Literary Metamorphoses - Kafka and Beyond
This course views literature as a meta-medium that engages with other media in experimental forms of storytelling. The changing media ecology from the 19th to the 20th century, the inexpressible trauma of the 20th century wars and the critique of language as a medium that followed these events will be the historical lens through which we view experimental and challenging texts that showcase the "morphing" and "adaptive" potential of literature on a whole.
We will use Kafka's Metamorphosis as both an object of analysis and a vantage point from which to discuss and explore theoretical concepts of adaptation, experimental fiction, (bri)collage, montage, transmedia storytelling, and remix/mash-up aesthetics. Most required readings, short lectures, student presentations, and discussions are in German, some in English.
In class discussions and assignments, we will closely examine the themes and artistic effect in these texts and media. You will be encouraged to share, test, and develop your ideas and to formulate and present interpretive arguments using textual evidence.