Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory and 15 hours of exercises.

First term
Monday from 08:30 to 10:30 at 109 Marais 410
Thursday from 09:30 to 10:30 at 109 Marais 410

The course is taught in German; texts may be translated from French into German or from German into French for a better understanding of the text.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to
- define the concept of "literary history" and examine the methodological foundations of a literary history (especially for German-language literature)
- to identify and characterise the main literary trends of the period between the 9th and 17th centuries in German-speaking countries and regions;
- to contextualise and analyse in depth the major literary texts and authors belonging to these periods;
- to produce a structured and argued discourse that rigorously integrates the vocabulary and concepts of literary studies;
- to produce an analysis of a literary text using the knowledge acquired in the course.

For the Bachelor in Modern Languages and Letters: German, Dutch and English :

None

This course combines training in critical reading and literary analysis with a historical approach to literature. In terms of content, the course will deal with the first texts written in German, starting with the Old German period (Althochdeutsch), continuing with the Middle German period (Mittelhochdeutsch), the period of Martin Luther who used an early form of the standard German we use to this day. The course will end with a study of Baroque literature, in order to deepen the knowledge of German literature by dealing with these important authors and the different eras in depth. At the end of the course, students should be able to recognise and contextualise the works covered in the course. They should be able to express themselves in German in public in an oral examination.

The second part of the History of German Literature (in the odd-numbered years: 2023-2024; 2025-2026 etc.) completes the historical training by means of a panorama of German-language literature from the Enlightenment to the classicist Weimar period or by dealing with authors of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Face-to-face: Lectures and presentations encouraging active student participation, supported by weekly preparatory readings.
If health conditions in CoVid19 change to code orange or red, the course will be delivered by Teams.
Various media and technologies are regularly used to support the course (e.g. extracts from film adaptations or theatre performances).
The student will be required to take this course in even years (2022-2023, 2024-2025, etc.).

a) - Oral examination based on extracts from texts seen in class.
If the exams are held online due to CoVid19 :
- the oral exam based on text extracts seen in class.
b) The lecturer will provide a separate examination for his/her course which will represent one third of the overall mark.

- A bibliography of more specific works is included in the syllabus.
- Manfred Mai, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, 2006², Weinheim / Basel: Beltz & Gelberg (to be purchased by students)
- Volker Meid, Das Reclam-Buch der deutschen Literatur, Stuttgart: Reclam, 2004
- Gerald Rainer, Norbert KERN, Eva RAINER, Stichwort Literatur. Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Literatur. Linz: Veritas 2009.
- Hans Gerd Rötzer, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, Bamberg: C.C. Buchners 2010².
Materials

Syllabus including a course outline and reading portfolio.
PowerPoint presentations available on Moodle.
Course accompanied by 15 hours of exercises. These sessions provide students with an additional opportunity to understand the texts and the methodological and terminological bases by approaching the works from an angle complementary to that chosen in the course, but also by training students in scientific argumentation, thanks to targeted writing and oral presentation exercises similar to those required in the examination. Translation into French will be used as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the literary texts.