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FL 250: German Civilization,
18th Century to the Present
Professor
Mary-Beth O'Brien
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- Culture, Nation, Heimat:
German Civilization,
- 18th Century to the Present
FL 250 Lesson Plan :
Weeks
1-4 The Eighteenth Century: An Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment
Introduction to the Topic and Methodology of
Investigation; Course Requirements.
Kleinstaaterei, the Rise of Prussia, and
the Remains of the Holy Roman Empire German Nation. The Political
Order under Enlightened Absolutism: Frederick the Great (1712-1786),
Maria Theresa (1717-1780), and Joseph II (1741-1790).
"What is Enlightenment?" (1784). A
Response from Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
Doctor Faustus, Scholar or Scoundrel? Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Urfaust (1772-75).
Weimar Classicism, Germany as a "Land of
Poets and Philosophers." Selected Poems by Goethe and Friedrich
Schiller (1759-1805).
Masters of Classical Music: Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Music selections
presents in Individual or Group Reports.
Essay Assignment:
Write a fictional autobiography based on life in the eighteenth century.
What role does religion, gender, age, class, profession, geography,
the arts, science,technology, philosophy, and politics play in "your"
life? This assignment should combine historical events with fiction
and should personalize the Zeitgeist. The essay should be 5 pages
typed, double-spaced, and include a bibliography of at least three
references.
Required Readings:
- Kitchen, Chapter 6, "The Eighteenth Century,"
pp. 124-152.
- Kant, "What is Enlightenment?"
- Goethe, Urfaust and selected poetry.
- Schiller, Selected poetry.
- Mozart, The Magic Flute
- Beethoven, The Ninth Symphony.
Weeks
5-9 The Nineteenth Century: The Road to Nationhood
The End of the HREGN (1806), The Wars of Liberation,
The German Federation.
Romanticism: Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840),
Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859). Fairy Tales,
Dreams of Utopia, Nightmares of Reality.
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848. The Industrial
Revolution. Karl Marx (1818-1883), Communism, and the Rise of the
Proletariat. Georg Büchner (1813-1837), Poet, Activist, Physician.
Woyzeck (1835-1837).
Unification of Germany: The Second Empire (1871-1918),
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898).
The Ring Cycle (1948-1853), Gesamtkunstwerk of
Richard Wagner (1813-1883). The Birth of Cinema. Adolf Menzel (1815-1905),
Painter between Realism and Impressionism.
Oral Reports and Group Assignments.
Mid-Term Examination.
Required Reading:
- Kitchen, Chapter 7, "Reform,
Restoration, and Reaction," pp. 152-179; Chapter 8, "The
Unification of Germany," pp. 180-203; Chapter 9, "The
German Empire," pp. 204-227.
- Büchner, Woyzeck.
- Fallersleben, "Song
of the Germans." (National Anthem).
- Grimm Brothers, Selected
Fairy Tales including: Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel
and Gretel, The Girl Without Hands, The Jew in the Thorns.
- Schubert, Selected Songs.
- Selected Art Works by
Friedrich and Menzel.
- Wagner, Götterdämmerung.
Weeks
10-14: The Twentieth Century: An Age of Extremes
World War I (1914-1918):
The First "Modern" War. The Demise of the Second Reich,
Revolution, and the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). Thomas Mann (1875-1955).
Dichotomies of Modern Life: Tonio Kröger (1903). Expressionism
and Wirklichkeitszertrümmerung. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.
The Third Reich (1933-1945).
World War II (1939-1945).The Holocaust. The National Socialist Assault
on the Arts.
Divided Germany (1945-1990).
The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
(1949-1990). The Berlin Wall (1961-1989). The Voice of Intellectual
Dissent or Collaborator? Christa Wolf (1929-). What Remains
(1995).
Oral Reports and Group Assignments.
Final Examination.
Required Reading:
- Kitchen, Chapter,"
10, "The Weimar Republic,"pp. 228-253; Chapter 11, "National
Socialism," pp. 254-287; Chapter12, "Germany since 1945,"
pp. 288-311. Chapter 13, "The Renuification of Germany,"
312-336.
- Schönberg, Pierrot
lunaire.
- Mann, Tonio Kröger.
- Selected Art Works by
E.L.Kirchner.
- Wolf, What Remains.
- Christo, The Wrapped
Reichstag.
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