31163 - German Literature 2

Course contents

›Anthropologia romantica‹? Paths of German-speaking Literature in the Nineteenth Century 

What has been the historical significance of Romanticism and how was it shaped by German-speaking literature? What forms and ways of expression were cherished? And why were they often said to be experimental or even revolutionary? 

   Starting from these questions, the course sets out to explore the origins, the circulation and the multiple meanings of the words romantisch and Romantik in a European context open to engaging with voices from elsewhere. We will embrace the point of view of literary anthropology in order to study literary works of Romantik as well as some of its transformations across the 19th century. Prose fiction will feature prominently, and we will particularly speculate on the rekindling of a genre known as prosimetrum. We will also zero in on the styles of Verklärung, i.e. the soft «diaphanous» light which conjures up unforgettable twilight visions, enchantingly imbued with a sense of «vagueness» and duplicity. 

   The figure of the artist, seen through a plethora of changing issues of status and gender, will be one of the main topics of the course. By way of close reading of complex characters we will single out different ways of life enhanced by the power of imagination. What are the linkages between these characters and the landscapes they live in? How do they intertwine?

   We will finally take a look at figures tending to exoticism trying to catch up with characters devoted to uncanny forays into secluded worlds. The sense of a fairytale idyll is often undermined by signs of crisis, the wounds of history, the traumas of violence and the eerie fickleness of meanings beyond comprehension.

   During the course we will be accompanied by the voices of two profound connoisseurs and interpreters of romantic modernity, namely Heinrich Heine and Ricarda Huch.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Literary Texts

Please see below (section "Assessment methods") for further notice.

 

• Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder / Ludwig Tieck, Herzensergießungen eines kunstliebenden Klosterbruders / Effusioni di cuore di un monaco amante dell’arte. In: W. H. Wackenroder, Opere e lettere. Scritti di arte, estetica e morale in collaborazione con Ludwig Tieck. A cura di Elena Agazzi. Traduzioni, apparati critici e note di Elena Agazzi, Federica La Manna e Andrea Benedetti. Testo tedesco a fronte. Milano: Bompiani, 2014, p. 71-328.
  
  
• Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder / Ludwig Tieck, Phantasien über die Kunst, für die Freunde der Kunst / Fantasie sull’arte per amici dell’arte. In: W. H. Wackenroder, Opere e lettere. Scritti di arte, estetica e morale in collaborazione con Ludwig Tieck. A cura di Elena Agazzi. Traduzioni, apparati critici e note di Elena Agazzi, Federica La Manna e Andrea Benedetti. Testo tedesco a fronte. Milano: Bompiani, 2014, p. 329-578.
  
  
• Novalis [Friedrich von Hardenberg], Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Ein Roman. Hrsg. von Wolfgang Frühwald, Stuttgart: Reclam, 1987 (o ristampe successive); trad. it. di Tommaso Landolfi, Enrico di Ofterdingen, con un’Appendice di testi tradotti da Andreina Lavagetto, Milano: Adelphi, 1997.
  
  
• Karoline von Günderrode, Prosa. In: Der Schatten eines Traumes. Gedichte, Prosa, Briefe, Zeugnisse von Zeitgenossen. Hrsg. und mit einem Essay von Christa Wolf. Darmstadt: Luchterhand, 1979, p. 5-52 and 118-132; trad. it. di Vanda Perretta, Prosa. In: L’ombra di un sogno. Prose, poesie, lettere di Karoline von Günderrode, Milano: La tartaruga, 1984, p. 9-60 and 69-82.
  
  
• Friedrich de La Motte-Fouqué, Undine / Ondina. A cura di Vittoria De Gavardo Carafa. Testo tedesco a fronte. Milano: La vita felice, 2016.
  
  
• E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann / L'uomo della sabbia. A cura di Ginevra Quadrio Curzio, testo tedesco a fronte, Milano: La vita felice, 2018.
  
  
• E. T. A. Hoffmann, Klein Zaches genannt Zinnober. Ein Märchen. Mit einem Nachwort von Gerhard R. Kaiser, Stuttgart: Reclam, 1985 (o ristampe successive); trad. it. e note di Giulia Ferro Milone, Il piccolo Zaches detto Cinabro. Fiaba. In: E.T.A. Hoffmann, Fiabe. A cura di Matteo Galli, Roma: L’Orma Editore, 2014, p. 3-117.
  
  
• Joseph von Eichendorff, Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts / Vita di un perdigiorno. A cura di Giulio Schiavoni. Traduzione di Lydia Magliano. Testo tedesco a fronte. Milano: Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, 1976 (o ristampe successive).
  
  
• Heinrich Heine, Harzreise / Il viaggio nello Harz. A cura di Maria Carolina Foi. Prefazione di Claudio Magris. Testo tedesco a fronte. Venezia: Marsilio, 1994.
  
  
• Georg Büchner, Lenz. Studienausgabe. Hrsg. von Ariane Martin, Stuttgart: Reclam, 2017; trad. it. di Alberto Spaini, Lenz.Macerata: Giometti & Antonello, 2021.
  
  
• Franz Grillparzer, Der arme Spielmann / Il povero suonatore. A cura di Rita Svandrlik. Traduzione di Giovanni Rossi e Rita Svandrlik. Testo tedesco a fronte. Venezia: Marsilio, 1993.
  
  
• Theodor Fontane, Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg. Eine Auswahl. Textausgabe mit Anmerkungen, Worterklärungen, Literaturhinweisen und Nachwort, hrsg. von Christian Grawe. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2001.

This list is open and in progress 

 

Secondary Literature

 

• Detlef Kremer, Prosa der Romantik. Stuttgart-Weimar: Metzler, 1997.
  
  

On crucial issues of periodization and literary history:

• Luca Crescenzi, Letteratura tedesca: secoli ed epoche. Roma: Carocci, 2005.
  
• Emilia Fiandra, «Il Romanticismo», in Marino Freschi (dir.), Storia della civiltà letteraria tedesca, vol. I: Dalle origini all'età classico-romantica, Torino: UTET, 1998, p. 437-506.
• Furio Jesi, «Romanticismo», in Dizionario critico della letteratura tedesca, vol. II: M-Z, Torino: UTET, 1976, pp. 978-990.
• Moira Paleari, «Il Romanticismo», in Chiara M. Buglioni, Marco Castellari, Alessandra Goggio, Moira Paleari, Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento. Firenze: Le Monnier Università, 2019, p. 235-292.

 

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars in Italian and German.

The course includes debates and collective discussions in class. Students will be encouraged to actively engage in the activities.

Examination modalities are the same for attending and non-attending students. 

For tutoring service (specifically designed for non-attending, partially attending, Erasmus programme students, etc.) students are invited send an e-mail to guglielmo.gabbiadini@unibo.it

Assessment methods

Oral exam – open questions aimed at assessing

• the acquisition of contents presented in class
• the development of critical thinking skills
• the knowledge of literary texts: in addition to the class contents, each student is expected to read in full length (in German) at least two of the primary sources listed above, as well as the critical interpretations provided. 

Final grading on a 30-point scale (0-17=fail).

Teaching tools

Multimedia

Office hours

See the website of Guglielmo Gabbiadini