20th. Century Literature (20114)
Degree/study: Degree in Humanities
Year: 3rd
Term: 2nd
Number of ECTS credits: 5 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 100 hours
Teaching language or languages: Catalan and Spanish
Teaching Staff: Michael Pfeiffer
1. Presentation of the subject
The Holocaust and European Literature. The goal of this course is to inquire into the impact of Auschwitz on literary creation. To investigate to what point did the genocide against the Jews-perpetrated by Nazi Germany- modify the forms and limits of literary language of the 20th century. The course seeks to analyse the work of writers such as Primo Levi, Jean Améry, Tadeusz Borowski, Paul Celan, Imre Kertèsz, Ruth Klüger or Jorge Semprún, among others.
The general goals of this course are to develop analysis and reflecting skills on literary texts in general and to acquire some basic knowledge about the aesthetic cannon and European History from the 20th century.
2. Competences to be attained
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General competences |
Specific competences |
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Instrumental skills •1. Arguing, that is to say, defending of justifying in written and in speech a certain position. •2. Reasoning deductively, that is, reaching a conclusion from a series of premises. •3. Generalising, or extracting a general norm from a limited amount of data or examples. •4. Transmitting in written and in speech, in an organised fashion, the acquired knowledge. •5. Analysing and synthesising information from a variety of resources. •6. Organising and planning academic work. •7. Using previous knowledge from any learning activity. •8. Applying knowledge to practice. Interpersonal skills •1. Group work and meaning negotiation. •2. Individual work. •3. Integrating group work in the autonomous work. •4. Interpersonally communicating within a small group and within a big group. Systemic skills •1. Creativity. •2. Autonomous learning and continuing training skills. |
•1. Knowing, situating and interpreting some of the main episodes in the historical evolution of the Holocaust in Europe. •2. Briefly knowing, situating and interpreting some of the main European works and literary schools about the Holocaust. •3. Knowing and interpreting some of the main impacts of the Holocaust on 20th century European culture. •4. Knowing and managing monographic studies and essential bibliography to achieve a well-reasoned interpretation. |
3. Contents
1. From the European anti-Semitism to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. The concentrationary experience
2. The first literary witnesses: Primo Levi and Tadeusz Borowski
3. The unthinkable and inexpressible. Adorno and Celan: the debate on the impossibility of Poetry writing after Auschwitz
4. Experience - memory - writing: the novel Sense destí by Imre Kertész
5. Memory reflected: Seguir viviendo by Ruth Klüger
6. The limits of media representation: Kitsch and the Holocaust
*The full version with the sections 4. Assessment, 5. Bibliography and teaching resources, 6. Methodology, and 7. Planning of activities is available in the original version.
4. Assessment
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5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
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5.2. Complementary bibliography
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5.3. Teaching resources
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6. Metodology
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7. Planning of activities
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