German 376 /Judaic Studies 376:

German-Jewish Writers
Fall 2013 TTh 2:00-3:15 PM Modern Languages 311 Prof. Thomas Kovach LSB 310 Office hours TTh 11-12 or by appointment tkovach@email.arizona.edu 621-1147

Course description: The course will focus on the contributions of Jewish writers to German literature and culture. In each case, a reading of the writers works will include an examination of that writers dual identity as Jew and as German, and a questioning of how this duality is reflected in the writers texts. Issues of assimilation/acculturation, Jewish identification, and Jewish self-hatred will all be discussed. This course is a Humanities Tier Two course in the University-wide General Education Curriculum; it also fulfills the Gender, Race, Class, and Ethnicity requirement. Like other Tier Two courses, this class will seek to help you develop your critical thinking, writing, and interpretive skills. We will examine a wide variety of texts, ranging from purely literary texts poetry, prose, and drama to works of philosophy and political science. The course is interdisciplinary in this sense, and also in the sense that you will be asked to consider how the work of these writers is shaped by the struggle for equal rights as Jews in the German-speaking world, and the equally difficult struggle to come to terms within themselves with their conflicted identities. No knowledge of German is required, and all readings, lectures, and discussions will be in English. For those students with a reading knowledge of German, most texts will be available in the original German on D2L. Evaluation: The course grade will be based on the following formula: Attendance, completion of readings, and participation in class discussions 25% Two 5-page papers 15% each. These are not intended to be research papers; rather, they should contain your own reflections on works studied and issues raised in class. Midterm (20%) and Final (25%) exams. These exams will consist of identifications of quotes and terms, along with two essay questions. Required texts (available at ASUA Bookstore) Howard M. Sachar, The Course of Modern Jewish History (Vintage) Mendelssohn, Jerusalem (University Press of New England) Heine, Poetry and Prose (Continuum) Schnitzler, Road into the Open (University of California Press) Kafka, The Basic Kafka (Pocket Books) Other texts on D2L see below. Optional text Ruth Gay, The Jews of Germany: A Historical Portrait (Yale University Press)

2 Course outline Week 1 (Aug. 27 & 29): Jewish settlement in the German-speaking world. Sachar, Chapters 1 & 2. Excerpt from Memoirs of Glckel of Hameln (D2L). Optional: Gay, Chapters 1, 2, 3 Week 2 (Sept. 3 & 5): The Enlightenment and the beginnings of emancipation. Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, or, On religious power and Judaism Optional: Gay, Chapter 4 Week 3 (Sept. 10 & 12): Assimilation and identity crisis. Sachar, Chapters 3 & 7 The Salons: Memoirs of Henriette Herz, Letters of Dorothea Schlegel and Rahel Varnhagen (D2L) Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdys letter to his son Felix (D2L) Optional: Gay, Chapter 5 Week 4 (Sept. 17 & 19): Heinrich Heine Sachar, Chapters 5 & 6 Heine, Harz Journey Heine Poems: The Grenadiers, I dont know the reason, The night is calm, Youre lovely as a flower, The young miss stood by the ocean Heine, Germany, A Winters Tale Week 5 (Sept. 24 & 26): Heine and Marx on Jewish themes Heine: The Rabbi of Bacherach (D2L) Heine: Writings on Jewish themes Read chronologically!! (D2L) Heine: Princcess Sabbath (D2L) Marx, On the Jewish Question (D2L) Week 6 (Oct. 1 & 3): Questioning assimilation. Hirsch, Emancipation (D2L) Sachar, Chapters 11 & 13. Herzl, excerpts from The Jewish State (D2L). Optional: Gay, Chapter 6 First paper due on October 3. Weeks 7 & 8 (Oct. 10, 15 & 17): Schnitzlers novel: Jews dealing with the rise of antisemitism Midterm exam on October 8 Sachar Chapter 19. Arthur Schnitzler, The Road into the Open Week 9 (Oct. 22 & 24: Freud Freud, excerpts from The Interpretation of Dreams (D2L),. Freud: Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious (D2L), Moses and Monotheism (D2L)

3 Week 10 (Oct. 29 & 31): Kafka Kafka, Before the Law, The Judgment, and Letter to his Father Kafka, A Report to an Academy, The Animal in the Synagogue (D2L), Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk Week 11 (Nov. 5 & 7): Lasker-Schler and Canetti Sachar, Chapter 20 Else Lasker-Schler, Land of the Hebrews and Poems (D2L); Elias Canetti, The Challenge and Backenroth (D2L) Week 12 (Nov. 12 & 14): The Shoah Sachar, Chapter 21. Celan, Fugue of Death (D2L) Sachs, Poems (D2L) Optional: Gay, Chapter 7 Remaining weeks (November 19, 26, 28; Dec. 3, 5, 10): The Aftermath Jewish writers in German today Second paper due on December 5. The following readings will be available on D2L: Katja Behrens, Perfectly Normal Chaim Noll, A Country, A Child, But Not the Countrys Child Barbara Honigmann, from A Love Out of Nothing Henryk M. Broder, Heimat? No, Thanks! Robert Menasse, from Happy Times, Brittle World Thomas Feibel, Gefilte Fish and Pepsi: A Childhood in Enemy Territory Maxim Biller, Finkelsteins Fingers Rafael Seligmann, from Rubinsteins Auction Maxim Biller, See Auschwitz and Die Matthias Hermann, Six Poems Peter Stephan Jungk, from Shabbat: A Rite of Passage in Jerusalem Leo Sucharewicz, The Girl and the Children Henryk M. Broder, Our Kampf Benjamin Korn, Witching Hour: Images of GermanySixty Years Later Rafael Seligmann, Instead of an Afterword Maxim Biller, Reunification I Final examination Thursday, December 19 1:00-3:00 PM
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Modern Languages 311

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D2L In addition to being the source for many class readings, Ill be using the D2L website to make announcements outside class, and you can use it also to check on readings, class schedules, etc., and to chat among yourselves. The login website is http://d2l.arizona.edu/index.asp.

Policies Plagiarism. In any written work handed in for class (both papers and exams), it is expected that all wording and ideas be your own, unless you have explicitly credited your source. Unless you have made special arrangements, it is assumed that any work turned in for this class was composed exclusively for this class, and not recycled from an earlier assignment in another class. For more information, please consult http://w3.arizona.edu/~studpubs/policies/cacaint.htm#ProhibitedConduct and http://www.u.arizona.edu/~debraw/300_presession/plagiarism.htm. Special Needs. Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to participate fully in course activities or meet course requirements must register with the Disability Resource Center (http://drc.arizona.edu/) and provide the instructor with appropriate documentation in advance of exam or any other required course activity for which accommodations are being requested. Cell phones and pagers, classroom behavior. If you bring these to class, it is your responsibility to see to it that they are turned off prior to class. Texting during class is not allowed. Violations of these policies may result in loss of attendance credit; if this happens more than once, you will be asked to leave class. Students engaging in private conversations while class is in session, or engaging in other disruptive behavior, may be asked to leave class; if this occurs, the class will be recorded as an unexcused absence for that student. Absences. Absences due to holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be excused for students who show affiliation with that particular religion, provided advance notice is given to the instructor. Absences due to illness will be excused provided documentation is presented to the instructor; if notice is given to the instructor by e-mail or phone prior to class, this requirement may be waived at the instructors discretion. Under exceptional circumstances, I may allow you to submit written assignments via e-mail, provided the following conditions are met: 1. You must obtain permission in advance. 2. It is your responsibility to make sure that I received the assignment in a form that I am able to download and print. Threatening behavior by students. You should familiarize yourselves with the policies stated on the following website: http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/threaten.shtml