Geister, Spuren, Nachträglichkeit: Gespenster in Literatur Und Mediengeschichte

Geister, Spuren, Nachträglichkeit: Gespenster in Literatur und Mediengeschichte

GERM 352 · Herbst 2020 · Dienstag/Donnerstag 16:05-17:25

„Wo keine Götter sind, walten Gespenster“ –Novalis „Ein Gespenst geht um in Europa...“ –Karl Marx „Dasein ist Besessensein“ –Hans Jonas

Laterna magica – Apparat, mit dem auf Glas gemalte Bilder auf Rauch projiziert wurden (nach Johann Georg Krünitz: Oekonomisch- technologische Encyklopädie … , Berlin (Pauli), ab 1773

Professorin: Tove Holmes Email: [email protected] Sprechstunden (Zoom): nach Vereinbarung über Email; Di. 16:05-17:25 ist prinzipiell eine gute Zeit Kurssprache: Deutsch

Kursbeschreibung:

Literatur und Kunst, Film und Photographie des 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts werden von Geistern aller Art mit verharrender Frequenz heimgesucht. Dieser Kurs untersucht gespenstische Figuren wie Tote/Untote, Erinnerung, déjà-vu, Nachträglichkeit, Spuren, Reste, und unerklärliche visuelle Phänomene in der Literatur sowie den parallel-erscheinenden Medien von Photographie und Film. Mit der Annahme, dass Gespenster in diesen medialen Kontexten irgendwie „heimisch“ sind, das heisst, strukturell oder konzeptuell darin zugehörig, werden Kategorien wie Zeit, und kulturelle Praktiken von Darstellung in Betracht gezogen. Diese Ansicht trägt auch zu einem nuancierten Verständnis der literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Praxis bei: als eine Arbeit, die sich damit befasst, Gespenster der Vergangenheit wieder wachzurufen oder als immer schon aktiv zu entlarven.

1 Lernziele:

-„Gespenstische“ Phänomene als zentrale Tendenzen von Literatur und Medien des 19.-20. Jahrhunderts aus vielfältigen Perspektiven kennenzulernen

-sich mit diesen Themen kritisch auseinanderzusetzen und mit Anderen in deutscher Sprache schriftlich sowie mündlich darüber zu kommunizieren

Texte: alle Texte sind auf MyCourses

Course format in light of the pandemic:

Due to the extraordinary circumstances this year, this course will be delivered online. It will consist of a mix of recorded lectures, discussion forums in which students engage with the texts and each other in writing, and live meetings via Zoom. Please see Course Content below for a more complete description.

Wochenplan und Lektüre:

Einführung: Heimsuchung in Literatur und Medien

1.Woche 3.9. Einführung, Jorge Luis Borges, Kafka and his Precursors Diskussion um 16:05 über Zoom

Das Gespenstische der Literatur, das Gespenstische der Wirklichkeit

2. Woche 8.-10.9. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Farbenlehre-Auszug (zu Augengespenster); Faust I “Zueignung“ “Nacht” “Studierzimmer”; Elisabeth Strowick, Gespenster des Realismus (2019) 1-12 (“Wirklichkeit als Augengespenst”)

Romantische Schauergeschichten und ihre Wiedergänger

3. Woche 15.-17.9. Heinrich von Kleist, Das Bettelweib von Locarno (1810); Sigmund Freud, Das Unheimliche (1919, Auszüge) Anleitung für das Projekt auf MyCourses

4. Woche 22.-24.9. Gotthilf Heinrich Schubert, Ansichten zur Nachtseite der Naturwissenschaft (1808) 215-216; Johann Peter Hebel, Unverhofftes Wiedersehen (1811); E.T.A. Hoffmann, Bergwerke zu Falun (1819), 3-19

5. Woche 29.9.-1.10. E.T.A. Hoffmann, Bergwerke zu Falun 20-40; Georg Trakl, Elis-Gedichte (Auszug); Walter Benjamin, Das dämonische Berlin Wahlweise: Friedrich Rückert, Die Goldene Hochzeit Aufsatz 1 Themen auf MyCourses

Unheimlicher Realismus: Theodor Storm

6. Woche 5.10. Aufsatz 1 fällig 6.-8.10. Theodor Storm, Das neue Gespensterbuch (Auszüge), Geh nicht hinein

7. Woche 13.-15.10. Theodor Storm, Der Schimmelreiter

8. Woche 20.-22.10. Theodor Storm, Der Schimmelreiter

Augengespenster: das optische Unbewusste und das Aufkommen von Medien

9. Woche 27.-29.10. Goethe über gespenstische Wahrnehmung (wiederholung von der 2. Woche); Phantasmagoria; Walter Benjamin, Kleine Geschichte der Photographie; Parisbilder von Eugène Atget Aufsatz 2 Anleitungen auf MyCourses

10. Woche 3.-5.11. Franz Kafka, Auszüge aus der Korrespondenz; Gerhard Richter, Unsettling Photography: Kafka, Derrida, Moses; Jacques Derrida, Spectres of Marx (Auszüge)

11. Woche 9.11. Aufsatz 2 fällig 10.-12.11. Robert Wiene, Kabinett des Dr. Caligari (1920); Ghost Dance (1983, Auszug)

Nachträglichkeit: Erinnerung und Geschichte

12. Woche 16.11. Kreatives/Forschungsprojekt fällig (mit Präsentation) 17.-19.11. Sigmund Freud, Über Deckerinnerungen; Der Wolfsmann (Auszug); Traumdeutung (Auszug); Betrachtung und Besprechung der Projekte

13. Woche 24.-26.11. Walter Benjamin, Passagenwerk (Auszüge), Berliner Kindheit um 1900; Aleida Assmann, Texts, Traces, Trash: The Changing Media of Cultural Memory

14. Woche 3.12. Walter Benjamin, Berliner Kindheit um 1900 Abschlussdiskussion um 16:05 über Zoom

Die Abschlussklausur wird bis zu dem für diesen Kurs zentral eingeplannten Termin über MyCourses eingereicht.

Course Components Due Date and Time

Attendance and participation 10% ongoing Contributions to discussion threads 15% by Thursday 10am every week Essay 1 2-3 pages 15% October 5, 11:59pm Essay 2 4-5 pages 20% November 9, 11:59pm Creative or Research project 10% November 16, 11:59pm Presentation of the project 5% November 16, 11:59pm Final (take-home), includes an essay 25% centrally-scheduled exam date/time TBA

Technical requirements:

Students will need a computer or mobil device, internet connection, camera and microphone (these can be integrated into the computer or device). Students will need Zoom (free download: https://zoom.us/) and should familiarize themselves with its basic features: https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/students/remote-learning-resources/learning-zoom

All course programs, materials, and resources will be integrated into and accessible via MyCourses.

A typical week will look like this:

Thursday-Tuesday: Students complete assigned readings for the week Monday night by 11:59pm: assignments due (if applicable for the week—see due dates above) Tuesday by 4:05pm (class time)*: recorded lecture and discussion questions posted on MyCourses Thursday by 10am: Students will have viewed lecture and contributed to the discussion on MyCourses Thursday 4:05-5:25pm (class time): Live discussion over Zoom based on the week’s readings, lecture, and online discussion thread**

*The only Tuesday on which there is a synchronous (live) meeting planned is the last day of class, December 3rd. Otherwise Tuesday’s class period will consist of asynchronous activities to be completed at students‘ convenience before Thursday.

**if for any reason students are not able to attend live discussion sessions (e.g., due to techincal/bandwidth limitations, time-zone discrepancies, caregiver responsibilities during the pandemic, etc.), they should contact me to discuss alternative accommodations.

If several students are in Montreal and would like to (safely) meet in person in a McGill classroom for live discussion sessions, this would be a possibility (and has been pre-approved) for the course. We can talk about this option in more detail once the group has been finalized. In that event, students unable to attend in person can be accommodated (e.g. over Zoom).

Cameras, recordings, and privacy considerations:

Live discussions will not be recorded out of privacy considerations for all participants. I do not consent to having recordings made of the discussion portion. While I encourage students to turn on their cameras to foster a sense of togetherness as a group and for myself and others to get to know you, this is not required and may not be possible for everyone. Students may also wish to use the virtual background feature in Zoom so that we can see faces but not into personal living spaces, etc.

McGill statement on courtesy in the online environment:

The University recognizes the importance of maintaining teaching spaces that are respectful and inclusive for all involved. To this end, offensive, violent, or harmful language arising in contexts such as the following may be cause for disciplinary action: 1. Username (use only your legal or preferred name) 2. Visual backgrounds 3. "Chat" boxes To maintain a clear and uninterrupted learning space for all, you should keep your microphone muted throughout your class, unless invited by the instructor to speak. You should follow instructors’ directions about the use of the “chat” function on remote learning platforms. You should close all browser windows and programs unrelated to the course during synchronous (Zoom) sessions.

Descriptions of graded course components:

Attendance and Participation Students are expected to carefully read and prepare the week’s materials, and to attend live (Zoom or in-person) discussions when possible OR complete the alternative assignment (see above regarding accommodations in lieu of live sessions). I strongly encourage you to attend the live discussions if you can, since this will have an indirect impact on your learning and other aspects of your grade (through review/deepening of important theoretical issues raised in the lectures, exercise in textual interpretation, debate and honing of arguments among classmates, further contextualization of historical and cultural phenomena, etc, that arise in the course of our conversations). Alternative assignments will try to target these areas and be integrated into the larger course discussions to the extent possible. Zoom will automatically record you as present if you type any word into the chat function, so please remember to do this at the beginning of every session. Attendance in the weekly meetings OR alternative accommodations will be monitored and three or more absences will result in a lowering of the course grade.

Written Contributions to the Discussion (Diskussionsbeiträge) Students are expected to make weekly written contributions (in German) to the discussion via the MyCourses discussion forum in the time frame between Tuesday’s scheduled class period and 10am on Thursday, and to read the responses of other students before our live meeting Thursday afternoon. Students should have completed the week’s reading assignment and listened to the recorded lecture before contributing to the discussion. These contributions should engage questions or prompts that I post along with my recorded lectures and/or the responses of other students. More detailed criteria for written discussion contributions can be found on MyCourses.

First Papers Papers (Aufsätze) should be written in German. The first paper should be a close reading and analysis of a passage of literary text from our syllabus. A more detailed assignment sheet, along with resources for writing about literature, will be posted ahead of time on MyCourses.

Second Papers The second paper should also be mainly based on one primary text but can be supplemented with secondary materials and/or brief comparisons with other primary texts from our syllabus.

5 Creative/Research Project and Presentation Students will have the choice of doing a creative project that engages the course themes (no limit to scope or medium, as long as it shows substantial engagement with the theme of ghosts, eccentric temporality, traces, or afterness), or, researching a theme or theory related to the course and writing a 2-3-page expository essay on it. Upon submission, all projects will be posted (unedited) to a gallery on MyCourses so that other students can view them. The project will also be the basis of a 5-minute recorded presentation uploaded to MyCourses shortly after the assignment, in which students will introduce their work and demonstrate the connection between the project and the larger course themes. Projects and presentations will be integrated into class discussions. More detailed instructions will be posted by the third week of class so that students can work on this throughout the semester if they wish.

Take-Home Final Exam (4-6 pages, including a 2-3 page essay) The final exam (Abschlussklausur) questions will be posted on MyCourses by the last day of class, and students are requested to have a look at them before our final Zoom meeting on December 3 so that any questions can be resolved as a group. The questions will be a combination of short answer questions (somewhat similar to discussion prompts, but more succinct) and a choice of essay topic (similar to the first paper). The exam is open-book/open-note, but should be completed by each student independently (no group work—a more detailed explanation of this policy will be included in the exam document). The exam should be written in German and is due on MyCourses by the end of the centrally-scheduled exam date and time for the course.

Policy on Late Work: Late assignments will be accepted but with a penalty of 1 point subtracted per day late (for assignments out of 100 points).

Statements and Resources:

Academic Integrity:

McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information). Students should be aware that their written work may be subject to screening with text-matching software. Specific issues relating to the course assignments (especially regarding the online format and take-home exams) will be discussed in class in advance of the dates due and clarified on the assignment sheets. Please do not hesitate to approach me in office hours with any questions or concerns.

Intellectual Property:

All slides, video recordings, lecture notes, etc. remain the instructor’s intellectual property. As such, you may use these only for your own learning (and research, with proper referencing/citation) ends. You are not permitted to disseminate or share these materials; doing so may violate the instructor’s intellectual property rights and could be cause for disciplinary action.

Extraordinary Circumstances:

In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the University's control, the content and/or

6 format of this course is subject to change.

Academic and Wellness Resources:

I realize that attending university during the pandemic will be difficult for students for a variety of reasons. I will do everything I can to foster an inclusive and supportive learning environment in this course via the online delivery platforms, and I encourage you to contact me and/or the appropriate McGill offices to discuss any barriers you might encounter. Below is a partial list of McGill resources to address specific challenges:

Academic—TLS Remote Learning Resources: https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/students/remote-learning- resources

Accessibility—McGill Office for Students with Disabilities: https://www.mcgill.ca/osd/

Financial—Emergency Financial Aid: https://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/faq/covid-19-faq

Mental/Physical Health and Wellness—Student Wellness Hub: https://mcgill.ca/wellness-hub/

Technical—McGill IT Services: https://www.mcgill.ca/it/