Modern novels to read

Value: 0.5 course units / 30 MA credits
MA module code: GERMG028
Tutor: Reinier van Straten
Teaching structure:
Assessment for GERM4133: one assessed 2, 500 word essay (50%); and one unseen two-hour written examination (50%). **
Assessment for GERMG028: one assessed 6, 000 word essay (100%).
Available to: Final Year students and MA students

Module Description:

This module looks at three major twentieth-century novels in detail. All three books explore the problem of interpretation and raise questions about how reality can be understood and represented. In each novel the narrative technique is a crucial tool for undermining the reader’s expectations, both in relation to specific historical events and in relation to the process of textual interpretation itself. The books challenge our desire for clarity and explanation in an era when the category of truth has been profoundly relativized.

Preparatory Reading and Set Texts:

Please buy and read the following three set texts before the autumn term begins:

1. Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks. Edition: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. ISBN:
2. Franz Kafka, Das Schloß. Edition: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag [NOT Suhrkamp]. ISBN:
3. Ingeborg

** Please note that this module is assessed by both essay and examination. In order to allow students full coverage of the module, the deadline for submission of the essay is the beginning of Term 3. In practice, this will leave no or, at best, limited time to receive feedback on the essay before the examination.