GRMN 372-001
War in Words

Grit Schwarzkopf profile
G.Schwarzkopf@uni-heidelberg.de

MWF 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Prerequisite(s): GRMN 215 or equivalent. All readings and lectures in German.

War in Words: War in German Lyric Poetry 1600 - 1945

How can war be depicted in lyric poetry? How does poetry bring war into view? (Think of the ways in which Tolstoy and Hemingway wrote about war!) What attitudes can be adopted toward war? These are the main questions we will discuss in this class. Starting from Hegel’s concept of lyric poetry, we will look at the German lyric as it confronts the phenomenon of war. Of course, the experience of war is an important part of German culture. Responses have spanned from glorification to condemnation. In this course our main focus will be on the poetry of Andreas Gryphius through Bertolt Brecht, from the Thirty-Years-War to WWII. We will analyze and interpret these poems against their historical context and listen to musical settings (by Robert Schumann, Friedrich Silcher, Hanns Eisler, Norbert Schulze). We will not only see how Leni Riefenstahl uses a German war song in Triumph des Willens, but also Michael Curtiz in Casablanca und Tennesse Williams in The Night of the Iguana; and we will hear Marlene Dietrich sing “Lili Marlen.” We will also consult classical texts of the theory of war (e.g., Clausewitz and Schmitt) to complete the picture. Thus our view will range from the Baroque to the Modern: a glance which will not only bring war into view, but also offer an outline of German lyric poetry and insights into German history.

updated 09-2009