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GM2123 Love and Marriage in Major Novels by Theodor Fontane

GM2123 Love and Marriage in Major Novels by Theodor Fontane

Terms 1 and 2

Convenor: Dr Karina Berger

Assessment:

Essay: 30% (1500-2000 words), Written Examination: 70%

Overview:

The course involves a detailed analysis of three major novels by Theodor Fontane: Irrungen, Wirrungen / On Tangled Paths (1888), Effi Briest (1896) and Unwiederbringlich / No Way Back (1891). In particular, it focuses on the themes of love, marriage, adultery and divorce, assessing these in their cultural, social and psychological contexts. Whereas in Irrungen, Wirrungen Fontane explores the impact of class boundaries on the relationship between two young lovers, in Effi Briest he highlights the potentially disastrous outcomes of a marriage of convenience. In Unwiederbringlich, Fontane examines the break-up of a once happily married middle-aged couple.

Key Bibliography:

Set Texts:

Students of German should purchase: 

Theodor Fontane, Irrungen, Wirrungen (Reclam, 2005) 

Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest (Reclam, 2008) 

Theodor Fontane, Unwiederbringlich (Reclam, 1986)

 CLC students and ab initio students of German should purchase: 

Theodor Fontane, On Tangled Paths (Angel Books, 2010) 

Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest (Pengiun Classics, 2000) 

Theodor Fontane, No Way Back (Angel Books, 2010)

Secondary Literature:

Bance, Alan, Theodor Fontane: The Major Novels (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).

Chambers, Helen, Alan Bance, and Charlotte Jolles, Theodor Fontane: The London Symposium (Stuttgart: Akademischer Verlag, 1995).

Doebeling, Marion, New Approaches to Theodor Fontane: Cultural Codes in Flux (Columbia: Camden House, 2000).

Garland, Henry, The Berlin Novels of Theodor Fontane (Oxford: Clarendon, 1980).

Sasse, H.-C., Theodor Fontane: An Introduction to the Novels and Novellen (Oxford: Blackwell, 1968).

 

  
 
 
 
 

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