1 Introduction to German Poetry: Das Ich und das Ding Prof. Leif

Introduction to German Poetry: Das Ich und das Ding
Prof. Leif Weatherby, GERM UA-185, Spring 2013
This course introduces the long tradition of German lyric poetry. Lyric is usually
associated with the sentimental and experiential subject, longing for the completeness of
nature or the embrace of a lover. The lyric subject, however, is constantly confronted by a
world of things, and these things are inflected by the gender of the poet. From the thinglike nature of the beloved in niedere (but also ebene) Minne in the medieval tradition to
the “thing-poems” of Rainer Maria Rilke to the eviscerated and partial objects of Paul
Celan, lyric reveals itself as the genre of the (gendered) subject in a world of objects. We
will read poems from one female and one male poet in five periods: Medieval (Hildegard
von Bingen, Walter von der Vogelweide); Early Modern (Catharina Regina von
Greiffenberg, Andreas Gryphius); Romanticism (Karoline von der Günderrode, Friedrich
Hölderlin); Modernism (Else Lasker-Schüler, Rainer Maria Rilke); and post-WWII
(Ingeborg Bachmann; Paul Celan). Throughout the German lyric corpus, we will ask
ourselves, what is an “I”? To whom and to what gender does this “I” belong? And how is
it mediated by the thing-world? All readings in German.
Assignments: 5 short analyses of poems; one longer analytical paper; one translation OR
poem written by student in German.
Tentative Plan:
Week 1: Was ist ein Gedicht? Ich/Ding, Geschlecht, Technik
Weeks 2-3: Medieval
Week 2: Vision und Lyrik: Hildegard von Bingen, “Die Liebe,” “Die Seele,” “O edles
Grün”; ausgewählte Visionen
Week 3: Minne-Debatte: Reinmar der Alte, “Preislied”; Walter von der Vogelweide,
“Unter der Linde” (Auszüge aus Brackerts Minnesang: Mittelhochdeutsche Texte:
Mittelhochdeutsche Texte mit Übertragungen und Anmerkungen)
Weeks 4-5: Early Modern
Week 4: Sprachbildung und Religion: Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg, “Auf die
Thränen,” “Auf eben dieselben”
Week 5: Vanitas: “Über den gekreuzigten Jesus”; Andreas Gryphius, “Es ist alles eitel,”
“Menschliche Elende”
Weeks 6-9: um 1800
Weeks 6-7: Klassische Dichtung: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Prometheus”; Friedrich
Hölderlin, “Hälfte des Lebens,” “An Diotima,” “Brot und Wein,” “Patmos,” “In
lieblicher Bläue”
Weeks 8-9: Romantische Dichtung: [Goethe, “Selige Sehnsucht”;] Karoline von der
Günderode, “ein apokaliptisches Fragment,” “Wandel und Treue,” “Schicksal und
Bestimmung,” “[An Creuzer],” Auszüge aus den Briefen an Creuzer
Weeks 10-12: um 1900
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Week 10: Dinge: Eduard Mörike, “An eine Lampe”; Rainer Maria Rilke, “Der Panther,”
“Archaischer Torso Apollos,” “Der Engel”
Week 11: Apokalypsen der Moderne: Rilke, “An Hölderlin,” Duineser Elegien (1.
Elegie); Jakob van Hoddis, “Weltende”; Else Lasker-Schüler, “Weltende”
Week 12: Liebe und Emigration: Lasker-Schüler, “Mein Liebeslied,” “Wir drei,” “Eva”;
“Die Tänzerin Wally,” “Die Verscheuchte”
Weeks 13-14: post-WWII
Week 13: zerbrochene Sprache: Paul Celan, “Todesfuge,” “Stimmen,” “Lichtzwang,”
“Engführung,” Meridian
Week 14: Ichzeit: Ingeborg Bachmann, “Die gestundete Zeit,” “Anrufung des großen
Bären,” Die Wahrheit ist dem Menschen zumutbar
Week 15: Was ist ein Gedicht? Eigene Gedichte/poetologische Texte vorlesen und
diskutieren
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