This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module has three main aims: to explore what was distinctively German about the Modernist era; to help develop the skills needed for the close analysis of poetry and poetic prose; and to consider how literary movements need to be understood in terms of their origins and subsequent development. Questions of both genre and literary ‘movements’ will thus be addressed. Students will learn to read the poetry and poetic prose of this key period both thematically and stylistically, as well as how to place them in their political and historical context. As well as looking at some of the best known and most representative work of the period (e.g. Rilke’s 'Duineser Elegien', Brecht’s 'Hauspostille'), it will also bring to light some lesser-known but equally important works (e.g. Gottfried Benn’s 'Morgue'). The various subdivisions of Modernism (Sprachskepsis, Expressionism, Surrealism, Neue Sachlichkeit), and the ways in which they combine to define the Modernist aesthetic, will be explored in depth over the course of the term.
2 hours per week
This module is core for students studying on the MA in Modern German and Comparative Literature.
Essay - 100%
von Hofmannsthal, H., Chandos Brief;
von Hofmannsthal, H., Der Schwierge;
Schnitzler, A., Leutnant Gustl;
Musil, R., Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless;
Benn, G., Morgue;
Menscheitsdämmerung;
Rilke, R.M., Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge;
Rilke, R.M., Duineser Elegien;
Trakl, G., Selected Poems;
Brecht, B., Hauspostille;
A selection of German war poetry from WW1;
A selection of Dada and surrealist poetry
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The module will help develop the skills needed for the close analysis of poetry and poetic prose;
The module will explore what was distinctively German about the Modernist era, and deepen the students' understanding of this period;
The module will consider how literary movements need to be understood in terms of their origins and subsequent development;
Students will learn to read the poetry and poetic prose of this key period both thematically and stylistically, as well as how to place them in its political and historical context
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