Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: NEW REALITIES: LITERATURE AND POLITICS IN THE 19TH CENTURY

Department: German Studies

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: In German arts and letters, the nineteenth century is usually referred to as the age of Realism. As a reaction to Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, and Idealism, intellectual life turned towards the new realities in the sciences as well as society and politics. Industrialization, urbanization, the social question, women's liberation and the founding of the "Reich" created a new sense of reality and gave way to new forms of expression in literature and the arts. While optimism regarding the process of mankind prevailed, pessimism spread amongst the more thoughtful. Readings include texts by Heine, Fontaine, Keller, Hauptmann, Marx, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Taught in German.