GER 526 Victory & its Discontents 1871-1914 (Tatlock)  Tags: tatlock fall_2008 deutsch deutsche_literatur german_studies 19th_century literature  

This course treats expressions of national culture in Imperial Germany in the first three decades after the victory over France in 1871. It will include examination of painting; monuments; school plays, school readers, and books for children; historical fiction and drama; and poetry with regard to the myths and values espoused by those promoting national culture, particularly as rooted in Preußentum. These cultural artifacts will be contrasted with critical works by Storm, Fontane, Raabe and others that give voice to profound discontent with developments after 1871. The course will conclude with a leap forward to Thomas Mann's Death in Venice as a summation of and meditation on the discontents of the national imperial project.