GER 125 - German Fairy Tales and Folklore (1)

This course will examine fairy tales and other folklore from Germany, whose famously enchanted forests and castles speak to a culture that seems especially imbued with magic. Not every German child ventured into a dark wood and left breadcrumbs behind so as to find his way back, of course; but fairy tales and folklore were a frequent touchstone and protagonist in the German imagination of itself as a nation, and studying fairy tales and folklore indeed allows us to probe larger questions of nationalism, Romanticism, oral tradition, race, and gender in German and European society. In this class, students will consume fairy tales and other folklore (myths, magic, surrealism) in their raw forms; study scholarly work on their history, meanings, and inter-workings; and craft their own creative adaptations based on their interests and skills. Students will emerge from this course with a rich understanding of German history, music, literature, art, and imaginative culture from the early-modern period to the 21st century. Taught in English, though German-language text focus (and related credit) is also possible by arrangement.
(Humanities) (Intercultural Literacy Intensive)