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2013/14 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

GERM3190 Christa Wolf's Stadt der Engel

20 creditsClass Size: 14

Module manager: Professor Stuart Taberner
Email: gllsjt@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2013/14

Pre-requisite qualifications

Successful completion of Level 2 German

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module examines a single literary text: Christa Wolf's Stadt der Engel (2010). It explores the broader significance of this major (East) German writer and reads her last book - Wolf died in December 2011 - as a summary of, and justification, for her lifelong commitment to socialism. In Stadt der Engel, then, Wolf's juxtaposes a fictionalized account of a year spent in Los Angeles just after unification with the stories of Jewish survivors of the Hoolocaust and German exiles from National Socialism, with her observations on America and the state of the world after the invasion of Iraq, the 'war on terror', and the financial crash of 2008. Specifically, the module analyses Stadt der Engel as the author's final rumination on the legacy of the GDR, the meaning of the Nazi past in the present day, and the clash of civilisations after 9/11 and, post-2008, the crisis of western capitalism.

Objectives

This module examines a single literary text of around 400 pages, Stadt der Engel / City of Angels (2010) by the world-renowned (East) German writer Christa Wolf, along with a small number of her essays. The first objective of the module is to allow students to apply the skills in literary analysis they have acquired at levels one and two to a detailed examination of a key work of contemporary German-language literature. The second objective is to contextualise this close reading within the broader social, political and historical developments that the novel addresses, namely the legacy of the GDR, the meaning of the Nazi past in the present day, and the clash of civilisations after 9/11 and, post-2008, the economic and political crisis of western capitalism

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students should be able to:
- demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of a key work of contemporary German-language literature.
- analyse a literary text in detail and with appropriate understanding of the way literature 'works'.
- demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the broader social, political and historical context within which the text makes sense.

Skills outcomes
On completion of this module students should have developed advanced level skills of literary analysis through broad secondary reading, close textual study, debate and writing practice.
They should have further developed their German language skills through their engagement with a German-language text of some complexity.
Finally, they should understand the principles of academic 'originality', the formulation of an advanced research question and the process of knowledge creation.

Syllabus

The module begins with an examination of Christa Wolf's role as the most internationally prominent writer in the former GDR, of the criticism levelled against her on her after unification in 1990 with regard to her supposed complicity with the East German regime, and of her subsequent career until her death in December 2011. Students will then engage in a week-to-week close reading of Stadt der Engel, interspersed with short essays by Wolf and broader discussions of the broader social, political and historical context that the text addresses.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Seminar	10	2.00	20.00
Tutorial	1	0.50	0.50
Private study hours			179.50
Total Contact hours			20.50
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Students will read Stadt der Engel in preparation for seminars, along with a small number of short essays by Wolf, contextual (i.e. background) articles, and secondary literature.
Students will prepare short 'position papers' and essays for the seminars.
Students will devise their own titles for this work, in close collaboration with the course tutor, and have a half-hour tutorial with the class tutor to help guide them in this.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Non-assessed in-class presentations ensure that students actively engage with the subject matter during the semesters, as will the writing of two brief 'position papers' spaced throughout the semester and the final essay. Only the second of the two position papers will be assessed, so as to give students the space to experiment with approaches and ideas.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	3,000 words	75.00
Portfolio	3,000 words (2 x 1500; the second of which is assessed)	25.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 24/03/2014

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