Bildung and Class: Bildungsroman to Autosociobiography?

Graduate / Professional

The wider reception of Annie Ernaux’s texts, and especially the publication of Didier Eribon’s Return to Reims in German in 2016 (French 2009), has sparked a debate about a new genre: “autosociobiography.” The term, coined by Ernaux, expands the field of autobiography and autofiction to include social analysis. Narration and theory are situated within a larger tension between literary discourses on education since the emergence of the bildungsroman around 1800 and the sociological category of class and its associated phenomena of social mobility through education. The seminar focuses on contemporary texts such as Christian Baron’s Ein Mann seiner Klasse (A Man of His Class), Daniela Dröscher’s Zeige deine Klasse (Show Your Class), Dinçer Güçyeter’s Unser Deutschlandmärchen (Our German Fairy Tale), and Deniz Ohde’s Streulicht (Scattered Light). The seminar is conducted in German, and all texts used in the seminar are read in German. Please also note that this is an intensive seminar. The course meets twice a week and concludes in mid-October. Reading lists are provided before the start of the term. Prerequisites: advanced German reading, writing, and speaking skills. TTh 4pm-5:55pm