German

This option can be taken as a primary course (8 tutorials) or a secondary course (4 tutorials) in one or more terms.

Michaelmas Term:

Students are introduced to translation theory before working on their own translations of extracts from a series of German-language texts by twentieth-century writers (Katja Petrowskaja, Christa Wolf, Günter Grass, Alfred Döblin, Thomas Mann, Hedwig Dohm, Franz Kafka).

Hilary Term:

Students work on their own translations of extracts from a series of German-language texts by twentieth-century writers, including literature and non-fiction.

Trinity Term:

Students select a text for the class to translate. They give a presentation on the text, accompanied by a handout, including the following information: Background to the text (who wrote it? When? First published? Where published?); Audience (who was it written/produced for?); Context and genre (what kind of text is it? Has it been translated previously? If so, is this is a good translation in your/others’ opinion? Are there perhaps two existing translations which you could compare?); Translation issues (what difficulties does it pose? Style? Register? Is any specialist vocabulary necessary? Are there any words/phrases which you think would pose a particular challenge?). Students then translate the passages independently and compare their work in class.

This option can be taken as a secondary course (4 tutorials) in either Hilary or Trinity Term.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe occupies a central position in German literature, comparable to Shakespeare in English literature. Students will read and analyse two prose works (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers and Die Wahlverwandtschaften), two plays (Götz von Berlichingen and Faust I), and a selection of poetry. Tutorials will focus on Medieval and Baroque poetry (Weeks 1-4);

Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

Franz Kafka is one of the most famous modernist writers, and his texts still resonate with readers today. Students will read and analyse two novels (Der Proceß, Das Schloß), as well as short prose works including Ein Landarzt und andere Drucke zu Lebzeiten, Die Verwandlung, and Das Urteil.

 

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)

Brecht is one of the major dramatists of the twentieth century, and was a prolific author in a variety of genres. In this course, students will read and analyse some of Brecht’s works for the stage, including Die Dreigroschenoper (1928), Die Maßnahme (1930/31), Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (1938-41/ 1943), Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (1939), and Der kaukasische Kreidekreis (1944/45), as well as a selection of Brecht’s poetry.

 

The Berlin School of Filmmakers (1997-2012)

The Berlin School is thearoup of film makers who studied at the Deutsche Film- und Ferhsehakademie Berlin with Harun Farocki (1944-2014) and who came to prominence at the start of the new millennium. Students will watch and analyse a number of films, including Thomas Arslan (dir.), Geschwister (1997), Angela Schanelec (dir.), Marseille (2003), Christian Petzold (dir.), Die innere Sicherheit (2000), Christian Petzold (dir.), Barbara (2012), Christian Petzold (dir.), Phoenix (2014), the Dreileben Trilogy (Christian Petzold, Etwas Besseres als den Tod (2011), Dominik Graf, Komm mir nicht nach (2011), Christoph Hochhäusler, Eine Minute Dunkel (2011)), and Christian Petzold, Jerichow (2008).

 

E.T.A. Hoffman (1776-1822)

E.T.A. Hoffmann is one of the greatest German Romantics. His fictional texts juxtapose everyday settings with the fantastic, including mysterious forces, Doppelgänger, and ghosts of the imagination. Students will read and analyse four of Hoffmann’s prose works: Der goldne Topf, Lebensansichten des Katers Murr, Die Elixiere des Teufels, and Der Sandmann.

This option can be taken as a primary course in Michaelmas Term only (8 sessions).

 

In this course, students will explore German-language literary works from 1750-1840. The course will be taught in a combination of seminars and tutorials. We will read and discuss a number of dramatic and prose-fiction works, including Lessing, Emilia Galotti (1772), Lessing, Nathan der Weise (1779), Goethe, Götz von Berlichingen (1773),  Schiller, Die Räuber (1781). E.T.A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann (1816), Ludwig Tieck, Der blonde Eckbert (1797), Karoline von Günderode, Gedichte und Phantasien (1804), Der Hessische Landbote (1834), Lenz (1835; 1839), Woyzeck (1836-37). Students will write four essays over the course of the term and give one or more presentations on the texts.

This option can be taken as a primary course (8 tutorials) or secondary course (4 tutorials) in any term.

In this course, students will explore German-language literary works and films made after 1900. Possible topics will include The City in Literature and Film, Literature and the Unconscious, Neue Sachlichkeit, Poetic Responses to World War I, Literature and Film in the Rubble (Trümmerliteratur), Writing in the GDR, Vergangenheitsbewältigung, Literature, Memory and Photography, Turkish-German Literature and Film, Transnational Memory.