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COL 295
Modern German Culture and Politics
COL 295 SP
Crosslistings: HIST297, GERM295
Photo Caption and Credits
Next Offered in 9798 SP
An examination of the way in this area and period
imaginative literature reflected (or anticipated) historical
realities; but we hope to move beyond the notion of history
as an unproblematized "background" to works of literature.
The course is also designed to consider the sort of work
that literature (and other cultural products) performs in
modern society. Thus we shall want to examine the
conditions under which literature is produced and its
readership formed. We shall attempt an investigation of
reader response, considering what light it may shed on the
role of propaganda in creating mass support for totalitarian
movements (which are notoriously "literary"). The course
therefore aims to examine the relationship of literature
and history on a variety of levels--as text and context,
as source and finished product and as two different kinds
of writing, each with factual and fictive elements.
MAJOR READINGS
Carl Schorske, FIN-DE-SIECLE VIENNA:
POLITICS AND CULTURE
Franz Kafka, THE CASTLE
Sigmund Freud, THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS (selections)
Robert Musil, THE MAN WITHOUT QUALITIES
Thomas Mann, TONIO KROEGER
William S. Allen, THE NAZI SEIZURE OF POWER: THE EXPERIENCE
OF A SINGLE GERMAN TOWN
Adolf Hitler, MEIN KAMPF (selections)
Bertolt Brecht, THE GOOD WOMAN OF SETZUAN; A LITTLE ORGANON
FOR THE THEATER
Christopher R. Browning, ORDINARY MEN: RESERVE POLICE
BATALLION 101 AND THE FINAL SOLUTION IN POLAND
Heinrich Boell, BILLIARDS AT HALF PAST NINE
Guenter Grass, THE TIN DRUM
Christa Wolf, A MODEL CHILDHOOD
Dieter Raft, A HISTORY OF GERMANY
Henry A. Turner, THE TWO GERMANIES SINCE 1945
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Six short papers on assigned
topics; two of these to be revised as a final exercise.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Showings of some
modern German films to be arranged. There will be a small
course fee for xeroxed materials.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting
or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the
first class, they will be dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form
to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA COL
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
About the Photo:
This German flag was officially adopted May 9, 1949
Reference:
Smith, Whitney. FLAGS THROUGH THE AGES AND
ACROSS THE WORLD, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459