Course: German Philology - Literary Seminar

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Course title German Philology - Literary Seminar
Course code KGN/LS22
Organizational form of instruction Seminar
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction German
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Horňáček Milan, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
The seminar will focus primarily on the following topics relating to the life and work of E.T.A. Hoffmann and the Late Romantic period in which he lived and worked: - Hoffmann's life - lawyer, composer, writer, caricaturist - the context of the Late Romantic period - politics, society, science - Romantic literature and fantasy - Key works and themes: *Der Sandmann* - the theme of the artificial human *Elixiere des Teufels* - the theme of the double and madness *Rat Krespel* - the role of music in Romantic poetics *Bergwerke zu Falun* - the theme of the underground and mines as an allegory of the subconscious *Das fremde Kind* - a Romantic fairy tale, a critique of the Enlightenment *Vampirismus* - 'dark' Romanticism, the vampire motif *Das Fräulein von Scuderi* - the contrast between the bourgeois and the artist, the beginnings of detective fiction *Des Vetters Eckfenster* - the motif of the city, the transition from Romanticism to the Biedermeier period - The reception of Hoffmann's work - from E.A. Poe to Sigmund Freud

Learning activities and teaching methods
Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Group work
Learning outcomes
The aim of the seminar is to introduce students to the German Romantic era, particularly its late phase, through the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann. The seminar will also familiarise students with key aspects of Hoffmann's poetics, such as the fantastic, the doppelgänger motif, madness, the automaton, music, the city, the devil, and the relationship between reality and imagination. At the same time, students will develop their skills in analysing narrative texts.
Students will gain an overview of the life and work of E.T.A. Hoffmann and the reception of his work in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the same time, they will practise and develop the skills required to analyse narrative texts, and will also become familiar with the political, social and philosophical context of the period.
Prerequisites
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).

Assessment methods and criteria
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.
Recommended literature
  • Christine Lubkoll (Ed.). E.T.A. Hoffmann-Handbuch: Leben ? Werk ? Wirkung. Stuttgart. 2015.
  • Kremer, Detlef. E. T. A. Hoffmann: Leben-Werk-Wirkung. Berlin. 2009.
  • Safranski, Rüdiger. E. T. A. Hoffmann: Das Leben eines skeptischen Phantasten. Frankfurt am Main. 2000.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German for Translators and Interpreters (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German Philology (2022) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German for Translators and Interpreters (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): German for Translators and Interpreters (2019_24) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -