training close-readings and analyzing literary strategies which correspond to this genre. Further, it will be questioned, if and to what extent the literary texts represent concepts of “modernity”. In addition, we will read “modern” contemporary philosophical commentaries on the selected works as well as theories about “Modernity” today.

This course investigates to what extent European and American short stories from the period 1825-1925 represent concepts of “modernity”. We will focus on the interrelationship between “modern” philosophical commentaries on the selected works and current theories about “Modernity”. The range of authors treated in the course include Stifter, Jakobson, Flaubert, Melville, James, Musil, Döblin, Jensen, and Zweig as well as Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, and Deleuze.

Presentations by the lecturer; short key note speeches by the students; close-readings; discussions; short papers.

To accomplish the course objective the students prepare keynote speeches during the semester, deliver a short paper (max. 5 pages) and participate actively in the discussions.

Stifter, Der Hochwald

Flaubert, Un coeur simple

Jakobson, Die Pest in Bergamo

Melville, Bartleby

James, The Turn of the Screw

Jensen, Gradiva

Zweig, Angst

Musil, Die Amsel

Döblin, Die beiden Freundinnen und ihr Giftmord.