'Minority' Voices in Germany (335-0-20)

Instructors

Anna Parkinson
847/467-5173
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Rm 3321, Evanston
Office Hours: By appointment

Meeting Info

Kresge 3354 German Seminar Rm.: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Starting with the question: "What is German?", we shall explore changing understandings of the relationship of German language literature and national identity. This art can only be understood embedded in its socio-historical context, from the influx of so-called contingent-refugees (Jewish East European migrants coming primarily from Russia in the late 1980s), racially-fueled anxieties after the fall of the Berlin Wall (the establishment in the late 1980s of the Afro-German movement), the effects of early twenty-first-century reforms in citizenship laws acknowledging the changing face of those claiming Germany as their Heimat (homeland), and the advent of a new, cosmopolitan Jewish German-language literature. We will examine fiction, autobiography, poetry, and political and theoretical writings by and about so-called "minority voices" writing in German. Questions will include: What is the relationship between autobiographical writing and identity? What is a "minority" and how is this term used in the German-language context to both create and deny forms of community? Which historical shifts birthed new voices and different literary communities in Germany?

Registration Requirements

High Intermediate German language speaking skills, advanced skills in reading and writing.

Learning Objectives

* To consolidate and extend written, reading, and oral German skills.
* To gain familiarity with the socio-historical backgrounds and the art of migration in German language literature
*. To engage with contemporary political, theoretical, and literary debates concerning German-language literature in the context of globalization.
* To hone critical thinking and writing skills.

Evaluation Method

Attendance, Class participation, Homework, Papers, Peer assessment, Presentations, Readings, Writing assignments

Class Materials (Required)

Anton Kaes, Deniz Göktürk, David Gramlong (eds.). Germany in Transit: 1955-2005. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0520248946
Course Reader: including writing by May Ayim, Franco Biondi, Wladimir Kaminer, Zafer Senocak, Yoko Tawada, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Max Czollek, and others.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity