Undergraduate Course: Goethe and Schiller (ELCG10032)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on a selection of works by Goethe and Schiller which led them to become the most iconic writers of their time and beyond. The first bestseller novel in Germany was Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werther (1774) and it broke the mould with its controversial theme of suicide. He presents a sentimental, emotional and self-destructive tragic hero as an alternative to heroic masculinity. Both their respective first plays, Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen (1773) and Schiller's Die Räuber (1781), question the place of the "warrior" hero in a modern society. Goethe's knight Götz nobly clings on to the old chivalric ways at the dawn of the modern era of civil justice around the year 1500 in Germany. Schiller's Die Räuber is also set around 1500. Schiller's Karl Moor, however, is a new configuration of a deviant tragic hero with vices. Schiller rejects the Aristotelian dramatic tradition by arguing that the suffering of a criminal can be as tragic as that of a virtuous man. Both tragedies gave voice to major changes in German theatre which embraced the spirit of Shakespeare and addressed the struggle of the self to achieve autonomy. These two plays focus on free will, free action and emancipation from social restrictions. In the final part of the course, you will study the first part of Goethe's most famous work, Faust (1808) "a must" for students of German Studies. This turns our focus to a discussion of the Faustian drive, which is a desire for the experience and knowledge of the world that knows no boundaries and is uncompromising in its desire for the experience of totality. |
| Course description |
Syllabus
Week 1: Goethe, Götz von Berlichingen (1773): Literature, History and the Historical Götz (1480-1562)
Week 2: Goethe, Götz von Berlichingen (1773) : The Hero and the Struggle for Freedom
Week 3: Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werther (the revised second edition of 1787): The Sentimental Hero
Week 4: Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werther (the revised second edition of 1787): Suicide, Autonomy and the Ethics of Death
Week 5: Schiller, Über die tragische Kunst: Schiller on Tragedy
Week 6: Schiller, Die Räuber (1781): The Immoral and Deviant Villain ¿ Franz Moor
Week 7: Schiller, Die Räuber (1781): The Immoral and Deviant Hero: Karl Moor
Week 8: Goethe, Faust (1808): Faust & Freedom from the Human Condition
Week 9: Goethe, Faust (1808): Faust & the Theodicy and the Problem of Evil
Week 10: Goethe, Faust (1808): Goethe on Tragedy
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Essential course texts |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 20 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 1.5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One coursework essay: 2- 2,500 words (50%)
One examination: 1 hr 30 mins exam (50%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will have:
During the course students will be able to:
1. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key literary and philosophical texts by Goethe and Schiller
2. develop skills in analysing literary texts
3. develop presentation skills
4. develop essay writing skills, critical thinking and constructing arguments
5. develop research skills
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Reading List
| See course handbook |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | DELC Goethe & Schiller |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Eleoma Bodammer
Tel: (0131 6)50 3639
Email: Eleoma.Bodammer@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Vivien Macnish Porter
Tel: (0131 6)50 3646
Email: vivien.macnish-porter@ed.ac.uk |
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