Module GERM3231: CULTURAL CRITICISM IN AUSTRIAN WRITING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Department: Modern Language and Cultures (German)

GERM3231: CULTURAL CRITICISM IN AUSTRIAN WRITING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Prerequisites

• German Language 2 (GERM2021) or an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: German Language 4 (GERM3071) or German Language 4 following Year Abroad (GERM3211). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To examine cultural aspects of cultural criticism in Austrian writing of the twentieth century in order to consider an increasinly political preoccupation with aesthetic issues in the work of major writers during the century

Content

• Short prose fiction: Musil, Schnitzler, Kafka, Bachmann, Roth
• Drama: Handke, Bernhard, Jelinek
• Selected critical essays: e.g. Freud, Kraus, Haslinger, Menasse

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate:
• i) in-depth knowledge of a significant textual corpus drawn from the work of major writers that understands Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams as the symbolic beginning of an era of intense preoccupation with the human psyche and unacknowledged aspects of experience
• ii) solid understanding of major socio-historical events in twentieth century Austria, beginning with the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, the founding of the first Austrian Republic and its subsequent annexation to Nazi Germany with the rise of anti-Semitism, to the development of the Second Republic in the post-WW2 era
• iii) analytical engagement with cultural responses to these events as manifest in selected works of literature and criticism from throughout the century, which focus on the divide between forms of language and covert aspects of reality and are organised into four broad topic areas:
• a) representations of unease and uncertainty in writings of the fin-de-siècle;
• b) psychoanalytic dream theory and literary dream narratives;
• c) portrayal of the city as psychic scene of memory;
• d) reflections on issues of representation and authenticity in the cultural sphere
• iv) nuanced understanding of enduring preoccupations, as well as of meaningful shifts, in the critical engagement with issues of language and culture in Austrian writings over the course of the twentieth century

• Development of critical skills through the close reading of primary texts
• Ability to analyse imaginatively and rigorously forms of cultural criticism in a range of genres
• Independent research skills, developed through an individual research project
• Ability to critique secondary material

• Enhanced range of receptive, productive and mediatory skills in German and English
• Ability to formulate arguments coherently and to present them in written and oral form, both singly and as part of a team
• Ability to pursue a guided programme of self-directed study that will lead to the production of an extended piece of written work

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught by means of:
• a) expository lectures introducing key concepts and demonstrating sample analyses.
• b) seminars featuring student presentations, in which participants will develop their skills of textual analysis and comparative treatment of texts and authors
• c) supervisions in which plans for the independent research project are discussed.
• The weekly reading programme will foster an understanding of the relevant cultural background, and this understanding will be further enhanced as students examine forms of cultural criticism in the set-texts. The combination of literary and discursive works will facilitate a critical engagement with aesthetic issues.
• In the course of the year, the gradual establishment of a chronological overview will enable students to begin to situate authors, works and issues within their wider cultural and historical context, where both constants and changes may be identified.
• Group exercises and discussion will ensure the active participation of all members of the seminar who, by focusing on different aspects of the works in question, will allow a broader picture to emerge.
• Conducting seminars regularly in the target language will aid acquisition of the relevant critical vocabulary and discursive register: through oral presentations students will develop their ability to structure arguments and present them fluently.
• Supervisions will foster students’ ability to plan and carry out a programme of independent research.
• Summative assessment will consist of a 1500-word commentary and a 3500-word research project. Both exercises are designed to test students’ subject-specific knowledge and their ability to use their subject-specific skills in order to evaluate this knowledge. The research project will also test students’ independent research skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University