VIENNESE MODERNISM: 1880–1914

German 372 (AL) 

Fall 2007: Professor Susan Cocalis

Tu Th 11.15—12.30.  Bartlett 201

Website: courses.umass.edu/germ372

Course Description:

This course is intended as an interdisciplinary exploration of different facets of Viennese culture during the period 1880–1914.  We will be looking at the discourses of modernity in literary texts but also in the visual arts, architecture, and music.  I would like to focus on how these discourses of modernity are gendered: i.e., how they relate to the particular construction of masculinity that evolved in the virtual absence of dominant bourgeois cultural values until relatively late in the 19th century.  Thus we will not only be “reading” and analyzing texts but also musical scores, architectural design, and graphic art within this discursive framework.  In addition to the more academic component of the course, I would like to explore a more “hands-on” approach to Viennese material culture: i.e., tracing the history of the croissant, Viennese bread, learning how to dance the Viennese waltz, etc. as marked in the syllabus. Finally, I will ask you to view several films, which I hope to make available through our web-CT/Spark site.

Office Hours:

I am usually available in Herter 525 before and after class, Wednesdays 12-1.30, and by arrangement.  My e-mail address is: cocalis@german.umass.edu and my telephone extension is 545-6673.  To leave a message with the German Department secretary, call 545 2350.

Course Websites: We have both an “open” website: “courses.umass.edu/germ372” and a Web CT/SPARK site which is under construction. The syllabus, course schedule, contact information, and announcements are currently available on the “courses.umass.” website. I am in the process of uploading the course reader, musical selections, and the required films to the WebCT/SPARK site (if this is possible).

Course Materials:

Reader:  A reader containing most of the assigned texts and librettos is available at Collective Copies, 71 South Pleasant Street, Amherst (256-6425). There should be used copies available at various venues. I am in the process of making these assigned texts available on-line, but I don’t know how long this will take.

Required Books:  Carl Schorske’s Fin-de-Siècle Vienna:  Politics & Culture + Robert Musil’s The Confusions of Young Toerless  are available at the Jeffrey Amherst College Bookstore behind its main store at 55 South Pleasant Street (253 3870). There should be used copies available at area bookstores or through amazon.com. The bookstore did not order enough new copies since the enrollment suddenly doubled in the late summer.

Music: There will be listening assignments in addition to  readings. I am in the process of making these pieces available through our Web/CT/SPARK site. I dope to have this accomplished before we reach the musical portion of the course in mid-semester.

Art, Applied Design, & Architecture: Numerous editions of works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, the Wiener Werkstätte, Otto Wagner, and Adolph Loos can be found in the non-circulating Art Library in DuBois or in the Art Libraries of other area colleges. There are numerous on-line resources for viewing each artist’s major works. I will also try to make the artwork we discuss available through our WebCT/ SPARK site.

Course Expectations & Requirements:

Class Preparation:  I expect you to complete the assigned readings/viewings/listening before the designated class.  In the case of very long reading assignments, there will be some flexibility.  In the second half of the semester, there will be listening and art assignments that might necessitate listening or consulting art books. I expect you to become familiar enough with the material to be able to recognize the particular style of an artist or composer. Regular in-class writing assignments will be based on the day’s reading, listening, or viewing material.

Attendance/In-Class Writing Assignments: Short written assignments will be collected and graded in most classes.  After the first two class sessions, the in-class writing assignments will be related to the assignment for that day:

• you will receive full credit (√) if I see you have done the reading assignment;
• you may obtain partial credit (√–) if the answer is too short or vague but I have a sense you have read the assignment, but no credit (–) except for attendance if the answer is too short, too vague, or not based on the assignment;
• you can receive extra credit (√+) if I find an answer especially good;
• you will receive no credit (0) if you have not read the assignment or have completely misunderstood it.
• you will receive a “present” but unprepared (/0)if you are in class but unprepared.

I expect you to take the questions seriously and to try to answer them to the best of your ability.  One-word answers or nothing at all are graded as insufficient.  I will read through all of these in-class assignments, grade them, report back to the class on them, and return them to you at regular intervals. Attendance & writing assignments count 60 points toward your grade (2.5 points per class).

Reading Assignment & Make-Ups:  You are responsible for reading the assigned texts for the designated class period.  They are arranged sequentially in the reader.  Most of the in-class writing assignments are based on the readings. If you come to class regularly and occasionally are absent or if you cannot read an assignment for the designated day but ask permission to make it up, you can submit a short written text showing me that you have done the assignment and I will give you partial credit. Instructor will not accept make-up assignments for chronic unexcused absence.

Film Assignments:  There are two required films (Szabo’s Colonel Redl & Ophul’s La Ronde).  I am in the process of making these films, as well as film versions of the Fledermaus and Der Rosenkavalier, available on our SPARK website.

Extra-Credit Options: There is a list of extra-credit films and books posted on our website (courses/germ372). If you write a 2-page, typed response paper to one or more of these works (relating them to the course readings and lectures or analyzing them in a comparative context), you can earn up to 3 extra-credit points per film/book. These responses should go beyond plot summaries—you can assume that I know the plot—and should relate what you have viewed to the material we have been discussing in class.

Examinations:  There will be an in-class mid-term and a final examination in this course:

•     mid-term examination (Thursday, October 18; make-up Tuesday, October 23, room TBA):  this will cover the material from the first half of the course including the historical background, the evolution of the Ringstraße, the significance of Freud’s work/psychoanalysis, and the literary texts.  There will be identifications and short essay questions (see review sheet) that you will be provided with in advance.  [100 points]

•     final examination (finals period):  this will include musical, visual and conceptual identifications and an essay of an interdisciplinary nature.  A review sheet with more specific information will be distributed at the end of the semester [100 points]

Make-up Exam Policy:  If you are aware of a conflict with an examination date in advance, or if something unexpected comes up and you have to miss an exam, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor or the secretary at the German Department (Mary or Roseann:  545-2350) before the test.  If there is an acceptable excuse (i.e., meeting University standards), you can make suitable arrangements with the instructor.

Academic Honesty:  In fairness to those students who put in an honest effort, cheaters will be harshly treated.  Any form of cheating whatsoever will result in a grade of zero (0) on that assignment, paper, or examination.  Cheating includes but is not limited to bringing notes or written materials into an exam and using them during an exam, copying off another person’s assignment or exam, allowing someone to copy off of your assignment or exam, plagiarizing a paper, and having someone take an exam for you.  Students choosing the paper option will be held to the standards of the University Writing Program (provided with paper guidelines).  Cheating on papers includes using sentences directly or in a slightly modified form from books without naming the source.

Grading:

Each student can accumulate a maximum of 260 points during this course.  The two exams are each worth 100 points and the in-class writing assignments/ attendance are worth 60 points. Final grades can be computed using the following scale:

If you wish to dispute any grade, please contact the instructor before or after class.  If you wish to discuss/dispute your final grade, please contact me  before February 15, 2008.  Any incompletes must also be resolved by that date.