Ateneo - UPO

THOMAS MANN BETWEEN NIETZSCHE AND WAGNER

More specific information will be uploaded in January on DIR in the detailed course programme, in which the criticism to be studied will also be indicated. • Thomas Mann, Doctor Faustus. La vita del compositore tedesco Adrian Leverkühn narrata da un amico, trad. it. di L. Crescenzi, Milano, Mondadori, 2017. Students have to know the general lines of the plot and to read the following chapters: 1, 2, 5, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 25, 30, 36, 44 - 47, epilogue. In the library. • J. Spies, Storia del dottor Faust, ben noto mago e negromante. Know the general lines of the plot that are derived from the index (pp. 187-191) and read: the title-page, pp. 15-31, 72-75, 152-156, 164, 171, 180-186. It will be available on DIR. • T. Mann, Morte a Venezia. In the library (students who took my German Literature 1B course should review it, those who did not take 1B should read it). • T. Mann, Tonio Kroeger. In the library. • T. Mann, Tristan. In the library. • Excerpts from works by T. Mann.

Through face-to-face teaching and self-study activities, the course aims to enable students to develop the ability to outline the basic outlines of Thomas Mann's literary production, relating it to the historical and cultural context of the time and highlighting the close relationship with Nietzsche's philosophy and Wagner's music. More advanced objectives are to provide students with the necessary skills to process the information received during the course into a critical discourse on German literature and history as well as to equip them with the linguistic and critical tools to make critical considerations, including personal ones, and to develop the ability to analyse the central themes of the course.

Good knowledge of German for master students studying German. No prerequisites for others.

Lectures, critical reading, translation and commentary on texts, use of multimedia materials.

Critical literature and further information will be provided at the beginning of the course.
The registration on DIR is required. Please check the teacher's page on Upobook regularly.
Non-attending students (i.e. not attending more than the half of the lessons) are requested to contact the teacher in order to get their detailed program by mail. The preparation of the non-attendance program is necessary in order to obtain the 6CFU foreseen for the module, which also includes either the 30 hours of lectures or the reading of substitute materials to be carried out in an equal number of hours.
Please read the texts before we will analyze them in the lessons, so you will be able to better understand the explanations and to participate in the discussion.
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The test consists of an oral examination in Italian and German with questions on the following points
- verification of the historical and cultural context of Mann's work in its various phases, the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy and the music of Richard Wagner - 40% of the evaluation and 10% of the German skills evaluation.
- the skill of analyzing and interpreting texts, of processing in a critical way the information received during the course also about single writers or literary works in relation to the central topics of the course will be checked as well - 50% of the evaluation
- the ability to translate into Italian some excerpts of texts of primary literature will be checked– further 10% of the German skills evaluation
Evaluation is based on the ability to focus on the main features of the course and the artistic-literary production of National Socialism and exile, on the knowledge and comprehension of texts also referring to the critical bibliography, and on the skill to expose the topics clearly in Italian and German as well as to translate from German into Italian.

Taking Nietzsche's thought (in particular The Birth of Tragedy) and the music of Richard Wagner as a starting point, the literary work of Thomas Mann will be interpreted, focusing on his most important writings. Interpretative possibilities will be focused on that highlight the relationship between the artistic-aesthetic dimension and life in the light of the historical events of the first half of the 20th century.

In order to achieve the knowledge and skills corresponding to the minimum sufficiency level, students are required to demonstrate:
Knowledge and ability to analyze the topics dealt with and the texts analyzed
Ability to expound the central topics with clarity, with references to the historical, cultural and literary context of the works and with an appropriate critical vocabulary in both Italian and German.
Ability to translate primary literature texts into Italian.