Advanced survey of the life and work of Goethe, in cultural and historical context.
In the course of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Germany (understood as the German-speaking regions of central and eastern Europe) enters the modern era and soon assumes a leading role in determining its trajectory. From Leibniz to Hegel, Bach to Beethoven, Pietism to Romanticism, feudal absolutism to historical materialism, eternal truths to the historicization of everything, city and court to nature (and back again, now industrialized), inference to intuition, the beautiful to the sublime--in all this and more, German thought and culture is at the forefront. And of the many important and influential figures throughout this period, none looms larger--certainly for Germany, and for much of world culture generally--than Goethe.
In this seminar we will examine closely a selection of major works in all literary genres and other fields--lyric poetry, drama, narrative, theory and criticism, natural science--from all periods in Goethe's career--Empfindsamkeit, Sturm und Drang, Classicism, and Romanticism. Our discussion of the texts will take cognizance of the principal historical developments and transformations--intellectual, artistic, political, and societal--during Goethe's lifetime: Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment; revolution, democracy, and reaction; the ethics and aesthetics of autonomy; nationalism and cosmopolitanism; the ideal of humanity and its ironic counterparts.
Students will take an active role in the seminar, presenting their own research projects and engaging critically with current scholarly discussion of Goethe and his time. An initial reading list of both primary texts and secondary sources will be made available over the summer.
M 4:25 PM - 6:55 PM.
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