Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to investigate the different areas of literary criticism, poetics, textual analysis and historical and cultural contexts in order to enable students to master an author, a genre or a period of German literature.
Course contents
A
The course aims to expand on the knowledge of contemporary German literature received in the triennial. In particular the lessons are devoted to the analysis of three works:
W.G. Sebald: Austerlitz (2001)
Martin Mosebach: Was davor geschah (2010)
Helene Hegemann: Axolotl Roadkill (2010)
The analysis of the novels will be accompanied by reflections on poetical basic concepts (lyric and epic style) referring to Emil Staiger.
B
The course is devoted to the analysis of the "Ring of the Nibelung", a cycle of four dramatic operas (The Rhine Gold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried, Twilight of the Gods) by the German composer Richard Wagner who wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. Particular attention will be paid to the ideological meaning, the numerous political and cultural aspects of that "total artwork" for German history in the late 19th century.
The analysis of the operas will be accompanied by reflections on poetical basic concepts (dramatic style) referring to Emil Staiger.
Reccomended or required readings
A
Sebald, W.G.: Austerlitz, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003
Mosebach, Martin: Was davor geschah, Hanser Verlag, München 2010
Hegemann, Helene: Axolotl Roadkill, Ullstein Buchverlage G.m.b.H., Berlin 2010
Staiger, Emil: Grundbegriffe der Poetik, Atlantis Verlag, Zürich 1946, S.7-141.
Sørensen, Bengt Algot: Geschichte der deutschen Literatur 2. Vom 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart, Verlag C.H. Beck, München 2002 (2. Auflage), S. 270-456.
Szukala, Ralph: Warum Geschichte erzählen? Politisches Trauma und seine narrative Verarbeitung bei Uwe Johnson, Uwe Timm und W.G. Sebald, in: literatur für leser 2011/4, S. 219-229.
Wikipedia-Artikel (in deutscher Sprache) zu den behandelten Autoren.
B
Wagner, Richard: Der Ring des Nibelungen. Textbuch mit Leitmotivangaben und Szenenübersicht: www.richard-wagner-werkstatt.com/texte/
Staiger, Emil: Grundbegriffe der Poetik, Atlantis Verlag, Zürich 1946, S. 143-201.
Sørensen, Bengt Algot: Geschichte der deutschen Literatur 2. Vom 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart, Verlag C.H. Beck, München 2002 (2. Auflage), S. 62-173.
Dahlhaus, Carl: Richard Wagners Musikdramen, Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1996, S. 7-14, 118-203.
Wikipedia-Artikel (in deutscher Sprache) zu Wagner und Ring.
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