Undergraduate Course: Goethe and Schiller (ELCG10032)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course is designed to introduce students to a selection of key literary and theoretical texts written by Goethe and Schiller. The course themes are freedom, free will, heroism and tragedy. |
| Course description |
This course focuses on a selection of works by Goethe and Schiller that led them to become the most iconic writers of their time and beyond. The first bestseller novel in Germany was Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werther (1774) and it broke the mould with its controversial theme of suicide. He presents a sentimental, emotional, and self-destructive tragic hero as an alternative to heroic masculinity. Both their respective first plays, Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen (1773) and Schiller's Die Räuber (1781), question the place of the "warrior" hero in a modern society. Goethe's knight Götz clings on to the old chivalric ways, at the dawn of the modern era of civil justice around the year 1500 in Germany. Schiller's Die Räuber is also set around 1500. His Karl Moor is a new configuration of a deviant tragic hero with vices. Schiller rejects the Aristotelian dramatic tradition by arguing that the suffering of a criminal can be as tragic as that of a virtuous man. Both tragedies gave voice to major changes in German theatre that embraced the spirit of Shakespeare and addressed the struggle of the self to achieve autonomy. These two plays focus on free will, free action and emancipation from social restrictions. In the final part of the course, you will study Goethe's most famous work, Faust I (1808). This turns our focus to a discussion of the Faustian drive, which is an insatiable desire for knowledge that knows no boundaries and is uncompromising in its desire for the experience of totality. In addition to these literary texts we will be studying a small selection of Goethe's and Schiller's theoretical essays on tragedy.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Honours entry. Non-honours and Visiting Students should be enrolled on the SCQF Level 9 course variant. Advanced knowledge of spoken and written German and the ability to study German literature in the original language is recommended. Ideally, prior experience of university-level German literature courses. |
| Additional Costs | Primary texts (Reclam) |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 18 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
50% Coursework essay 1 (1,250 words) Tuesday of Week 7
50% Coursework essay 2 (1,250 words) Tuesday of Week 13
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| Feedback |
Students will receive a grade and written feedback on their coursework, with the option of verbal feedback on request. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and a critical understanding of the primary and secondary sources related to this course
- Independently analyse, interpret and respond critically to the primary and secondary sources related to this course
- Construct and present clear and coherent arguments in written form, supported by relevant evidence, ideas and examples, in relation to the key texts and themes of this course
- Summarize and critically review the content of published academic research on the key texts and themes of this course
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Reading List
Goethe:
Götz von Berlichingen (1773)
Die Leiden des jungen Werther (1787)
Faust I (1808)
Schiller:
Die Räuber (1781)
Other short theoretical texts and secondary reading are outlined on Learn.
Reclam versions of the primary texts are preferred.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
By the end of the course, students will have further developed their skills in the areas of independent and guided learning, research and enquiry, personal and intellectual autonomy, communication, and personal effectiveness. For further specification of these skills see the university's graduate and employability skills framework at www.employability.ed.ac.uk/documents/GAFramework+Interpretation.pdf |
| Keywords | Goethe,Schiller,freedom,heroism,Sturm und Drang |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Eleoma Bodammer
Tel: (0131 6)50 3627
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Ashley Stein
Tel: (0131 6)50 4465
Email: |
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