Does literary fiction inform us about history and/or our contemporary society? This module will evaluate

historiographic metafiction in the context of fictionalised historical events and figures via the study of a selection of contemporary works of literature. We will contextualise this literature historically and aesthetically, examining the relationship between fact and fiction. Special attention will be paid to variations of postmodern writing styles including the integration of traditional notions of story-telling; the Baader Meinhof terrorist period; the collective past as a source of inspiration for the present; and the debate on the borderlines between the historical versus the imagination in the search for ‘truth’. The three books selected include German and Austrian works of literature.

What are the central aims of this module?

1. To familiarise students with four innovative works of postmodern literature;
2. To facilitate a critical understanding of the significance of diverse social and political historical events/phenomena for today’s German speaking culture;
3. To raise awareness about the plurality of postmodern literary styles.

• Demonstrate their knowledge of contemporary German/Austrian novels in their historical context by analysing works of literature in depth, demonstrating an awareness of their formal characteristics and place them in a contemporary and historical context in written form.
• Analyse and critically discuss German/Austrian contemporary texts by actively engaging in class discussion.
• Analyse selected works from a variety of critical points of view.
• Use appropriate registers when communicating knowledge and understanding of the course material.

Weekly Lecturers and seminars. Depending on the topic some lectures might be short presentations followed by class discussions and debates. Students are expected to read the selected primary works to enable them to contribute actively to the discussions. To facilitate the discussion, some lectures will be complemented by film screenings.

Personal and transferable skills

• Construct a well-structured argument in written and verbal form and contribute to group debate.
• Use communications and information technologies for the retrieval and presentation of information.
• Work independently, demonstrating initiative, self-organisation and time management.

Generic and intellectual skills

• Gather, organize and deploy evidence, data and information from a variety of sources.
• Develop a reasoned argument, synthesize relevant information and exercise critical judgement.
• Reflect on their own learning and make use of constructive feedback. 

Presentation (formative): Oral seminar presentation

Essay Outline (formative): Extended coursework essay outline with literature review

Coursework Essay (2,500 words) (summative): 100%

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:

Students achieving an overall pass mark will not be required to re-sit any failed components. Students failing the module overall will have the opportunity to re-sit the module during the university re-sit examination period in August. The re-assessment takes the form of an essay  (maximum mark: 40%).

The following topics/selected works will be discussed

Christoph Hein, In seiner frühen Kindheit ein Garten

• Baader Meinhof in the historical context of West Germany and the revived interest in literature in the 21st century. 
• Narrative techniques
• What makes a young person a terrorist? Entrapment or ideology.
• The effect of terror on family and environment – shame and guilt
• Die Auswirkung auf Familie und Umfeld – Scham und Schuld.
• A constitutional State – Law and Justice – Germany  

Robert Schneider, Schlafes Bruder

• Der Heimatroman – development from the 19th century till today. 
• Narrative techniques – the art of story telling
• The story as a chronicle of village life
• A Village Story, Artist story or Legend of a Saint ?
• Inventing a story: Analysis of characters and relationships amongst characters   
• Motifs and themes – love/music/death; fire/water/stone
• The genius – undiscovered and unappreciated
• Viewing of the film – discussion of differences between film and book  
•  

Christoph Ransmayr Die letzte Welt

• Narrative techniques -  structure, characters and themes

• Metamorphoses and their relevance for present social behaviour and politics.

• What can we learn from the Antike?

Primary Texts

Christoph Hein, In seiner frühen Kindheit ein Garten, Suhrkamp Verlag, Aufl. 12 May 2006

Robert Schneider, Schlafes Bruder, Reclam, Stuttgart 1992

Christoph Ransmayr, Die letzte Welt , Fischer 1988  

Topic specific readings, materials and viewings for the seminars and coursework essays, with guiding questions and detailed instructions, will be provided on Learning Central.

Secondary Texts

Paul Brodowsky, Thomas Klupp(Hrsg.): Wie über die Gegenwart sprechen? Überlegungen zu den Methoden einer Gegenwartsliteraturwissenschaft. Frankfurt am Main 2010

Norbert Frei: 1968 Jugendrevolte und globaler Protest. München 2008

Hammer Klaus (Hrsg): Chronist ohne Botschaft. Christoph Hein. Ein Arbeitsbuch. Berlin/Weimar 1992

Siemens Anne: Für die RAF war er das System, für mich der Vater. Die andere Geschichte des deutschen Terrorismus. München 2007  

Winkler Willi: Die Geschichte der RAF. Reinbeck bei Hamburg 2008

Wehdeking Volker: Generationswechsel: Intermedialität in der deutschen Gegenwartsliteratur. Berlin 1995

Preece Julian: RAF revivalism in German fiction of the 2000s. In: Journal of European Studies 2010  40:272

Wittstock Uwe: Roman oder Leben.Postmoderne in der deutschen Literatur. Leipzig, 1994

Martin Kiel: Nexus. Postmoderne Mythenbilder. Vexierbilder zwischen Spiel und Erkenntnis. (Mit einem Kommentar zu Christoph Ransmayr „Die letzte Welt“) Frankfurt 1996

Wittstock Uwe (Hrsg.): Die Erfindung der Welt – zum Werk von Christoph Ransmayr. Fischer Tb 2004

Eric Schilling: Der zweite Tod des Autors? Metamorphosen der Postmoderne in Christoph Ransmayrs Die letzte Welt. In: Textpraxis. Digitales Journal für Philosophie #4 (1.2.2012)/www.textpraxis.net (http://www.uni-muenster.de/textpraxis/eric-schilling-der-zweite-tod-des-autors )