This course offers a survey of modern German literary, cultural, and intellectual currents, as well as an introduction to argumentation and analysis. Students will examine numerous issues and questions central to defining the complexity of modern German culture. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R5B satisfies the second half.

The way rhythms of work structure time, the hierarchies working engenders, and the networks it brings into play not only profoundly determine the experience of life as it is, but also shape how we imagine its transformation. In this course you will get to know a range of mostly German-language writers, artists, filmmakers, and theorists of the 20th and 21st century that have investigated the topic in their art. We will dedicate our attention to the ways in which literary and cultural production since the beginning of the 20th century registers major shifts in systems of racial capitalism and their aesthetic effects: in what ways does story-telling engage these phenomena and which aesthetic forms and orders of representation emerge? How do the pressures or the lack of work shape the experiences of writers and characters? In what ways does literature reflect on its own position under these conditions? How does thinking about work when we read lead us to consider racialized, sexualized, gendered, and other forms of exploitation, as well as aspirations, and possibilities of community? How do cultural artefacts dream of work, or its end? Paying attention to these questions not only introduces students to modernist and postmodernist aesthetics of work, but also considers how works about work are imbricated in their historical contexts of production and reception. Lastly, thinking critically and aesthetically about how work makes our world will strengthen students' practice in methodically discerning and developing a specific topic of interest in a given cultural text. This R5B course will encourage regular and effective practice of thinking, writing and reading about matters of intellectual complexity. Building a portfolio over the course of the semester, students develop their abilities to handle close reading, analysis, and research paper formats. The course will stress the loopy nature of thinking, reading and writing by emphasizing modular assignments, interaction with sources, peer review and revisions. Readings will be in English. All materials and updated schedules are accessible on our bCourses site.

Requisites

• Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.

Credit Restrictions

Students will receive no credit for GERMAN R5B after passing GERMAN 5B.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills