Heinrich von Kleist's Prose Fiction

Subject GERM40008 (2013)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2013.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2013.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2.5 hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment:

2.5 contact hours/week, 6 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.

Prerequisites:

Admission to the postgraduate diploma, postgraduate certificate or fourth-year honours in German. European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed 37.5 points of European studies at second/third year and the language prerequisite for this subject.

Corequisites:

none

Recommended Background Knowledge:

none

Non Allowed Subjects:

none

Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Subject Overview:

Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) was not only one of the greatest dramatists in German literature, but he also wrote a small body of short prose fiction that contains some of the most fascinating texts in German. The world of Kleist's stories is full of obscure implications which the characters struggle to decipher. Family relationships are fraught with latent violence. glimpses of a better world are fleeting or hedged with irony. circumstance and coincidence play an often cruel game with the fictional characters. Against this underlying grimness is the beauty and power of Kleist's literary technique. Students will undertake a close reading of Kleist's eight stories in order to both situate them in their historical context and relate them to paradigms of modern experience. Students who complete the subject should have an awareness of Kleist's place in the German literary tradition and an understanding of the problems posed by Kleist's experimental approach to writing.

Objectives:
  • have undertaken a close reading of Kleist's eight stories in order to both situate them in their historical context and relate them to paradigms of modern experience.
  • have an awareness of Kleist's place in the German literary tradition and an understanding of the problems of posed by Kleist's experimental approach to writing.
Assessment:

A 1200-word class paper 30% (due during semester) and an essay of 4000 words 70% (due at the end of semester).

This subject has the following hurdle requirements:

  • Regular participation in tutorials is required with a minimum of 75% attendance.
  • All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day and in-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked.

Prescribed Texts:
  • Sämtliche Erzählungen und Anekdoten (Heinrich von Kleist) München 1998
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • have acquired skills in research, critical thinking and contextualising information.
  • have also developed skills in communicating knowledge intelligibly through oral presentations and essays in German.
Notes:

This subject is taught in German.

Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: German
German
German

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