|
Lecturer(s)
|
-
Horňáček Milan, Mgr. Ph.D.
|
|
Course content
|
In historiography, World War I has long been regarded as the "primordial catastrophe" of the 20th centuryunderstood as the "Age of Extremes"and thus as the defining rupture in modern history. Literary responses to the outbreak, course, and aftermath of World War I took many different forms: From uncritical patriotic poems, which were produced in vast numbers at the start of the war, to speeches and essays by famous German intellectuals who took up their pens in the first months of the war to defend Germany and its "honor," to Dadaist manifestos and Expressionist plays that primarily engaged with the war critically, to the great "boom" in war novels that began after the publication of E.M. Remarque's *All Quiet on the Western Front*. In addition to the fighting at the front, these works also addressed the situation of women and children back home, the psychological consequences of the war experience, and the difficulty of even describing the new dimension of "battles of attrition," The aim of the seminar is to familiarise students with the most important works dealing with the First World War. The course aims to show how perceptions of the war have changed over time and what challenges writers faced in coming to terms with it
|
|
Learning activities and teaching methods
|
|
Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Methods of Written Work
|
|
Learning outcomes
|
The aim of the seminar is to familiarise students with the most important works dealing with the First World War. The course aims to show how perceptions of the war have changed over time and what challenges writers faced in coming to terms with it
A basic overview of the causes, outbreak, course, and consequences of World War I Familiarity with key works of German literature on the subject of World War I and an understanding of the context in which they were written Development of skills for analyzing narrative texts
|
|
Prerequisites
|
Knowledge of German at least at the B1 level; prior completion of the Introduction to Literary Studies course (KGN/1ULT) is recommended.
|
|
Assessment methods and criteria
|
Student performance, Analysis of Creative works (Music, Pictorial,Literary), Dialog
Active participation in the seminar, no more than two unexcused absences, and a final discussion of the texts covered in the seminar
|
|
Recommended literature
|
-
Matthias Schöning. (2009). Die versprengte Gemeinschaft. Kriegsroman und intellektuelle Mobilmachung in Deutschland 1914-33. Göttingen.
-
Nils Weber u.a. (2014). Erster Weltkrieg. Kulturwissenschaftliches Handbuch.. Stuttgart.
-
Schöning, Matthias. Literatur und Krieg: Sechs Phasen einer intensiven Beziehung.. Berlin. 2026.
|