Literatur und Gegenwart

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1020466BER for all students in the 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Om Literatur und Gegenwart te kunnen opnemen, moet je geslaagd zijn voor Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte des deutschen Sprachraums. Als je een verkort programma volgt, kan je dit vak zo opnemen.

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

This course focuses on recent trends in contemporary German literature, based on exemplary novels that address specific societal and political issues: war, migration and refuge, multilingualism, economic precariousness, globalisation, city versus countryside etc.
The course starts with a critical reflection on the notions of 'Gegenwart' and 'Gegenwartsliteratur' and on the relation between poetics and politics: how to write on and engage with one's own time? What with the opposition between autonomy and engagement? What with market mechanisms and the literary field?

The obligatory reading material consists of four novels from diverse backgrounds that will form the centre of the discussions, supplemented by shorter texts and poems as well as journalistic and research material.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : scans and power point presentations provided by the course titular, Inge Arteel, De lesgever
Handbook (Required) : Tauben fliegen auf, Melinda Nadj Abonji, dtv Taschenbücher, 9783423140782, 2012
Handbook (Required) : Die Reise einer jungen Anarchistin in Griechenland, Marlene Streeruwitz, Fischer Taschenbücher, 9783596031597, 2015
Handbook (Required) : Saisonarbeit, Heike Geißler, Spector Books, 9783944669663, 2014
Handbook (Required) : Vor dem Fest, Saša Stanišić, btb, 9783442749898, 2015

Additional info

At the beginning of the semester, the students get on overview of the structure of the course and of which texts to prepare each week. Regular attendance of the lessons is strongly recommended, as this course is designed in an interactive way.
The students will be given guiding questions to facilitate and orientate their reading assignments.

This course includes the attendance of one off-campus literary or cultural activity in German suggested by the course titular. The students will be asked to critically reflect on this activity in a short written report.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

The students can articulate insights in the questions concerning poetics and politics in contemporary German literature.

The students can analyse literary texts in relation to current debates on aesthetic and political matters.

The students can find and use secondary material.

The students are able to communicate in German orally and in writing on an advanced level.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 20% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 30% of the final mark.

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

oral evaluation with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Note: assesses knowledge and insight in the course material; students are given 20 minutes time to prepare their answers. No resources allowed

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

short report with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

Note: short written report of the off-campus activity

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

participation with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

Note: weekly written preparation and participation in the seminar

Additional info regarding evaluation

The assignment "short report" cannot be transferred to the second exam period. The result of this exam assignment will be transferred to the second exam period.

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