Undergraduate Course: Dislocation & Identity in modern German-Jewish Literature (Ordinary) (ELCG09008)
Course Outline
| School |
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
| Home subject area |
European Languages and Cultures - German |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None
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Taught in Gaelic? |
No |
| Course description |
This course introduces students to German-Jewish literature of the 20th century. It offers a broad historical perspective on the socio-cultural positioning of the German-Jewish subject, focusing on the experiences of exclusion and marginality that characterise the $ùconditio judaica&©. Utilising a group of texts that in turn articulate pivotal moments of upheaval, change or crisis in German-Jewish experience of the 20th century, the course provides students with a focused overview of this period up to the present day. Franz Kafka&©s letter to his father (1919) addresses the consequences of the German-Jewish drive for assimilation that gained momentum in the latter half of the 19th century. Peter Weiss&©s autobiographical novel Fluchtpunkt (1965) describes the experience of exile in Sweden during the Second World War. Rafael Seligmann&©s novella Rubinsteins Versteigerung (1989) epitomises the paradox of being a German-Jew in Germany after the Holocaust. Barbara Honigmann&©s thoughts in the autobiographical sketches of Damals, dann und danach (1999) reflect the continuing dislocation, linguistic and spatial, of contemporary German-Jewish culture. Her work also provides insight into the experience of German-Jewish women. Thematic points of emphasis throughout the course are: dominant and marginal cultures, identity and ambivalence, Heimat and exile, the language and aesthetics of abjection, family conflict and generational change, gender, anti-Semitism. A further question for discussion concerns the specific nature of German-Jewish literature; to what extent does it differ from literary modernism?
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites |
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| Prohibited Combinations |
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Other requirements |
None
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| Additional Costs |
None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| To provide a broad historical perspective on the socio-cultural positioning of the German-Jewish subject, focusing on the experiences of exclusion and marginality that characterise the 'conditio judaica'. |
Assessment Information
1 essay, 2- 2,500 words (50%)
1 1 hr 30 min exam (50%) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords |
Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Dr Mary Cosgrove
Tel: (0131 6)50 3639
Email: mary.cosgrove@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mrs Fiona Scanlon
Tel: (0131 6)50 3646
Email: Fiona.Scanlon@ed.ac.uk |
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