The aim of the course is to introduce students to selected works of German literature from the Romantic, Biedermeier, Pre-March and Realist periods. Emphasis is placed on the literary aesthetic and cultural historical aspects of the works discussed.
Topics include: the European context of German Romanticism, political and historical background, philosophical foundations, Romantic aesthetic theories and genres. Representatives of the different stages.
Biedermeier - characteristics of the literary movement, lyric, prose, drama. Realism, characteristics of the epoch: political background (Revolutionary year 1848, nationalism, socialism), social issues (women's emancipation), philosophical trends (positivism, materialism, Marxism, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer), literary traffic (readership and education).
Realism in literature: basic features and theories (Vischer, Heyse), novel, novella and poetry.