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Academic Year 2005/2006

Seminar in German Studies: States of Crisis, Narratives of Transgression
GERM 299 SP
Crosslistings:
COL 299
GELT 299

The annual Seminar in German Studies serves as an introduction to the increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary field of German Studies. The goal of the seminar is to help students critically examine significant themes in the culture of the German-speaking countries through a variety of media and genres (literature, film, photography, journalism, the internet, visual art, criticism, philosophy, historiography). The course will have a substantial methodological component, emphasizing the improvement of analytic and interpretive skills and the expression of complex problems in a concise and lucid fashion.

The topic for 2005 is "States of Crisis, Narratives of Transgression"

We will investigate how - throughout the history of the German-speaking regions of Europe - states of crisis (at the levels of the individual, the family, class, gender, ethnicity, and the nation) have engendered narratives of transgression, ranging from merely "deviant" behavior to radical otherness to violent revolt and, ultimately, to terrorism. Cases to be studied include: war and the dissolution of social and political order, madness, crime and punishment, the crisis of political legitimacy and the terrorist response, the transgression of taboos and social conventions, the crisis of communicative language and the artistic response, sexual transgressions.

MAJOR READINGS

John Ardagh, GERMANY AND THE GERMANS;
Peter Pulzer, GERMANY, 1870-1945 (1997);
Lothar Kettenacker, GERMANY SINCE 1945(1997);
Wolfgang Borchert, MAN OUTSIDE;
Guenter Grass, THE TIN DRUM and THE PLEBIANS REHEARSE THE UPRISING;
Peter Weiss, THE PERSECUTION AND ASSASSINATION OF JEAN-PAUL MARAT AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES OF THE ASYLUM OF CHARENTON UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE;
Christa Wolf, PATTERNS OF CHILDHOOD;
Sarah Kirsch, THE PANTHER WOMAN;
Dodds/Allen-Thompson, eds., THE WALL IN MY BACKYARD; Stefan Hermlin, EVENING LIGHT

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three papers (8-10 pages), no final examination.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course is required for all German Studies majors.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA GERM    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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