Personal and historical memory in literary texts. Discussion of "Geschichte" in its multiple meanings of history and story, questions of literary representation, and role of gender. Longer narratives supplemented by short stories, essays, interviews, and music that illuminate socio-historic contexts. Taught in German.
Athena Title
Memory, History, Narrative
Prerequisite
GRMN 3010 or GRMN 3015
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Students will analyze literary works, films, and cultural texts with attention to how memory, history, and narrative are constructed and represented.
Students will explain and apply key concepts from memory studies.
Students will interpret the relationship between different forms of memory, including how family stories and public commemorations shape identity.
Students will evaluate how German cities, monuments, and memorials function as sites of memory.
Students will develop and support arguments in German, using evidence from texts, theory, and historical materials.
Students will conduct research using German-language sources and integrate them into their work.
Students will engage creatively and critically with course themes, reflecting on the role of memory in shaping the past and present.
Topical Outline
1. Foundations of Memory Studies
Concepts of memory, history, and forgetting
Individual, cultural, and collective memory
Transmission of family stories across generations
2. Commemoration and Public Memory in Germany
German remembrance culture after 1945
Key anniversaries and commemorative speeches
Debates over responsibility, guilt, and national identity
3. Sites of Memory and Urban Space
Monuments, memorials, and museums as memory sites
Memory in German cities and public spaces
Case studies: Stolpersteine, Das Bayerische Viertel, The Missing House, Holocaust memorials
4. Contested Memory and Contemporary Debates
Engagement with Holocaust memory across generations
Memory in a global and digital age
5. Literature and Graphic Narrative as Memory Work
Nora Krug, Heimat. Ein deutsches Familienalbum
Family history, belonging, guilt, and postwar identity
Visual storytelling and autobiographical memory
6. Migration, Trauma, and Narrative Reliability
Abbas Khider, Der Erinnerungsfälscher
Truth, fabrication, and unreliable memory
Memory in contexts of exile, migration, and political violence
Critical and Creative Engagement with the Past
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
