Navigation items and banners
- About FUBiS
- Academic Program
- Accommodation
- Extracurricular Activities
- Fees & Registration
- Contact
- FAQ
FUBiS Term II: Borders & Crossings: German Literature and Culture from Romanticism to the Present
(Course # 2.15)
|
Type: |
B Track |
|
Instructor(s): |
|
|
Language: |
English |
|
Contact hours: |
72 (6 contact hours per day) |
|
Credit Points: |
6 |
|
Capacity: |
18 |
Resources
Course description
In this course, you will encounter many of the most exciting textual and visual contributions to German culture in texts from the 19th-21st centuries in English translation. Our focus will be borders - physical, ideological, intellectual, and metaphorical - and crossing borders, as passages to more creative or liberated states of being or as acts of transgression. You will gain insight into aesthetic and intellectual accomplishments of eventful periods in German cultural history. We will take advantage of the unique opportunity of being in Berlin to visit many sites relevant to course materials. Afternoon excursions include the Brücke Museum, Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Brecht-Weigel Museum, East Side Gallery, Stasi Museum, and the DDR Museum.
Student profile
Course designed for intellectually curious, engaged students interested in the cultural and literary history of Germany in English translation. Must be willing to participate actively in discussions and excursions to sites and museums in Berlin relevant to course content. Attendance is crucial.
Prerequisites
none
Course requirements
Students must attend classes, actively engage in class discussions, and regularly contribute ideas to the class to do well in this course. Three typed and double-spaced response papers on specific aspects of a text (1-2 p. each) are due on the day of the reading. Midterm and final take-home essays.
Grading
Participation (attendance, preparation, discussion): 20%
3 response papers: 15%
Oral presentations of response papers: 15%
Midterm take-home essay: 25%
Final take-home essay: 25%
Reading
A course reader will be provided.
Course readings and screenings include:
Ludwig Tieck: “Eckbert the Fair” (1797)
Heinrich von Kleist: “The Marquise of O--” (1808)
Georg Büchner: "Woyzeck" (published 1878)
Film: "Woyzeck" (dir. Werner Herzog, 1979)
Hugo von Hofmannsthal: “The Lord Chandos Letter“ (1902)
Rainer Maria Rilke: “New Poems” (1907) (selections)
Franz Kafka: “The Judgment” (1913)
Georg Kaiser: "Gas II" (1918)
Hermann Hesse: "Demian" (1919)
Nietzsche: “Zarathustra’s Prologue” (1883)
Bertolt Brecht: “The Modern Theater is the Epic Theater“ (1930)
Film: "The Threepenny Opera" (dir. G.W. Pabst, 1930)
Wolfgang Borchert: "The Man Outside" (1947)
Günter Grass: "Cat and Mouse" (1961) (Ch. 1-7)
Friedrich Dürrenmatt: "The Physicists" (1962)
Peter Schneider: "The Wall Jumper" (1982)
Thomas Brussig: "Heroes Like Us" (1995) (Ch. 1-3)
Christa Wolf: “What Remains” (published 1990)
Jana Hensel: "After the Wall: Confessions from an East German
Childhood and the Life that Came Next" (2002) (Ch. 1-2)
Film: "One, Two, Three" (dir. Billy Wilder, 1961)
Recommended Course combinations
- Mass Media and Popular Culture in Berlin
- Music in Berlin: Three Centuries of Tradition and Innovation
- Semi-intensive German Language Courses (Track A)
