Module Code - Title:

GE4623 - GERMAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE 3: ROMANTICISM

Year Last Offered:

2025/6

Hours Per Week:

Lecture

2

Lab

0

Tutorial

1

Other

0

Private

7

Credits

6

Grading Type:

N

Prerequisite Modules:

Rationale and Purpose of the Module:

To give students an insight into German Romanticism as a literary and artistic movement, placing it in a European framework and focusing in particular on its socio-historical background. To examine the legacy of Romanticism in the 19th and 20th centuries. To further improve students linguistic skills, in particular those needed for dealing with literary texts.

Syllabus:

Lecture: critique of the enlightenment; the preromantics (Sturm und Drang); romanticism in Europe; romanticism in art and literature; political romanticism, particularism and nationalism; Young Germany, Vormõrz, 1848; the legacy of romanticism in the 20th century. Tutorials: discussion and analysis of selected writers of the romantic era including Novalis, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Eichendorff, de la Motte-FouquÚ, Heine and women writers like Bettina von Arnim, Rahel Varnhagen and Dorothea Schlegel. Study of romantic paintings (C. D. Friedrich, P. O. Runge), also of German fairy tales as products of Romanticism.

Learning Outcomes:

Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: * define the key ideas of Romanticism placing it in a European context * analyse and discuss examples of Romantic literature in German * assess the importance of Romantic literature within the development of German national identity * analyse and discuss the relationship between different forms of artistic expression in German Romanticism (music, painting, literature) * discuss the legacy of romanticism in the 20th and 21st centuries * further develop skills and vocabulary for interpreting German literature in German

Affective (Attitudes and Values)

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: * demonstrate an appreciation of the diversity of approaches to the analysis of literary text.

Psychomotor (Physical Skills)

Not applicable

How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:

A one-hour lecture will be supported by a two hour seminar in which literary and visual texts related to the lecture will be analysed and discussed, starting with a mixture of English and German and progressively in German. Students will be engaged in active learning both inside and outside the classroom and will be encouraged to carry out self-directed work (e.g. essays and oral presentations) related to the material covered on this module.

Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):

Prime Texts:

J v Eichendorff (1991) Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts (English translation version used for beginners) , Klett

H.-J. Schmitt (1974) Romantik , Reclam

H Rölleke (ed) (1998) Grimms Märchen (English translation version used for beginners) , suhrkamp

F de la Motte Fouqué (1997) Undine (English translation version used for beginners) , dtv

W Große (ed) (2002) Erzählungen der Romantik (English translation version used for beginners) , Klett

Other Relevant Texts:

G Ueding (1998) Klassik und Romantik. Deutschen Literatur im Zeitalter der Französischen Revolution , dtv

M Schmitz-Emans (2004) Einführung in die Literatur der Romantik , WBG

G Schulz (1996) Romantik: Geschichte und Begriff , Beck

Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:

Semester(s) Module is Offered:

Autumn

Module Leader:

anita.barmettler@ul.ie