Spring 2023 German UN3146 section 001

German-Jewish Writing: At the Heel

German-Jewish Writing

Call Number 14722
Day & Time
Location
W 2:10pm-4:00pm
205 Deutsches Haus
Points 3
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor Evan Parks
Type SEMINAR
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description

Paul Celan, a German-language survivor poet, speaks of “co- / writing” at the “heel,” playing with an idiom that evokes tenacious pursuit and intimate clinging. This course will trace Jewish literature from a variety of German-speaking territories from the 18th century to the present, with a particular focus on the hyphen that bridges and divides “German–Jew.” Does German-Jewish writing evince the counterculture of a persecuted minority, or does it strive to inhabit (or even define) ‘Germanness’? Who is clinging to whom, and what kind of writing emerges ‘at the heel’? We will pay attention to writers’ unconventional relationship to genre; their oscillation between autobiography, storytelling, philosophy, cultural criticism, and religion. Moving across different political formations in Central Europe, the course will explore writers’ conflictual attitudes towards their Jewish and German identities. A key question will be how writing strategies transform in the aftermath of the Shoah, and in response to evolving European memory culture. Readings will include works by Mendelssohn, Maimon, Varnhagen, Kafka, Rosenzweig, Benjamin, Scholem, Celan, Sachs, and Klüger. We will conclude with a consideration of what it means to write in German as a Jew today, and how this tradition bears on contemporary debates about ‘identity politics.’

No prerequisite courses are required. Course Readings and discussion will be in English.
Required Texts
 

Web Site Vergil
Department Germanic Languages
Enrollment 9 students (25 max) as of 9:05AM Friday, March 29, 2024
Subject German
Number UN3146
Section 001
Division Interfaculty
Campus Morningside
Note Course meets W, 2:10 - 4:00PM
Section key 20231GERM3146W001