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German 372
Fall Semester 2012Professor David Pike dpike@email.unc.edu Office hours: TTh 11:30 - 12:30 p.m. and by appointment
Studies in German Drama
This course concerns itself with close readings of an assortment of German plays selected from the best German literature has to offer - begining in the late eighteenth century and continuing through the twenties. Our approach is simple enough: we read these texts in German - do not look for English translations, you are expected to do the reading in German - and we will discuss them most of the time in German. The course is dedicated to close readings and textual analysis of the plays. We focus little, if at all, on the authors themselves in any kind of biographical sense; and we are not especially interested either, at least not in any overarching way, in issues related to various currents and periods, though for sure some of these questions will come up in discussing those qualities that distinguish one play and its author from another. Course expectations are straightforward: attend class regularly (please see below for the course attendance policy) and participate in our discussions. There will be two substantial writing assignments during the semester: one paper between 5-6 pages, in English, around the middle of the semester; and one paper of approximately 12 pages due at the time of the final examination. This paper is also to be written in English. For those of you who strongly prefer to write in German, I have no objection, but the course is preeminently a literature, not a language course. I am more than happy to discuss this question with any of you. Our readings will include the following plays - I may add another here or there or perhaps substituted something else for a play on the list below. As far as I can see, all texts are available online here. The texts listed before are, therefore, not hyperlinked. We will be reading these texts in the approximate order given below, but it is not sacrosanct; nor do I wish to assign in advance specific numbers of class days to be spend on each text. *Attendance policy: you are allowed three absences without reason. Use them judiciously. Each absence after the three lowers your grade by one full grade point: that is, from an A to a B. A fifth miss lowers your grade from an A to a C.
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