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GERM 259 introduction to german literature 
This course will serve as an introduction to the major authors, genres, and topics of German literature and cultural history from the Middle Ages to the Age of Goethe (ca. 1200-1800). It will also acquaint students with the tools and concepts for critically reading literary texts. We will move from the epic Nibelungenlied and the foundations of literature in German to the work of Goethe and Schiller that marked the apex of one of the great moments of literary history in any language, concluding in a reading of Goethe's Faust. Traversing the periods of the Middle Ages, Baroque, Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Classicism, we will discuss such themes as love and death, the holy grail and the quest narrative (both comic and tragic), and the sacredness of art. All readings and discussions will be in English. |