Time Schedule:
Hellmut H Ammerlahn
GERMAN 421
Seattle Campus
Rotating special topics in literature and culture of the eighteenth century, such as particular movements, authors, genres, themes, or problems. Recommended: GERMAN 303; either GERMAN 311, GERMAN 312, GERMAN 322, or GERMAN 323.
Class description
“Original Genius” and German “Storm and Stress.” Cultural, Literary, and Social Rebellion before the French Revolution.
The “Storm and Stress” period (ca 1770-1786) made a name for itself in the history of European youth movements, as it counted writers and musicians of lasting renown among its peers, such as Herder, Goethe, Mozart, and Schiller. The young “original geniuses,” as they called themselves, demanded recognition for their subjectivity and emotional life in an era which had degenerated from inspiring and liberating enlightenment to petrifying rationalism and mechanistic utilitarianism. They inaugurated a cultural and social rebellion which sought to explore nature as an organismic whole as well as mankind’s irrational and supra-rational dimensions. They thematized in their works issues of justice, e.g. the personal tragedies of unwed mothers who committed infanticide in a vain attempt to escape social ostracism. The phenomenon of original artistic creativity linked to the danger of titanic overreaching intrigued them.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
We shall study in depth Goethe’s novel Die Leiden des jungen Werther, the original version of Faust (“Urfaust”), and Schiller’s drama Die Räuber. Poems, letters, and/or theoretical texts by these authors as well as by Shaftesbury, Herder, Klopstock, Lavater, and Lenz will be included.
Format: Texts and lectures in German, discussions in English or German.
Midterm, final, and one class report required.
