Undergraduate Course: Reading Testimony in German (ELCG08019)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to ways of reading German-language testimony by the victims of the Holocaust. We will work with a selection of shorter testimony texts in different styles and genres, covering different events and experiences. The course will concentrate on close reading, understanding the texts first and foremost as personal narratives rather than historical sources.
For each text, we will practise different forms of reading that open up contrasting perspectives, and allow the participants to explore their own positionality as readers. We will explore the internal dynamics of the texts, looking at narrative perspective, structure and linguistic patterns; ways of contextualising texts within the history of Holocaust memory in Germany; and reading the texts for translation as a way of understanding their linguistic properties and the ethical positioning of a reader. These methods draw directly on the research interests of the course organiser. |
| Course description |
The first texts by victims of the Nazis were written in German, and German-speakers continued to write and speak throughout the years of the Third Reich and the Holocaust, and beyond into the post-war world. These texts are often less well known in the English-speaking world than other testimonies that have become 'canonical' (Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, etc.). This course will provide an introduction to the different ways in which German-speaking victims and survivors have testified - diaries, reports, autobiographical writings - and to some of the significant collections, for example, the holdings of the Wiener Library, London.
The structure of the course, and the language level of the students, means that it will be most productive to work closely with shorter texts over a couple of weeks each. The texts will be of varied genres, with the experiences of German-speaking Jews providing a common frame of reference and comparison for the different text types. The aim of the course is to show how close reading and different approaches to interpretation can produce a more complex understanding of testimony texts. Different approaches will be applied to each text, with the students assessing their usefulness as we proceed. We will explore the internal dynamics of the texts, looking at narrative perspective, structure and linguistic patterns; ways of contextualising texts within the history of Holocaust memory in Germany; and reading the texts for translation as a way of understanding their linguistic properties and the ethical positioning of a reader.
The semester begins with a short sample text that we will read together and discuss in class. The following week, we will discuss some readings on testimony, genre and the contexts of testifying. We will then spend 2 weeks on each individual text, reading them in different ways: there will be one diary extract, one report (probably from the Wiener Library collection), and one more 'literary' autobiographical text. The final 2 weeks will comprise group presentations and concluding discussion.
The course is run as a seminar with students preparing individual tasks each week. At the beginning of the semester they will be assigned to groups for the presentations, and they will work within these groups to prepare topics through the semester. The tutor will hold small introductory lectures if necessary, but most of the context will come from the students' reading. We will work in detail on the texts during the seminar, and students will gather ideas and practise methods that they will develop in the presentations and the end of course essays.
The course materials and methods are directly related to the proposer's research and students will have the opportunity to work with contemporary research methods and find their own paths through the material.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Available as an outside course elective subject to the co-requisites and as an option for VS who can show the required language competence. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have German language skills at CEFR level B1 or above; entry to this course may be subject to a language test on arrival and is at the discretion of the course organiser. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
76 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
(Formative) Writing, reflection on the course theoretical and methodological material: 300 words, submitted in week 4.
Summative Presentation (Group): 30% (Meets LO1, LO2, LO4)
Summative Writing (1500 Words): 70% (Meets LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4)
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| Feedback |
This course is structured around continuous feedback on group activities through the semester, leading up to the group presentations and individual essays. There is thus no single 'formative feedback event', but I have found in my practice that regular discussion of group work gives the students the opportunity both to learn together and to prepare for their assessments. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and reflect critically on approaches to testimonial writing by German-speaking victims of the Nazis.
- Read and analyse texts using theories of witnessing, autobiography and memory in historical context, assessing the theories critically.
- Produce clear, well organised and critically reflective work, which develops arguments both critically and systematically with the use of relevant emphases, subsidiary points, and examples.
- Present the results of research undertaken individually and as part of a small group, respond judiciously to such research undertaken by others, and critically evaluate the importance of such material for an understanding of the chief themes of the course.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will further develop the following mindsets:
-Curiosity to encounter less well known texts and experiences and the courage to challenge their own preconceptions about the testimony of victims
-Critical understanding of their own positionality and ethical responsibilities as readers and interpreters
-Flexibility in applying and assessing different modes of interpretations and openness to the perspectives of others whose experiences and background they do not share
-Ability to handle complexity and ambiguity
-Personal and intellectual autonomy: self-awareness and reflection; independent learning and development; creative and inventive thinking.
Students will further develop the following skills:
-Critical, close reading of texts, applying and assessing varied methods
-Contextualising texts and their own critical approaches
-Collaboration, problem solving, organisation and verbal and written communication
-Researching topics and developing their own research questions |
| Special Arrangements |
Students may take up to two 10-credit German option courses with German 2. If additional spaces are available, students on the MA in German may request permission from the Course Organisers to take four 10-credit German option courses with German 2. |
| Keywords | Testimony,German,National Socialism,Holocaust,Translation,German-Jewish history |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Peter Davies
Tel: (0131 6)50 3632
Email: Peter.J.Davies@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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