Not offered 2007-2008
GERM 301T German Studies, 1770-1830 (W)
From Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, whose quintessentially Enlightenment Nathan der Weise centers around all too familiar religious conflicts, to E.T.A. Hoffmann, whose "Sandman" formed the centerpiece of Freud's essay on the uncanny-and not forgetting Goethe's Faust-German literature from 1750-1830 has informed a good deal of 20th-century thinking. This course will explore this amazing explosion of insight and creativity through the close reading of some of its most prominent literary and theoretical texts, including many of the following: Kant, Lessing, Goethe, Novalis, Kleist, Hoffman, Eichendorff, Günderrode, Brentano, and B. von Arnim. Readings and discussion will be in German for tutorial pairs who speak German, in English for those who don't.
Format: tutorial. Requirements: paper or commentary most weeks.
Enrollment limit: 10 (expected: 10). Preference given to students in German and Comparative literature.

NEWMAN