Professor Michael Cowan Office: 688 Sherbrooke, Room 484 Phone: 398 3648 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: TBA GERMAN 260—WINTER 2010 INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN LITERATURE II This course is designed to introduce students to modern German literature since 1800 through a representative selection of major authors, texts and movements including Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism and Expressionism, as well as the Weimar and post-war periods. Starting out from close analyses of the texts at hand, we will consider the changing function and understanding of literature and literary aesthetics, the relation of literature to cultural and intellectual developments of the past two centuries, and the intersections between literature and other media such as painting, music, photography and moving images. Course Requirements • Mid-Term Paper ( 5 pages, due on Feb. 8) 40% • Take-Home Final Exam 40% • Active Participation + In-Class Presentation 20% Required Texts • Course Pack: available at the McGill University book store • E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Golden Pot and Other Tales • Alexander Kluge, Learning Process with a Deadly Outcome • Emine Sevki Özdamar, Bridge of the Golden Horn • Ulrich Plenzdorf, The New Sufferings of Young W. • Adalbert Stifter, Rock Crystal The mid-term paper should frame a topic and argument through which to examine one work (lyric, dramatic or prose). A good argument is one that allows for a sophisticated interweaving of thematic and formal analysis, while also situating the work and its formal strategies within the history of thinking about literary forms. Late papers will receive a reduction of ½ letter grade for every 2 days late. Presentations are intended to extend our class discussions and themes beyond the confines of literary discourse. Presentations will take place on Thursdays in groups of three, with each student presenting for 7-10 minutes (total presentation time = 30 minutes). In consultation with the instructor, each group should frame a presentation topic on other material (visual art, music, architecture, etc.) from the period covered that week. As a rule, each student should present one work or excerpt, analyse an aspect of its form and relate it to our class readings or discussions. Each presenter should also prepare a one-page handout with the following information: a) significant dates, names and arguments; b) sources for further reading; and c) three discussion questions for the class. Please be aware that presentations will require advance research. Academic InteGrity Policy. 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 http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity/ for more information). WeeKly Syllabus Week 1 (Jan 4,6): Romanticism and the Night Side of Nature • Novalis, Hymns to the Night (1800) Week 2 (Jan 11, 13): The Romantic Novella • E.T. A. Hoffmann, Golden Pot (1814) Week 3 (Jan 18, 20): Realism and Nature in the 19th Century • Adalbert Stifter, Rock Crystal (1853) Week 4 (Jan 25, 27): Naturalism and Technology • Gerhart Hauptmann, Flagman Thiel (1888) Week 5 (Feb 1, 3): Aesthetics in the Age of Instrumental Reason • Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Letter of Lord Chandos (1902); Rainer Maria Rilke, selected poems Week 6 (Feb. 8 and 10): Expressionism and Short Prose • Mid-Term papers due Feb. 8! Week 7, Machine People • Georg Kaiser, Gas Feb 22, 24: NO CLASS: STUDY WEEK Week 7 (Mar 1, 3): Literature Democracy and the Law • Bertolt Brecht, “Lehrstücke”: Measures Taken (1929) and The Exception and the Rule (1930) Week 8 (Mar 8, 10): After the Holocaust • Günter Eich, Dreams (1950); selected poems and speeches by Paul Celan Week 9 (Mar 15, 17): Imagining the New Society • Alexander Kluge, Learning Process with a Deadly Outcome (1972) Week 10 (Mar 22, 24): Life in East Germany • Ulrich Plenzdorf, The New Sufferings of Young W (1972) Week 11-12 (Mar 29, 31; April 5, 7): Migration • Emine Sevgi Özdamar, The Bridge of Golden Horn (1998); Yoko Tawada, Canned Foreign (2002) Take-Home Final TBA .