GERST 1121 - FWS: Writing Berlin

Fall, Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

First-Year Writing Seminar. No knowledge of German is expected.

Staff.

Germany’s capital is a city that constantly reinvents itself. This course will offer a glimpse into Berlin’s rich history in the 20th and 21st centuries—from the rise of the metropolis during the Weimar Republic to the rubble after WWII to today’s multifaceted, multicultural, forward-looking capital. We will explore points of view, images, and perceptions of Berlin and its people in the literary productions of writers such as Siegfried Kracauer, Alfred Döblin, Kurt Tucholsky, Wolfdietrich Schnurre, Monika Maron, Wladimir Kaminer, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, and Kathrin Röggla. We will discuss changing identities (nation, class, gender, and ethnicity, for example), consult works of literary critics and scholars, practice attentive reading and writing, and learn to construct evidence-based arguments of our own.