Scandalous Tales:Germ. Novella

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

In German novellas of the 18th through the 20th centuries, authors have found a space to explore and dramatize what Goethe once termed "unheard-of events" (unerhörte Begebenheiten), from war stories to murder mysteries to Gothic and fantastic narratives. Eschewing the lengthy psychological studies and extended dialogues typical of its close cousin, the German Roman, the German novella delights and confounds its readers with condensed accounts of mysterious and scandalous events. In fact, the word "novella" (German Novelle) is etymologically related to the word for "news" in many Romance languages. So, in a sense, novellas are the original "fake news!" In this course for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, we will analyze and compare novellas by German, Swiss, and Austrian authors from the 18th through the 20th centuries. Our discussions will focus on formal and experimental as well as thematic aspects of the novella: what sets it apart from other prose genres, such as the generally much lengthier novel (Roman), the less specific Erzählung and the more idiosyncratic Märchen? Particular emphasis will be placed on how novellas approach the question of difference, as figured for example in depictions of outsiders, "exotic" settings, women, and the uncanny. We will also discuss how these texts depict disruptions to the social order and their resolution, and how they advance concepts of "world literature" and the cosmopolitan.