Modern Philology

Contact zones, border zones, conflict zones. Towards transcultural approach to German literary studies The calendar, with texts and bibliographical references, will soon be uploaded to the e-learning page. Please register for the course on the Moodle page. https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/section.php?id=270243 It was only in the late 19th century that German-speaking culture began to coalesce around national entities, which were themselves highly problematic. The establishment of the German nation state arose in a context in which the Germanic language and culture were present not only in the territory of the nation state of “Germany”, but also in the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire and in various Baltic enclaves, as well as in Switzerland and in many border areas. German-language literature is therefore closely linked to the geocultural and geopolitical dimension, to contacts and frictions, to coexistence and mutual management of often multilingual and multicultural territories and cities, in a struggle for political, cultural and memorial appropriation of contested landscapes and traditions, of social practices and material culture that are in fact shared. In a diachronic and synchronic study of German literature from the nineteenth century to the present day, it is crucial to focus on the transnational and intercultural aspects that have always underpinned the conception of language, space and nature as ethos in all possible meanings of the term. In fact, in order to understand certain cultural, literary and political phenomena in today's Europe, it is urgent to conduct studies that innovate the canon of authors, highlighting those who – explicitly or even implicitly – have moved in inter- and transnational environments, characterised by strong multilingualism and a variety of linguistic, cultural and political contacts and conflicts. The course will focus on two areas of transnational contact that are particularly sensitive even today: - Galicia-Bukovina - now the border between Ukraine, Poland and Romania, which gave birth to great writers such as Joseph Roth, Paul Celan, Rose Ausländer and numerous other German-language authors. - The southern Danube bend, between Bulgaria, the former Habsburg territories and the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire, - The southern bends of the Danube, between Bulgaria, the former Habsburg territories and the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire, which Elias Canetti described in the first volume of his autobiography. - The “Triangle of Three Countries”, Carinthia, where the territories of Austria, Slovenia and Italy meet, from which Ingeborg Bachmann and Peter Handke set out on their journeys, and which intersect with the writing of Peter Waterhouse. - The Silesia region, between Germany and Poland, to which Ulrike Draesner dedicates an important novel on transitions and transformations during the 20th century. The corpus includes works by Rose Ausländer, Ingeborg Bachmann, Elias Canetti, Paul Celan, Peter Handke, Gregor von Rezzori, Katja Petrowskaja, and Ulrike Draesner.

german language skills

Rose Ausländer, Ingeborg Bachmann, Elias Canetti, Paul Celan, Peter Handke, Gregor von Rezzori, Katja Petrowskaja, Ulrike Draesner

welcome

oral examination preceded by an in-progress seminar - optional paper to be discussed during the oral exam

please consult the moodle page of teh course

frontal didactocs with a seminar on line (8 hours)

Contact zones, border zones, conflict zones. Towards transcultural approach to German literary studies The calendar, with texts and bibliographical references, will soon be uploaded to the e-learning page. Please register for the course on the Moodle page. https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/section.php?id=270243 It was only in the late 19th century that German-speaking culture began to coalesce around national entities, which were themselves highly problematic. The establishment of the German nation state arose in a context in which the Germanic language and culture were present not only in the territory of the nation state of “Germany”, but also in the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire and in various Baltic enclaves, as well as in Switzerland and in many border areas. German-language literature is therefore closely linked to the geocultural and geopolitical dimension, to contacts and frictions, to coexistence and mutual management of often multilingual and multicultural territories and cities, in a struggle for political, cultural and memorial appropriation of contested landscapes and traditions, of social practices and material culture that are in fact shared. In a diachronic and synchronic study of German literature from the nineteenth century to the present day, it is crucial to focus on the transnational and intercultural aspects that have always underpinned the conception of language, space and nature as ethos in all possible meanings of the term. In fact, in order to understand certain cultural, literary and political phenomena in today's Europe, it is urgent to conduct studies that innovate the canon of authors, highlighting those who – explicitly or even implicitly – have moved in inter- and transnational environments, characterised by strong multilingualism and a variety of linguistic, cultural and political contacts and conflicts. The course will focus on two areas of transnational contact that are particularly sensitive even today: - Galicia-Bukovina - now the border between Ukraine, Poland and Romania, which gave birth to great writers such as Joseph Roth, Paul Celan, Rose Ausländer and numerous other German-language authors. - The southern Danube bend, between Bulgaria, the former Habsburg territories and the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire, - The southern bends of the Danube, between Bulgaria, the former Habsburg territories and the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire, which Elias Canetti described in the first volume of his autobiography. - The “Triangle of Three Countries”, Carinthia, where the territories of Austria, Slovenia and Italy meet, from which Ingeborg Bachmann and Peter Handke set out on their journeys, and which intersect with the writing of Peter Waterhouse. - The Silesia region, between Germany and Poland, to which Ulrike Draesner dedicates an important novel on transitions and transformations during the 20th century. The corpus includes works by Rose Ausländer, Ingeborg Bachmann, Elias Canetti, Paul Celan, Peter Handke, Gregor von Rezzori, Katja Petrowskaja, and Ulrike Draesner.

german language skills

Rose Ausländer, Ingeborg Bachmann, Elias Canetti, Paul Celan, Peter Handke, Gregor von Rezzori, Katja Petrowskaja, Ulrike Draesner

welcome

oral examination preceded by an in-progress seminar - optional paper to be discussed during the oral exam

please consult the moodle page of teh course

frontal didactocs with a seminar on line (8 hours)