Reading Friedrich Hölderlin; An Introduction

The course is intended as an introduction to the reading of Hölderlin as a poet, so the focus will be on close reading and on intense and detailed discussions of the texts in class. To that end it is indispensable to study the texts in the original German. Available English translations will be used in addition. Of course, linguistic difficulties in understanding the texts (which are, by the way, by no means restricted to non-German speakers) will themselves form an integral part of the seminar discussions. Critical texts will be read in English.