INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN LITERATURE

The general AIMS of the module, with regard to the course of studies to which it belongs are:
1) to increase the knowledge and comprehension of German literature at higher (M.A.) level, through the study of its development in the twentieth century;
2) to acquire a better command of theoretical approaches, hermeneutical tools for textual analysis and close reading; along with acquiring the competence to contextualise them in the historical and literary background;
3) to be able to comprehend German culture (specifically in the twentieth century) through a better understanding of its relevant texts and documents. Students will learn the history of German literature both from a cultural and an aesthetic viewpoint, as well as in its relation with the political and social history. They will apply their hermeneutic abilities to the comprehension of complex literary texts, their relation with the cultural and socio-political background, their rhetorical strategies and aesthetic qualities. They will be able to produce a discussion of complex texts and connect them to the historical framework to which they belong.

The module will provide the critical tools to be able
1) to conduct an autonomous bibliographic search;
2) to provide critical commentaries, short essays, and a final thesis, using the critical-hermeneutical knowledge acquired in the module, also through a personal reading of texts;
3) to enter a dialogue with the critical state of art on texts and themes, and debate one's positions in public;
4) to operate in various intercultural contexts.

None.
Knowledge of German language is not required.

The module will focus on the main issues discussed in twenthieth century German literature, with special regard to the themes of the development of a rational thought based on the empirical-critical study of the world and self by the intellect; the rise of a philosophy and culture of the passions felt through the senses (sentiments); the development of theories of sympathy and fellow-feeling; and the urge to, and wish for, happiness understood as central in man's psychological and social nature; the role of fear in political and aesthetic thoeries of the human mind.
Those themes and issues will be analysed, discussed and commented on, by reading and interpreting as well as some chosen literary texts (as in the list below).

A. Literary texts:
- F. Kafka, Il castello (1926, postumo; scritto nel 1922), Einaudi, Torino 2014
- Th., La montagna magica (1924), Mondadori, Milano 2011
- H. von Hofmannsthal, La torre (1920-1927), con un saggio di M. Cacciari, Adelphi, MiIano 2012
- A. Zweig, La questione del sergente Griscia (1927), Mondadori, Milano 1961
- B. Brecht, L'opera da tre soldi (1928), Einaudi, Torino 2015
- A. Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929), con un saggio di W. Benjamin, Rizzoli, Milano 2017
- E.M. Remarque, Niente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale (1929), Neri Pozza, Vicenza 2020
- B. Brecht, scelta di poesie degli anni Venti e Trenta (pdf su Moodle)
- Th. Mann, Mario e il mago (1930), in Id., Cane e Padrone. Disordine e dolore precoce. Mario e il mago, Mondadori, Milano 2018
- K. Tucholsky, Il castello di Rheinsberg, il Melangolo, Genova 2003
- H. Fallada, E ora, pover'uomo? (1932), Mondadori, Milano 1992
- G. Benn, Poesie (pdf su Moodle)
- L. Feutchwanger, I fratelli Oppermann (1933), Skira, Milano 2014
- K. Mann, Mephisto. Romanzo di una carriera (1936), Garzanti, Milano 2021
- B. Brecht, Vita di Galileo (1939), Einaudi, Torino 2014
- E. Jünger, Sulle scogliere di marmo (1939), Guanda, Parma 2002

B. Essays:
- Th. W Adorno e Max Horkheimer, Dialettica dell'illuminismo (1941-1947) (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Hannah Arendt, Le origini del totalitarismo (1951) (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Walter Benjamin, Per una critica della violenza (1921) (pdf su Moodle)
- Martin Buber, Il principio dialogico e altri saggi, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2014
- Sigmund Freud, Il disagio della civiltà, in Id., Il disagio della civiltà e altri saggi, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2013
- Martin Heidegger, L'autoaffermazione dell'Università. Discorso inaugurale del mandato rettorale all'Università di Friburgo (1933) (pdf su Moodle)
- Martin Heidegger, Quaderni neri 1931-1938, Bompiani 2015 (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Klaus Mann / Erika Mann, Escape to Life. German Culture in Exile (1939) (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Thomas Mann, Considerazioni di un impolitico (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Thomas Mann, Moniti all'Europa, Mondadori, Milano 2017 (parti)
- Friedrich Nietzsche, Sull'utilità e il danno della storia per la vita. Seconda considerazione inattuale (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Helmuth Plessner, Il riso e il pianto. Una ricerca sui limiti del comportamento umano, Bompiani, Milano 2017 (parti, pdf su Moodle)
- Carl Schmitt, Trattato teologico-politico (parti, pdf su Moodle)

C. Criticism (pdf Moodle)

D. Historical and literary-historical context:
- Gustavo Corni, Weimar. La Germania fra il 1933 e il 1945, Carocci, Roma 2020 (obbligatorio per l'esame)
- Detlev J.K. Peukert, La repubblica di Weimar. Anni di crisi della modernità classica, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2020
- Jeffrey Herf, lI modernismo reazionario. Tecnologia, cultura e politica nella Germania di Weimar e del Terzo Reich, il Mulino, Bologna 1988
- Marino Freschi (a cura), Storia della civiltà letteraria tedesca, UTET, Torino 1998, volume secondo, pp. 373-394; 402-407; 411-440; 455-489.

Oral test based on the programme.
See also "Altre informazioni"

Front lectures that will introduce the students to the topics and the texts in the programme; seminars with students' presentations and joint discussions of the texts in the programme.

Italian

Students can give a presentation on a topic relevant to the course. The relevant readings will be agreed upon with the teacher.

The students who are unable to attend classes (“non frequentanti”) are advised to see the teacher during his office hours or by appointment.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development