Deborah Janson's German 392 Course, Fall 1997

German 392--Seminar on Contemporary German Literature

"Literatur seit der Wende"
Fall 1997
Mondays, 3:30-6:20 — 303 Chitwood
Instructor: Dr. Deborah Janson
Office and Phone: G-17 Chitwood, 304/293-5121, X 5507
E-Mail: djanson@wvu.edu
WWW Home Page: http:// www.as.wvu.edu/~djanson
Office hours: M 11:30-12:30, MW 11:30-1:30, and by appointment

Course Description:

In this course we will examine works of literature and film written since 1989 that address social and political changes leading to or resulting from unification, or that reflect the experiences of "minority" writers and foreigners in the German-speaking countries. In so doing, we will familiarize ourselves with the diverse cultural, political, and economic factors that influence writers and filmmakers whose aesthetic production in turn helps shape contemporary German society. Our readings and discussions should strengthen participants' interpretive abilities and the semester project will provide the opportunity to conduct sustained research that may result in original literary scholarship.

Required texts:

-Kerstin Hensel, Tanz am Kanal   (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1994)
-Olaf Georg Klein, "Plötzlich war alles ganz anders" (Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1994)
-Monika Maron, Stille Zeile Sechs (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1991)
-Robert Schneider, Dreck (Leipzig: Reclam, 1993)
-Emine Sevgi Oezdamer, Das Leben ist eine Karawanserei (Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1992)
-Christa Wolf, Medea (Luchterhand 1996)
-hand-outs (short stories, essays, poems)
-films (schedule to be announced, but films include "Nikolaikirche," "Die verriegelte Zeit," 
"Reise der Hoffnung," and "Das Versprechen")

Recommended texts:

-Wolfgang Emmerich, Kleine Literaturgeschichte der DDR (Leipzig: Kiepenheuer, 1996)
-Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 4th ed. (New York: 1995)           
-articles on reserve

Course Evaluation:

	Participation .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . . 20%
	Diskussionsleitung .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 20%
	Referat    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . . 20%
	Semester Project .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .40%

Attendance:

We will miss you if you are not here, and besides that, if you are absent for (almost) any reason in excess of 1 class period, your final course grade will be lowered by 2 percentage points per absence.

Participation:

Participation in class discussion involves first of all close and careful reading of the texts. You are expected to read each text thoroughly and conscientiously, to bring to class your ideas, questions, and interpretations, to prepare answers to the questions on hand-outs when they are provided to guide your reading, and to listen to and consider carefully and considerately what others say. Each person's full participation in class discussion is essential to making this course an intellectually stimulating and rewarding experience for everyone.

Diskussionsleitung:

You will lead the discussion on a selected work for half of one class period. At the end of the class preceding yours, you should provide a list of questions that will help guide our reading. At this time you might also want to explain briefly the work's context and which aspects you would like us to focus on. You will probably want to begin your Diskussionsleitung by providing background information about the text's genesis and its author's life, as well as a summary of important points, both those you have discovered yourself and those discussed in secondary literature. You will then lead the discussion based on the questions you have given us and the other important points you have discovered.

As part of this component it is required that you read several works of secondary literature about the text you are discussing, not counting articles in reference works such as The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Knowing how inadequate Wise Library can occasionally be, you will need to search for relevant material early in the semester so that you can avail yourself of the Interlibrary Loan Service, should you need to. It should be clear from your presentation what secondary texts you have read, perhaps by disputing or affirming the positions taken in them. My evaluation of your performance will be based on evidence of effort, accurate and insightful scholarship, and an interesting and informative presentation that involves all class members.

Referat:

This component provides us with the opportunity to expand our knowledge concerning recent German literature beyond the texts required for this course. You should present a 15- minute report on a topic relevant to the Wendezeit, either on a book not read for class that has been written since November 1989, or on a political or literary-historical development that has influenced post- Wende thinking. Such topics might include the controversy that followed the publication of Christa Wolf's Was bleibt (and other ways unification changed the West's reception of work by GDR writers); the role of the Stasi as depicted in post-Wende texts; ecological concerns as reflected in post-Wende texts; and the work of Turkish, Afro-German, or other "ethnic" writers since unification. Works of literature you may wish to report on include the following:

	Volker Braun, Der Wendehals
	Thomas Brussig, Helden wie wir
	Günter de Bruyn, Vierzig Jahre 
	Brigitte Burmeister, Unter dem Namen Norma
	*Friedrich Christian Delius, Die Birnen von Ribbeck
	Peter Ensikat, Ab jetzt geb ich nichts mehr zu
	Günter Grass, Ein weites Feld
	*Wolfgang Hilbig, Ich
	Helga Königsdorf, Im Schatten des Regenbogen; *1989: Oder ein Moment Schönheit
	*Erich Loest, Nikolaikirche
	Manfred Krug, Abgehauen
	Helga Schutz, Vom Glanz der Elbe
	Annette Simon, Ein Versuch, mir und anderen die ostdeutsche Moral zu erklären

	(*indicates texts I own that you can borrow)

Semester Project:

The project will consist of four parts:

an abstract of your proposed research paper, in which you state your thesis and how you will proceed (due October 6);
a bibliography plus the first two pages of your paper (due November 3);
a 10-minute report about your topic (given as part of the "wrap-up" on the last day of class);
and, the completed research paper (due December 9, or earlier!).

These different components will be graded. The grade for the abstract will be worth 5%, the bibliography and first two pages 5%, the report 5%, and the completed research paper 25%. The project must reflect familiarity with secondary literature on your chosen topic and it must be written according to the style guidelines presented in the MLA Handbook, including use of parenthetical documentation and a list of works cited. Papers should use standard size font (10 or 12 cpi), one-inch margins, and double-spacing, and should be 15-18 pages in length.

Start thinking now about a topic you would like to research--it can be on the topic of your Diskussionsleitung or other material discussed in class, or on other texts and topics belonging to the period under study, including the topic you chose for your Referat.

Our reading schedule will proceed approximately as follows:

August 18:	Introduction
August 25:	Texts by Daniela Dahn and Stefan Heym (hand-outs) (D)
Sept. 1:	Labor day recess (no class)
Sept. 8:	Plötzlich war alles ganz anders (D)
Sept. 15:	Tanz am Kanal (D)
Sept. 22:	Stille Zeile Sechs (D)
Sept. 29:	Stille Zeile Sechs
Oct. 6:		TBA
Oct. 13:	Dreck (D)
Oct. 20:	Das Leben ist eine Karawanserei (D)
Oct. 27:	Das Leben ist eine Karawanserei
Nov. 3:		Das Leben ist eine Karawanserei (D)
Nov. 10:	Medea D
Nov. 17:	Medea
Nov. 24:	Thanksgiving recess (no class)
Dec. 1:		Wrap-up

Please reread this syllabus frequently throughout the semester to remind yourself of what is coming up.

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This page was last modified: 06 October 1997, 21:25 EST
Authors: Deborah Janson and A. David Roth
Copyright © 1997, Deborah Janson & A. David Roth
All rights reserved.
URL: http://www.as.wvu.edu/~djanson/ger-392-fall97.htm