The Individual in the Age of Industry

This seminar discusses the second part of the 19th century, which is distinguished by nation building, industrial revolution, advance of science, realism and belief in progress but also nihilism and cultural pessimism. We investigate how the new age of pragmatism and the “technological sublime” is reflected in short stories by major German writers such as Adalbert Stifter, Karl Gutzkow, Theodor Storm, Gottfried Keller, Wilhelm Raabe, Theodor Fontane, Arno Holz and Gerhart Hauptmann. In German. Prerequisite: GRMN 0600 or permission.