BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The main objectives of this course, which deals specifically with German literature developed after the fall of the Berlin Wall and focuses on one of the most representative writers among those who lived at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, namely Günter Grass (1927-2015), fully meets the general objectives of the ISLLI degree course: to provide a spectrum of content such that knowledge of the processes of evolution of the European critical-cultural heritage can be mastered in a diachronic and synchronic manner. In this case, the privileged perspective is German literature and culture.
It is the teacher's task to provide as broad an overview as possible of the main phenomena that have defined the development of German literature from 1989 to 2010, analysing two works that are representative of the author's poetics and political-cultural commitment. Students will thus acquire an in-depth knowledge of the historical-literary period investigated, they will be able to critically evaluate the dynamics concerning the author's positioning in the European context, and they will be able to confront themselves with the reading, comprehension and translation of some salient passages of the texts in class. In the course, class discussion with the participants is encouraged in a seminar dimension
Course Prerequisites
Students may attend the course after the admission interview scheduled on one of the dates indicated on the ISLLI website. Next scheduled interviews for admission: 15 September, h 10 a.m./ 20 October, h 10 a.m./ 17 November, h 10 a.m./ 10 December, h 10 a.m. Students who have to complete their three-year degree may also attend the course.
Teaching Methods
The teaching is conducted entirely in German, by means of lectures in the first two sub-periods, but also in a seminar dimension, involving students in reflection on the topics covered and in the classroom translation of selected passages from the texts on the syllabus. Power point will be used in some cases. There is also a 12-hour workshop dedicated to the translation of prose or lyric texts, which completes the lecturer's teaching commitment and involves written practice on the part of students. Attendance at the workshop is compulsory for those who enrol in it.
Assessment Methods
The examination will be taken by students in oral form only. There will be three questions in German concerning:
1) the framing of the most important cultural perspectives of Germany's literary landscape between 1989 and 2010, also in relation to the writer covered in the course, namely Günter Grass.
2) the analysis of the main problematic junctures in Grass' Im Krebsgang.
3) the interpretation and possible translation of a passage from Grass's work, possibly also taken from his autobiography Beim Häuten der Zwiebel.
To obtain a positive assessment, students must be able to functionally frame the critical material presented and must be familiar with the salient aspects of the bibliographical material.
To obtain a good grade, students will have to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the primary literature analysed during the course, commenting on it from a historical-critical point of view and relating it to the general overview of the introductory part.
In order to obtain a very good grade, students will have to prove that they have a homogeneous view of the topics discussed, that they have a thorough command of the bibliographical material, that they are able to connect the topics with each other and that they have an excellent command of expression.
Contents
The course aims to present the cultural-historical framework of Germany in the period following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of the two Germanies in 1990.
Particular prominence is given to a literary genre that prevailed for about twenty years in Germany (but partly also in Austria), namely the Familienroman. The analysis of this genre also raises the issue of the relationship between three generations of authors: those who partly lived through the experience of the Second World War, those who witnessed the country's phase of socio-political emancipation between the late 1960s and the 1970s, and those who cultivate childhood memories of the Berlin Wall. By Günter Grass, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999, and a leading protagonist of the German cultural scene in the second half of the 20th century, will be examined in full the novella Im Krebsgang (Crabwalk, 2002) and parts of the autobiographical novel Beim Häuten der Zwiebel (Peeling the Onion, 2006), the latter the subject of controversy and extensive debate in the media not only in Germany, but also in Europe.
Online Resources
More information
The course takes place in the first two sub-periods, from the end of September until the end of November/beginning of December.
Erasmus students and those wishing to apply for the double degree with Bochum (see the link on the ISLLI course website: https://ls-islli.unibg.it/it/opportunita-e-studi-allestero/internazionalizzazione-accordi-di-doppio-titolo) are requested to contact the professor at the beginning of the course to discuss how to prepare for the examination.
Students who have not attended the lectures related to the course can obtain support and supplementary materials by contacting the professor directly by e-mail.
FOR THE FINAL EXAMINATION: Students are required to come to the final examination with the texts (paper books or E-Books) and materials provided for in the syllabus (not just the course notes).
DOUBLE DEGREE with the Ruhr Universität Bochum (Germany): Interested students may take part in this course, provided that at the time of enrolment (to be published in January) they have completed at least 9 Cfu of a first-year course in the winter session of examinations (before the date of the February interview) and possess the necessary language skills: at least C1 (or equivalent) in a European language (including Russian). Proficiency at C1 level in German is a preferential qualification. This examination is also understood to relate to other courses that were completed in December (i.e. not only Deutschsprachige Literaturen Europas I).
Attendance at the course is highly recommended, especially for double degree candidates.