Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07
In recent decades, environmental crisis has become a global concern. In this course we examine how literary writers have engaged with issues such as pollution, nuclear disaster and climate change. If we are to prevent future environmental disaster we need more than an understanding of the scientific facts – we need to understand how attitudes towards the environment are culturally shaped, and how environmental discourse is generated, debated and circulated.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Old Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
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How do environmental concerns enter public consciousness? What part do literary works have to play in helping us to reflect on some of the most pressing problems of the current age? From pollution to nuclear disaster to the impacts of climate change, the texts we examine provide insight into the impetus for and evolution of German environmentalism. While environmental crisis tends to be transnational or even global in scope, understanding cultural responses to crisis requires close attention to social and political context. Through examining two texts from the GDR of the 1980s and two from the present decade, we will develop a comparative understanding of environmental culture. The primary texts offer a range of responses to crisis – from political critique, lament and apocalyptic imagination to celebration of place, personal attachments or satirical humour. Through the study of these texts, and the issues with which they deal, participants will develop their understanding of Germany as a place that is continually undergoing social, political and environmental changes.
Primary texts: Monika Maron, Flugasche (1981); Christa Wolf, Störfall (1987); Ilija Trojanow, EisTau (2011), Karen Duve, Macht (2016).
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: 3500-word essay (70%), presentation (30%)
Resit: 2-hour written examination (100%)
There are no assessments for this course.
All presentations receive grades and are discussed individually within no more than 2 weeks. Essays are marked on the basis of specific marking criteria (as outlined in the course guide) and are returned with written feedback. Additional informal feedback on performance and seminar participation is offered in seminars. Tutors have office hours at which further feedback may be sought.
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