German 486/586:  German Studies Seminar
Session II (July 12-July 31) 3 credits

Contemporary German Literature
This seminar provides an overview of contemporary German literature. The chosen texts will show what affects German writers, which events they deal with, and how they handle these events in their writing (e.g. the Fall of the Berlin Wall). The discussion of German literature will include aspects of German everyday life as well as the various perspectives these authors have on the socially and historcially grown reality of German life. Literary texts that deal with contemporary history are not only mimetic - they have their own rules of telling history, of alienating reality, correcting clichÈs and of leaving gaps to attract the reader. At the same time, the reader fills these gaps with his own account of historical events, so that the text is perceived in the background of personal events, experience, and memory. Step by step the understanding of the text will be increased by approaching the perspective of the author and by taking different perspectives toward the text.

Instructor: Ruth Nentzel, Universit”t Braunschweig