126-366/466 Memory and Mourning in German Literature 1970-1990

Note:

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Coordinator:

Timetable:

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Objectives:

Students who complete this subject will:

• have familiarised themselves with a range of German texts dealing with the themes of memory and mourning;

• have an understanding of the different social and political contexts in which the texts were written;

• have a thorough knowledge of the problems of memory and the German past for writers and its social, political, historical and personal dimensions;

• have an appreciation of the different literary forms and techniques used in the works.

Content:

One preoccupation of West German and Austrian, as well as of East German writers from 1970 until unification, is with memory both as a collective act of remembering past national 'traumas' and an intensely personal form of mourning. The focus will be on works which are concerned with the role of memory in literature and the personal, political and social constraints on remembering the past. The course will analyse the different approaches to memory as a personal and social obligation in their social and political contexts. The varying responses to the legacy of the National Socialist past, the problems of generational gaps and transitions, and the specific social and personal effects of repressing memories on the present will be analysed and compared.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

• Handke, Peter, Wunschloses Unglück
• Meckel, Christoph, Suchbild
• Wolf, Christa, Sommerstück
• Hein, Christoph, Drachenblut
• Walser, Martin, Dorle und Wolf