Courses

The two decades between 1890 and 1910 saw the rise of literary modernism in the German speaking countries, most notably in the city of Vienna. The course will examine this development at the level of particular works—including poems, novels, novellas, plays, essays, and theoretical writings— and with an eye towards broader historical contexts like scientific innovations, technological modernization, and social change. It will focus on the ways in which new forms of literary representation contributed to a specifically “modern” reconception of language, perception, subjectivity, sexuality, and gender. Readings will include works by Freud, Nietzsche, Hofmannsthal, Schnitzler, Bahr, Mach, Klimt, and others.