Day/Time

W 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Instructor

Stewart

This course examines three German-language writers whose works establish foundational critiques of modern Western society. Why do we all seem to feel so discontent? What explains the differences between our conscious and unconscious thoughts? Why is our sexuality so fraught and yet so central to our lives? And is there a link between analysis of our inner selves and the preponderance of legal, bureaucratic, and administrative regimes that can turn waking life into a nightmare? Focussing on selected essays, lectures, and works of fiction by Sigmund Freud, Franz Kafka, and Ingeborg Bachmann, this course will develop tools to analyze the human psyche as it manifests in texts, actions, and social systems. 

Discussion in English, readings in English and optionally in German.