GERMAN LITERATURE 1 MOD.1

The course is intended for students in the first semester of the first year of the LLEAP Master's degree course in Germanistics and the related Double Degree with the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen; it is part of the characterising educational activities. It offers advanced knowledge in the field of German literature in the original language and advanced critical tools for the reading and interpretation of literary texts in the modern era.

1) A thorough knowledge of German prose through 19th-century Goethe, Realism and early Thomas Mann both in the cultural context of the time and in the structural constants immanent in the texts; 2) the ability to identify the complexity of the literary construction of the 19th century and its transformation up to the early 20th century with the aid of semiological criticism; 3) the ability to analyse and recognise the structural characteristics of the texts analysed in the light of a philologically plausible interpretation; 4) the ability to put forward competent interpretative proposals and to communicate them clearly in the seminar.

Bachelor's degree and number of credits in German Language and Literature according to the access rules laid down in the regulations of the Master's Degree Course in European, American and Postcolonial Languages and Literature.

The nineteenth century was an extraordinary period for German literature, which, from Romanticism to Realism, experimented with aesthetic languages and ways of representing and interpreting the world that, in their radicalism – whether overt or subtle – continue to provoke us. The course focuses on a selection of prose texts, with some forays into poetry, exploring love as the focal point of the cultural, psychological and value structures of an era shaken by major historical events, from the Napoleonic Wars to the founding of the German Reich and beyond. Starting from the idea of Wilhelm Schapp (a student of Husserl) that human beings are constitutionally intertwined or entangled in stories—that is, that their existence has an eminently narrative substance—we will read for example the greatest German novels on adultery (Goethe’s "Die Wahlverwandtschaften" and Fontane’s "Effi Briest"), moving on to some poems by Heinrich Heine and concluding with Thomas Mann’s "Buddenbrooks", a novel marking the end of a century in which the characters’ lovelives are part of the inexorable decline of a family.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Die Wahlverwandtschaften (Reclam Ausgabe).
Heinrich Heine, a selection of poems available in Moodle.
Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest, (Reclam Ausgabe).
Theodor Fontane, Stine, (Reclam Ausgabe).
Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks. Verfall einer Familie (Fischer Ausgabe).

The following texts are recommended for the historical and theoretical contextualisation of the novels:
Helmuth Hühn (Hg.), Goethes "Walhverwandtschaften", Werk und Forschung, De Gruyter: 2010.
Edwar McInnes, Rolf Grimminger, Hansers Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. Band 6: Bürgerlicher Realismus und Gründerzeit, 1848-1890,
München [u.a.] : Hanser , 1996.
Claudia Stockinger, Das 19. Jahhundert. Zeitalter des Realismus, Berlin : Akademie-Verl., 2010
Norbert Mecklenburg, Theodor Fontane : Realismus, Redevielfalt, Ressentiment, Stuttgart : J. B. Metzler Verlag, 2018.
Stefania Sbarra, «Il confine, il confine, dov'é?» Theodor Fontane, Friedrich Nietzsche e il realismo tedesco, Firenze: Le lettere 2019.
Michael Titzmann, Lutz Hagestedt, Realismus und Frühe Moderne : Beispielinterpretationen und Systematisierungsversuche, München : Belleville, 2009.

The oral examination is an interview in German covering all the topics covered during the course. In the overall assessment, the presentation of a topic that the student has discussed in seminar with other students in the last weeks of the course will count for 50%.

oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

In the overall assessment, the exposition of a topic that the student will have discussed in a seminar with other students during the course will count for 50%. On this occasion, clarity of presentation will be assessed (30%), the ability to undertake in-depth study independently (30%), and the competence and originality of the critical conclusions reached (40%).
Those who, for personal reasons, cannot present the topic in the seminar may do so in the oral examination.
During the exam, the lecturer will verify 1) knowledge of the texts dealt with during the course; 2) the ability to apply to the texts the critical and interpretative categories developed during the course; 3) the ability to argue on the specificities of the texts in relation to their period and to any structural constants that emerge from a semiological reading of them. In order to pass the examination it is necessary to obtain a sufficient mark in each of the above three parts, which will be assessed with points from 0 to 10 each. Sufficiency, i.e. 6 points, will be obtained with elementary competence and the absence of serious errors and gaps, and points 7 to 10 will be obtained according to the breadth of knowledge and the quality of argumentation and exposition.
Honours will be awarded in the case of particular critical originality.

Lectures and workshops in German, with moments in Italian where necessary for full understanding and active participation in the course. Of some of the works, as indicated in the list of reference texts, only extracts will be read. Efforts will be made to stimulate oral discussion in German in a friendly learning environment.

If you require specific information on the course in German, please contact the lecturer by e-mail or during her office hours.
Erasmus students are welcome.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development