| Module Identifier |
GE24020 |
| Module Title |
DECADENCE, WAR, REVOLUTION: GERMAN CULTURE, 1905-1920 |
| Academic Year |
2002/2003 |
| Co-ordinator |
Gregory M Moore |
| Semester |
Semester 2 |
| Course delivery |
Lecture | 17 Hours |
| |
Seminars / Tutorials | 5 Hours |
| Assessment |
Semester Exam | 2 Hours written examination | 60% |
| |
Semester Assessment | 2 essays of 1500 words each | 40% |
| |
Supplementary Exam | 3 Hours (3 questions) if no continuous assessment submitted (otherwise 2 hours, 2 questions) | 100% |
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students will be able 1) to demonstrate knowledge of the major developments in German society and culture immediately before, during and after the First World War, and show understanding of their underlying causes. They will be able 2) to analyse carefully and evaluate texts and documents of the period within the framework of their historical context; 3) be able to carry out independent research; 4) to express themselves clearly, coherently and in a logical fashion, both orally and in writing.
Brief description
This module will introduce level 2 students to some key texts and movements during a period of crisis in German history, and thus deepen their understanding of German culture, ideas and literature. They will explore: the rise of militarism in Germany; the widespread sense of the decadence and materialism of German society voiced by the Expressionist artists and writers; the hopes for renewal which the War seemed to offer; the propaganda war between Germany and Britain; German war poetry and prose; and literary representations of the socialist revolution in Bavaria in 1918.
Content
200 hours will be distributed as follows: 22 contact hours; 19 hours reading as seminar preparation; 53 hours independent research in preparation for writing term essays and to consolidate knowledge acquired in class; 53 hours writing term essay; 53 hours revision for exam.
Timetable:
Section A: 1905-1914 (10 hours)
Intro and Musil’s Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß - 3 hours + 1 seminar
Expressionism: art, poetry and prose - 3 hours
Kaiser’s Von morgen bis mitternachts - 2 hours + 1 seminar
Section B: 1914-1918 (8 hours)
The spirit of 1914 and the propaganda war - 2 hours
German war poetry - 2 hours
Remarque’s Im Westen nichts Neues - 3 hours + 1 seminar
Section C 1918-1920 (3 hours)
Toller’s Masse Mensch and other short writings on the Bavarian Räterepublik - 2 hours + 1 seminar
Concluding seminar
Reading Lists
Books
Kaiser, Georg. (1994)
Von morgen bis mitternachts. Reclam
Musil, Robert. (2002)
Die Verwirrungen des Zoglings Torless. Rowohlt
Remarque, Erich Maria. (2001)
Im Westen Nichts Neues. Kiepenjeuer & Witsch
Toller, Ernst. (1998)
Masse Mensch. Reclam