German-Language Literature and Cultural History

6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4020149FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

German

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

Linguistics and Literary Studies

Educational team

Inge Arteel (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture
75 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

Theme: Heimat and memory in contemporary literature in German

In this course the concepts of Heimat and memory and their representation in contemporary German literature is put center stage. The 'urdeutsche' concept of Heimat is very popular and omnipresent in current discussions on identity, nationality, war, migration, memory etc. The concept boasts a long tradition in German literary and cultural history. Motives, topoi and connotations of this history are critically explored and creatively adapted in contemporary literature in German.

In this course we read texts form several parts and contexts of the German speaking countries, also from periferal German speaking regions.

The literary texts are by Herta Müller, Jenny Erpenbeck, Joseph Zoderer, Emine Sevgi Özdamar and W. G. Sebald; the theoretical and essayistic texts are written by Rüdiger Görner, Peter Blickle, Barbara Cassin, Friederike Eigler, Thomas Anz, en Edoardo Costadura & Klaus Ries.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Reader, Een reader met verplicht te lezen theoretische en literaire teksten (ingescand), Ter beschikking gesteld door de lesgever
Handbook (Required) : Niederungen, Herta Müller, Fischer Taschenbuch, 9783596189816, 2011
Handbook (Required) : Heimsuchung, Jenny Erpenbeck, Penguin Verlag München, 9783328102519, 2018
Handbook (Required) : Die Walsche, Joseph Zoderer, Haymon Verlag, 9783852189307, 2012
Handbook (Required) : Die Ausgewanderten, W.G. Sebald, Fischer Taschenbücher, 9783596120567, 2012

Additional info

Active participation is expected of the students in each lesson.
Students each prepare a lesson of min. 40 minutes in which they bring a thorough theoretical and analytical presentation of a text from the corpus. They submit this presentation as a full paper at the end of the lectures.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

- The students can articulate the history and development of the concept of Heimat.
- The students can relate the concept of Heimat to other important discussions about identity, nationality, war, migration and memory, among other things.
- The students can explain the relationship between the literature and literary theory.
- The students can formulate a research question and try to answer this independently.
- The students can present research results comprehensively, scientifically based and presenting this in excellent German.
- The students can perform a presentation and discussion with fellow students for 40 minutes.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 40% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 35% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 25% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

mondelinge evaluatie with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

Note: Oral exam that assesses scientific understanding and oral skills, with preperation time, with teaching materials

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

presentatie en paper with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 35% of the final mark.

Note: Detailled and well-argued presentation in excellent German and relaborating it into a full-size paper.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

actieve participatie with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

Note: Permanent evaluation of active participation during the lessons.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The oral presentation is obligatory in order to pass the exam as a whole.

The exam component "lesson of min. 40 minutes" cannot be transferred to the second exam period. The results of this exam component are transferred to the second exam period.

The students have to pass both the written assignment (paper) as well as the oral exam in order to be able to pass the exam as a whole.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context