German 312: Introduction to German Literature (Popular Forms)

University of KentuckyRoom: Funkhauser Bld. B13
Instructor: Gary ShockeyTime: T R 11:00 – 12:15
Fall 2001Office: POT 1071
Tel. 257-4540Office Hours: M/W 11-12 pm

T 1-2 pm or by appt.

Email: garyshockey@hotmail.com

gshocke@pop.uky.edu

Web Site: http://www.uky.edu/~gshocke/Syllabi.htm


 
 

Course Outline:
 

German 312 is, as its title suggests, a literature course designed to acquaint the participant with various forms of popular literature in the German-speaking world.The texts, articles, films and stories that we will discuss fall outside of the rubric of the literary canon, hence the term “popular”. These works may include fairy tales, children’s stories, certain films, journalistic pieces, and flyers.

We will begin our efforts with literary and cultural forms of the nineteenth century, in the main with fairy tales and children’s stories from the Grimm’s Kinder und Hausmärchen, Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter, Busch’s Max und Moritz, and Karl May’s Ein Blizzard.We then move into the twentieth century with Erich Kästner’s Emil und die Detektive .Continuing on into the 1930s, we will draw connections between popular culture and Nazi ideology with a typical Nazi boys’ novel, Trommlerbub unterm Hakenkreuz.Kästner’s and Bade’s images of the German male serve as mirrors to a brief introduction to the German woman of the thirties: Irmgard Keun’s Gilgi. Eine von uns.The post-war period of 1950 is represented by excerpts from Bernhard Schlink’s recent novel, Der Vorleser, as well as the genre of the “Heimatfilm”—Stummer’s Der Förster vom Silberwald.

 

Our efforts are designed to help you, the participant, gain the following: (a) an understanding of what constituted (or constitutes) popular culture; (b) knowledge of the development of particular aspects of popular culture in the 19th and 20th centuries; (c) an improvement of skills involving analysis, synthesis, and argumentation; and (d) tangible improvements in your personal abilities with written and spoken German.

 

Procedures:

This class will be held in German.Courses at the 300-level are, by their very nature, work-intensive.Your individual success depends largely on you and the amount of time you invest in your studies.Please be aware that attendance is crucial.Unexcused absences affect your grade in the class work and written homework or test categories.  Late submissions of homework and/or papers will be accepted within one week’s time of the due date.Midterm grades should be considered advisory only.


 

Prerequisites:

German 202 or the equivalent.


 

Required Texts:

Students will be required to photocopy a reader to be provided by the instructor.Copies will be available in the departmental office (POT 1055) and Young Library (reserves).As noted on page 1, the reader contains selections from various texts.Other texts include Grimm’s Ausgewählte Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Reclam,1981) and Erich Kästner, Emil und die Detektive (Dressler, 1997)


 

Grades:

Your grades will be determined based on the following system:

40%class work

30% essay

20% final exam

10 midterm exam


 

NB. Midterm and final exams will be administered during the scheduled midterm and final exam periods.Consult the course schedule for particulars.


 

Essays:

All essays are to be written in German.They should be double-spaced and be approximately two pages in length.Themes will be emailed to participants in advance of the dates listed for rough drafts.The general form to be observed is as follows: Thesis (one to two paragraphs); body (one and one-half pages); conclusion (one to two paragraphs).


 

Course Schedule


 

R08/23Introduction: Course syllabus and particulars; comments on popular culture.


 

T08/28: Grimm’s Märchen (19th century culture; roles; uses; significance)
 

R08/30: Grimm’s Märchen


 

03 September: Labor Day


 

T09/04: Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter
 

R09/06: Hoffmann’ Struwwelpeter


 

T09/11: Busch’s Max und Moritz
 

R09/13: Busch’s Max und Moritz (Rough draft of paper #1 due)


 

T09/18: Karl May’s Ein Blizzard
 

R09/20: Karl May’s Ein Blizzard


 

T09/25 Erich Kästner’s Emil und die Detektive (20th century popular forms; roles; significance) (Final draft of paper #1)
 

R09/27 Erich Kästner’s Emil und die Detektive


 

T10/02: Erich Kästner’s Emil und die Detektive
 

R10/04: Kracauer: Working Women; Irmgard Keun: Gilgi. Eine von uns
 

05 October - 07 October (Fall Break)


 

T10/09: Keun’s Gilgi; Uses and Significance of Nazi ideologyErika Mann’s Zehn Millionen Kinder (Rough draft of paper #2 due)
 

R10/11: Mann’s Zehn Millionen Kinder; Bade’s Trommlerbub


 

T10/ 16 (Midterm Exam)
 

R10/18 Bade’s Trommlerbub


 

T10/23: Bade’s Trommlerbub(Final draft of paper #2 due)
 

R10/25: Bade’s Trommlerbub


 

T10/30 Bade’s Trommlerbub
 

R11/01: Bade’s Trommlerbub; Stunde Null—Germany at the abyss; New Beginnings: the 1950s and the genre of “Heimatfilme”


 

T11/06: Stummer’s Förster vom Silberwald
 

R11/08: Stummer’s Förster vom Silberwald


 

T11/13: Exploring the Past: Bernhard Schlink’s Der Vorleser
 

R11/15: Schlink’s Vorleser (Rough draft of paper #3)


 

T11/20: Schlink’s Vorleser


 

22 November to 24 November (Thanksgiving Break)


 

T11/27: (Post-) Modern Woman: Dörrie’s Mann meiner Träume
 

R11/29: Dörrie’s Mann meiner Träume (Final draft of paper #3)


 

T12/04: Dörrie’s Mann meiner Träume
 

R12/06 (Last class meeting!!!)


 

Final Exam: Friday, 12/14/01
 

The final exam will consist of a final paper, to be handed in by 5 pm on 12/14/01.You may write on any topic germane to works read during the semester, but you are required to discuss your chosen theme with me prior to submission.