Transformation, Transgression and Tradition: German and Italian Culture across the Centuries (Level 5)

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
• Convenor and tutor: Dr Nicolette David
• Assessment: a 2500-word essay (50%) and three-hour in-class test (50%)

In this module we provide you with a broad overview of German and Italian literature and culture from a cross-cultural perspective, foregrounding moments of key transformation in the literary and film landscape of each culture. We will study the most important literary movements - the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Expressionism, twentieth-century German and Italian literature and post-1945 writing - and some of the most significant and enjoyable writers from Dante and Goethe to the present day.

Indicative syllabus

• Introduction/Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, 1321
• J.W. Goethe, Faust: Part 1, 1808
• Italo Calvino, Italian Folktales, 1956
• Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest, 1894
• R.M. Rilke, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, 1910
• Expressionist war poetry (e.g. Heym, Lichtenstein, Stramm,Trakl)
• Nathalie Ginzburg, The Dry Heart, 1947
• Wim Wenders, Alice in the Cities, 1974
• Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose, 1980

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• demonstrate detailed knowledge of literary and cultural historical developments in Italy and German-speaking countries over several centuries
• understand the significance of social and political developments in Italy and Germany over several centuries and how these contribute to literary and broader cultural developments
• demonstrate factual knowledge about the directors, writers, contexts and issues under discussion
• demonstrate a command of the skills acquired to analyse literature and film.