Objectives and competences
The objective of this course is to acquaint students with the characteristics of early modern society, culture and literature in the German-speaking area.
Content (Syllabus outline)
• Models of literary historiography and their applicability: the Early Modern Times.
• Social and intercultural contexts from the 15th to the 18th century.
• The concept of literaricity and the problem of literary autonomy in the Early Modern Period.
• System-theoretical aspects of literary history in the Early Modern Period and the problems of periodization.
• Literary discourse and media in the Early Modern Period.
• Pre-modern society and processes of individualization, territorialization and secularization.
• Structures and functions of literature in the Early Modern Period.
• Political and religious influences on literature: Reformation, Counter-Reformation, the Peasants Revolt, emergence of a middle class, absolutism, enlightenment etc.
• Literary genres in the Early Modern Period: humanistic drama, popular poetry, baroque drama, novel, lyrical traditions etc.
• Functional differentiation of society and the emergence of literary system.
Learning and teaching methods
• Lectures,
• homework assignments and active participation
• e-learning
Intended learning outcomes - knowledge and understanding
On completion of this course the student will be able to
• demonstrate knowledge of cultural-historical and literary-historical processes in the Early Modern Period,
• recognize the role of those processes for construction of collective and individual identities,
• identify structural and functional changes of the early modern literary discourse in correlation with the social contexts,
• explain the influence of social changes on the autonomy of literary communication in the Early Modern Period,
• apply the literary-theoretical and cultural-historical methods of literary analysis.
Intended learning outcomes - transferable/key skills and other attributes
Transferable/Key Skills and other attributes:
• communication skills,
• using information technology (finding information on the internet).
Readings
• Emich, B. 2006: Geschichte der frühen Neuzeit studieren, UTB basics, Stuttgart.
• Bäuml, F., Gaede, F., Hillen, G. 1999: Geschichte der deutschen Literatur I. Vom Mittelalter bis zum Barock, UTB, Stuttgart.
• Giesecke, M. 2006: Der Buchdruck in der frühen Neuzeit, 4. izdaja, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M.
• Schmidt, S. J. 1992. Die Selbstorganisation des Sozialsystems Literatur im 18. Jahrundert, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M.
• Neuhaus, H. (ur.) 2009: Die Frühe Neuzeit als Epoche. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München.
Prerequisits
Prerequisits for acceding the course:
None.
Conditions for prerequisits:
To be allowed to attend the written examination, the student has to manifest active participation during classes.
Additional information on implementation and assessment • written examination 70 %
• homework assignments and active participation 30 %
