GRN3075

German culture and society 1750-1900

P Thomson

6 points - 2 hours per week - First semester - Clayton, Berwick - Prerequisites: GRN2065 or GRN2305 (pre-1997 code) - Corequisites: GRN3315

Objectives In this subject students should develop a general understanding of the relationship between cultural texts and the contexts of their production and reception and hence of the process of textual communication; a more specific understanding of the key elements and main stages in the cultural history of the German-speaking region in this period, thereby gaining familiarity with the work of a number of important, but also some more marginal German-speaking writers, as well as with the conventions of cultural periodisation in German (eg Aufklärung. Romantik, Biedermeier); the ability to recognise and analyse a variety of texts in German in accordance with the categories of genre, style and epoch; reading skills necessary to understand high-level German; the ability to create German summaries of longer texts, as well as engaging in literary and cultural discussion in German; the ability to present critical interpretations of specific German texts in essay form.

Synopsis A survey of German social, cultural and literary history from the Enlightenment to the beginning of the modern period.

Assessment Written (1500 words): 40% - Examinations (2 hours): 60%

Prescribed texts

Hoffmann E T A Der Sandmann Reclam
Kleist H v Die Marquise von O Reclam

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