his course introduces students to major writers in the German cultural tradition and it makes a case for their significance to an American readership today. We will read mostly canonical texts that were written over a span of two hundred years, focusing on shorter prose fiction along with some plays and poetry. Ranging from 18th century sentimental literature to postmodern fiction, the texts on the reading list include a wide range of themes, styles, and artistic concerns. They include such famous novellas as Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Georg Büchner’s Lenz, and the first internationally successful German novel, Goethe’s acclaimed Sorrows of Young Werther. We will also discuss texts by Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich von Kleist, Veza Canetti, Judith Hermann, Franz Kafka, Thomas Bernhard, Ingeborg Bachmann and W.G. Sebald. Students can expect to sharpen their critical skills and to gain a basic historical understanding of German literature in the broader European context. Course requirements include regular attendance, active participation, several brief homework assignments, a midterm and a take-home final.