German Literature 2

The course is the second phase in the three-year German Literature Programme and is aimed at second-year students who have already been introduced into the German literary field and its classic-romantic canon and are being taught German language for four semesters. The course aims to develop in students an understanding and appreciation of literary growth and traditions (history of literature 1815-1918 in German speaking countries) and competences in close-reading (poems and extracts in German), autonomous reading and critical interpretation (entire prose and drama works both in German and Italian, literary criticism), theoretical and methodological issues. The course thus aims to equip students for a further training in German studies and for a growing awareness of historical, philological and critical complexity in the field of German literature and culture.

As far as the Dublin Descriptors are concerned, following learning outcomes are expected: Knowledge and understanding: overview of literary ages and genres in the German literary field between 1815 and 1918, with reference to major authors and works and to the socio-political, cultural and artistic background; understanding of formal and thematic features of literary texts and of the main critical approaches to them in contemporary German studies. Applying knowledge and understanding: skills in the close-reading of a given set of literary texts in the original language and in discussing entire works and putting them into larger cultural context after autonomous reading (in Italian or German); ability in processing class contents and self-study into personal statements and critical readings (both in written and oral form); ability in comparing literary phenomena and in linking them to parallel tendencies in cultural and art history of the given time span.