INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN LITERATURE

The course "German literature SP" is framed in the European curriculum of the Master's Degree Programme "Italian philology, linguistics and literature".
According to the aims of the Master's Degree and to the areas Literatures and Cultures, the course provides the ability to consolidate advanced critical and methodological instruments and a solid knowledge of German literary texts in Italian translation, and debates in their cultural and historical context.
The course is open for interested students attending other Degree Programmmes.

Aim of this course is to consolidate:

a) the ability to analyse critically some of the most significant literary and theoretical texts of the cultural debates subject of the course;
b) the comprehension of these debates in their cultural and historical context;
c) the ability to consolidate critical and methodological instruments;
d) the ability to comprehend and analyze texts and contexts in a competent and autonomous way;
e) the ability to perfectionate comunication and production by an accurate reading of the texts, the discussion and presentation in class and and a detailed study of scientific writing;
f) the ability to discuss in seminars and workshops about the subjects of the course.

None.
Knowledge of German is not required.

COURSE TITLE: Modern and contemporary Germany (1945-2023): Reprocessing the recent past: National-socialism, Shoah, two German Republics, the Berlin Wall, the reunified German Federal Republic, the great crisis (2020-2022).

1. Literary texts:

- Paul Celan, Poesie (1948-1970), a cura di Giuseppe Bevilacqua, Mondadori, Milano 1998 (selected texts, see the course moodle);
- Peter Weiss, L'istruttoria (1965), Einaudi, Torino 2000;
- Bertolt Brecht, Poesie I (1913-1933), Biblioteca della Pléiade, Einaudi 1984 (selected texts, see the course moodle);
- Bertolt Brecht, Poesie II (1934-1956), Biblioteca della Pléiade, Einaudi 2005 (selected texts, see the course moodle);
- Heinrich Böll, Opinioni di un clown (1963), Mondadori, Milano 2017;
- Christa Wolf, Il cielo diviso (1963), edizioni e/o, Roma 2019;
- Günter Grass, Il passo del gambero (2002), Einaudi, Torino 2003;
- Ferdinand von Schirach, Il caso Collini (2011), TEA, Roma 2012;
- Primo Levi, I sommersi e i salvati (1986), Einaudi, Torino 2020.

2. Philosophical texts:

- Walter Benjamin, Per una critica della violenza (1921) (see the couse moodle);
- Hannah Arendt, Le origini del totalitarismo (1951) (selected passages, see the course moodle);
- Hannah Arendt, La banalità del male. Eichmann a Gerusalemme (1963), Feltrinelli, Milano 2020;
- Martin Heidegger, I quaderni neri (selected passages, see the course moodle);
- Max Horkheimer - Theodor W. Adorno, Sull'antisemitismo, in Iid., Dialettica dell'illuminismo (1941-1974), Einaudi, Torino 2013 (selected passages, see the course moodle).

3. Historical context:
- Gustavo Corni, Storia della Germania da Bismarck a Merkel, il Saggiatore, Milano 2017, cap. 4-12;
- Raul Hilman, La distruzione degli ebrei d'Europa, Einaudi, Torino 1985 (selected passages, see the course moodle);
- Gian Enrico Rusconi, Germania: il passato che non passa, Einaudi, Torino 1986 (selected passages, see the course moodle);

4. Literary and cultural context:
- Marino Freschi (ed.), Storia della civiltà letteraria tedesca, UTET, Torino 1998, vol. II., pp. 490-507, 508-543, 547-577, 578-594, 656-663.

Oral exam (about 45 minutes) aiming to verify the abilities acquired by students, to check their knowledge of the whole programme and their ability to reflect critically on its themes.

Regular class sessions. Front lectures and seminars.
Teaching materials will be provided in pdf format on the course Moodle.

Italian

Non attending students will have to contact the lecturer (al5@unive.it) and check the moodle of the course for further readings.
All students are kindly requested to check frequently the notices on the lecturer's CF-homepage.

Last update: 2023/08/12.

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