Specialization Seminar: German Studies

Recommended Prerequisites

The course assumes an intermediate German language proficiency (CEFR level B1 or B2), as well as a basic knowledge on German literature and culture.

Teaching Methods

Classes will have lecturing moments, but particular relevance will be given to the analysis and discussion of texts and films. The teaching-learning process will be centred on the students and their activity, both through the presentation of short papers of analysis and reflexion on the issues in question, and through the debate that all lessons will try to encourage.  

Learning Outcomes

The curricular unit aims at opening spaces of reflection on the chosen texts and films as well as enhancing the student's critical autonomy. At the end of the semester, students should be able to

1) analyze and comment on literary and filmic texts related to the curricular unit’s topics;

2) relate the various literary and cultural contexts with one another, analyzing them critically and in a historical perspectivation;

3) analyze and present the discussed topics, showing intellectual autonomy, synthesizing capacity, argumentation skills and high proficiency in oral and written expression;

4) show that they have developed attitudes of intellectual curiosity and rigor, as well as a critical and emancipated thought.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The curricular unit will focus on the topic “Literature and Cultural Memory”. Representations of cultural memory (Jan and Aleida Assmann) in literary texts and films will be analyzed, taking into account the German speaking countries both as a transformation stage of worldwide repercussion, and as a configuration of various lieux de mémoire (Pierre Nora) in the European context.

N.B. Syllabus and bibliography may change depending on teaching staff.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Oral participation, short presentations, and/or written papers which will account for 40% of the final mark: 40.0%
Research work: 60.0%

Bibliography

Assmann, J. (1992). Das kulturelle Gedächtnis. München: Beck.

Brunow, D. (2015). Remediating Transcultural Memory. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.

Erll, A (2017). Kollektives Gedächtnis und Erinnerungskulturen. Eine Einführung (3. akt. und erweit. Aufl.). Stuttgart: Metzler.

Erll, A. & Nünning, A. (eds.) (2008). Cultural Memory Studies. An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.

Fuchs, A. (ed.) (2010). Phantoms of War in Contemporary German Literature, Films and Discourse. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.

Gil, M.F. (2008). Uma Biografia «Moderna» dos Anos 30: Magellan. Der Mann und seine Tat de Stefan Zweig. Coimbra: MinervaCoimbra/CIEG.

Ginsberg, T. & Mensch, A. (eds.) (2012). A Companion to German Cinema. Oxford, Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Madeira, R. P. (2012). Ficção e História: A Figura de Uriel da Costa na Obra de Karl Gutzkow. Coimbra: MinervaCoimbra/CIEG.

Nora, P. (1990). Zwischen Geschichte und Gedächtnis. Berlin: Wagenbach.