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Major Writers of Literature in German

Code: 106331
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
English Studies OP 3
English Studies OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Bernd Springer
Email :
bernd.springer@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Jordi Jane Llige
Bernd Springer

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

No knowledge of the German language is required.

Objectives

• Introduce strategies for the study of a foreign philology.
• Give a first panoramic view of German-language literature.
• Learn to interpret literary texts from another culture.
• Know the culture from which the literary works came.

Learning outcomes

  1. Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
  2. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  3. Apply the knowledge and skills acquired to professional and academic activities related to German Literature, History and Culture.
  4. Demonstrate a sound knowledge about advanced topics related to the study of literature and culture.
  5. Make relevant critical assessments based on an understanding of relevant information on topics related to German literature and culture of social, scientific or ethical interest.
  6. Demonstrate a mastery of the methods of individual academic work that enable these to pursue specialised postgraduate education in their own or similar areas of study.
  7. Mastering the advanced knowledge and scientific methodologies related to linguistics, literature, history and culture that prepare the student for a postgraduate specialised education in the same or a different field of study.
  8. Analyse a text or a film under various aspects and synthesise the results of the analysis in an overall interpretation.
  9. Identify and interpret the symbolic language of a text and a feature film.
  10. Distinguish principal ideas from secondary ideas and synthesise their contents in German-language literary texts and films.
  11. Recognise the most important aspects of the history of German-speaking countries and other Western literatures and cultures.
  12. Identify the main genres and the main literary, cultural and historical trends in the German language.
  13. Recognise the contents and importance of some universal works in the German language.
  14. Recognising theories of other human, artistic, and social areas and applying them to German literature and cinema.
  15. Assess from literary texts the various cultural contexts from a critical perspective.
  16. Practise the critical discourse and implement the argumentative processes.
  17. Apply the knowledge acquired to the generation of innovative and competitive research at a basic level.
  18. Generate new professional initiatives based on the knowledge acquired.
  19. Apply the acquired knowledge in order to improve the general knowledge of linguistic and cultural diversity.
  20. Generate strategies to facilitate the increase and improvement of mutual respect in multicultural environments.
  21. Use the specific expressive resources of the essay genre.
  22. Have criteria in order to assess the aesthetics of a literary work or film.

Contents

The following works of the years in ( ) will be read and interpreted with the teacher indicated:


G.E. Lessing: Nathan the Wise (1779) Bernd Springer


J.W. v. Goethe: Faust 1 (1808) Jordi Jané


G. Büchner: Woyzeck (1837) Jordi Jané


M. Frisch: Homo faber (1957) Bernd Springer


Elfriede Jelinek Women as lovers (1975) Jordi Jané


Poetry by contemporary female poets: from Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945) to Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973) Jordi Jané


J. Becker: Amanda heartless (1992) Bernd Springer




Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Reading, analysis, interpretation, oral exhibition 58 2.32 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22
Active participation in class 70 2.8 2, 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Preparation of the oral presentation 2 0.08 2, 16

Individual presentation in class of parts of the contents, analysis and debate in plenum, interpretation of the different lectures, writing essays.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Interpretation of readings 40% 8 0.32 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22
Writing exercices of different typology 40% 8 0.32 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
Oral presentation 20% 4 0.16 2, 5, 13, 15, 16, 22

Continuous assessment:

The final mark consists of the following parts:

  1. An oral presentation on a topic related to one of the works (20% of the final mark)
  2. Written activities and exercises carried out in class on each of the course readings (40% of the final mark): comments, questionnaires, analysis, etc.
  3. Written interpretations in class of the works discussed in class (40% of the final mark).
  4. Each part of the assessment must be passed with a minimum grade of 5 (out of 10). If this minimum requirement is not met, the test must be repeated on the resit date set in the calendar.
  5. To access recovery, you must have previously been assessed on a set of activities, the weighting of which amounts to a minimum of two-thirds.
  6. In the resit, each part of the assessment must also be passed with a minimum grade of 5 (out of 10), otherwise the course is failed.
  7. If any of the assessment exercises remain pending, they must be retaken on the day set for the resit.
  8. At the time of each assessment activity, the teacher will inform the students (Moodle) of the procedure and date for reviewing the grades.
  9. Presentations must be given on the day specified in the updated schedule (which is constantly updated!), and presentations outside the historical or cultural context will not be accepted. If the presentation is not given on the scheduled day, this part of the assessment will be rescheduled by means of a 15-page text on the same topic during the resit weeks.

The languages of the presentations are Spanish, Catalan and English.

The languages of the written assignments can be: German, Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian.


Single assessment:

The single assessment will consist of the following three activities

1. Written test that will include questions on all coursereadings. (35%)

2. Oral presentation of one of the readings from the programme (chosen at random) following the guidelines that will be posted on the course Moodle at the beginning of the course. (30%)

3. Oral test in which questions will be asked about each of the readings. (35%)


Important note for exchange students (Erasmus, etc.) regarding exams and other tests:

Erasmus students who request to take an exam or other type of assessment activity in advance must submit an official document from their home university to the teacher justifying their request.


Plagiarism

In the event that a student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant change in the grade for an assessment, this assessment will be graded with a 0, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may be initiated. In the event of multiple irregularities in the assessments for the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

Irregularities refer, for example, to cheating on an exam, copying from sources without indicating the authorship, or misuse of AI, such as presenting as original work that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These assessment activities are not recoverable.

Use of AI:

This subject allows the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies exclusively in tasks specified by the teaching staff. The use of translation must be authorised by the teacher. The student must (i) identify the parts that have been generated with AI; (ii) specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity.

Failure to disclose the useof AI in this assessable activity will be considered academic dishonesty and will result in the activity being graded with a 0 and not being able to be retaken, or in more serious cases, greaterpenalties.

Bibliography

Lessing: Natán el sabio (1779), trad. Emilio J. Gonzales García, AKAL, Básica de Bolsillo 186, Serie Clásicos de la literatura alemana, Madrid 2009, 6,65 €

Goethe: Fausto 1 (1808) varies edicions

Büchner: Woyzeck (1837), a) Traducció al català: Feliu Formosa/ dins Teatre clàssic alemany Diputació de Barcelona b) Traducció al castellà: Carmen Gauger/ Alianza Editorial

Max Frisch: Homo faber (1957), Diario El País, S.A. (2002)

Elfriede Jelinek: Las amantes (1975). El Aleph, 2004

Jurek Becker: Amanda sin corazón / Amanda sense cor (1992), Tusquets / ED. CIRCULO DE LECTORES, 1996.

Dossier handed out at the beginning of the semester.

Software

Without

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE