Emancipating Women in Late Ninteenth and Early Twentieth Century

Languages & Cultures, School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music

College of Arts and Law

Details

Code 23835

Level of study Third/Final year

Credit value 10

Semester Only available in 1 for a one option

Other pre-requisites An advanced level of German of B2.2 or above

Module description

This seminar explores the terms `emancipation' and `radical' in respect of women's Lebensentwürfe between the first German unification in 1871/2 and World War I. It explores the relationship between aspirations and biographies as well as the ways in which some of the most significant women of the time expressed themselves. To this end selected texts by these women from different genres will be discussed.
The course is intended to help students gain a historical perspective as to what was socially and artistically the most diverse German `women's movement' including working class activists and bourgeois participants. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which these authors negotiated increasing tensions between ideals and reality (industrialisation, nationalism, growing antisemitism; Körperfeindlichkeit).


Teaching and learning methods

Lecturer and student presentations, group and pair discussions