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Lecturer(s)
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Horňáček Milan, Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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In historiography, World War I has long been regarded as the "original 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 droves 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 from a critical perspective, 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 on the front lines, the discussion 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 both to introduce key texts, themes and genres of war literature and to provide participants with a basic overview of the methods and trends in research into this literature.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Methods of Written Work
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Learning outcomes
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The aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with the most important works of German-language literature that deal with World War I. Students will gain an overview of how the portrayal of World War I has evolved and of the challenges that the war, as a literary theme, presented to authors.
Students will gain a basic overview of how World War I is reflected in German-language literature, become familiar with the various phases in the development of these responses, and learn about key authors and works, while also deepening their skills in analyzing narrative texts. The seminar also explores the relationship between war and literature in general.
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Prerequisites
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A knowledge of German at a minimum of B1 level; it is recommended that students have previously completed the course 'Introduction to Literary Studies' (KGN/1ULT).
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Analysis of Creative works (Music, Pictorial,Literary), Dialog
Active participation in the seminar, a maximum of two unexcused absences, and a final discussion of the texts covered in the seminar.
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Recommended literature
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Matthias Schöning. (2009). Die versprengte Gemeinschaft. Kriegsroman und intellektuelle Mobilmachung in Deutschland 1914-33. Göttingen.
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Nils Weber u.a. (2014). Erster Weltkrieg. Kulturwissenschaftliches Handbuch.. Stuttgart.
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Schöning. Matthias. Literatur und Krieg: Sechs Phasen einer intensiven Beziehung. Ein Essay (. Göttingen. 2026.
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