Nietzsche and Kafka stand out as two of the most important prose stylists of German language. At the same time, the period between the beginning of Nietzsche’s productive career around 1870 and Kafka’s death in 1924 is one of fundamental historical change: it starts with the rise of the German nation state and ends after the downfall of both the German and the Austro-Hungarian monarchies.

Not surprisingly, the literature in German of this era is marked by a number of radical transformations, illustrated by literary movements as diverse as Naturalism, the Turn of the Century, and Expressionism.

We will investigate several prose texts and poetry of this time period from the perspective of the changing role of literature in response to societal and historical realities, or as a depiction of states of human consciousness. For example, works like Frank Wedekind’s Frühlings Erwachen (1891) and Hugo von Hofmannthal’s Ein Brief (1901) are only ten years apart. One is a powerful critique of bourgeois education, and the other an expression of a profound crisis of language that leads to a loss of self. Other works we will read include Gerhart Hauptmann’s Bahnwärter Thiel and short fiction by Thomas Mann, as well as Schnitzler’s Leutnant Gustl and Fräulein Else.

Although we will primarily focus on prose, we will also analyze poetry by Rilke, Trakl, and Benn, among others. The course will begin with a discussion of Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra (1883-85), and conclude with Kafka’s fragmentary novel Der Proceß (1914-1915).

All readings and discussion are in German. Prerequisite: GERM 325 or equivalent, or consent of instructor.

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