This course introduces the study of German-language literature through the historical prism of the short form and its modern manifestations. You will examine short forms like aphorisms, anecdotes, "thought images," serialized short stories, popular music, photos and captions, etc. in light of the tensions and conditions of the modern age and, along the way, will produce your own short (and longer) written and spoken forms. You'll also have the opportunity to creatively respond to texts and images via music, film, artwork, creative writing, or even coding! You'll read works by Elisabeth Langgässer, Emine Sevgi Oezdamar, Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, and others. Examples of texts to be read are:
miniatures exploring flypaper and a horse's laughter from Robert Musil's Nachlaß zu Lebzeiten; Fanny Lewald's feminist fairy tale "Modernes Märchen"; Sturm, Ernst Jünger's novella about writing and reading under the conditions of war; pop music, including contemporary German hiphop; and Walter Benjamin's urban vignettes from Berliner Kindheit um 1900.
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/48947/1213