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SoSe 20: The Air Raids on Germany 1942-45: Literary Reflections

Gregor Hens

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Subject: In the final years of World War II, the Allies conducted a systematic bombing campaign of German cities, during which more than half a million civilians are thought to have died. In his 1997 Zurich lectures the scholar W. G. Sebald, author of the highly acclaimed novel Austerlitz, surveyed the German-language literature that deals with this aspect of the war and claimed that the literary response to this catastrophe was both quantitatively and qualitatively inadequate. Program: In this course we will review some of the literature that responds to the air war, discuss Sebald's argument and consider the reasons both for the perceived lack of literary reflection among an entire generation of German writers, and for the heated public debate that Sebald's lectures engendered on publication. We will further extend the context and discuss an American writer's view of the 1945 bombing of Dresden, as well as literary reflections on the Blitz – the German bombing campaign of Coventry, London and other British cities. Is this course for you? The course has no prerequisites and is open to international students from all academic fields. However, students should bring to the course a basic curiosity about German and European history and an interest in discussing and analyzing literary texts. Given the circumstances, a good part of participants' time will be spent reading and responding to texts – all in English translation – and to interact (online or, if possible, in the classroom) with fellow students and with the instructor. Requirements and assessment: In order to earn 5 ECTS points, you will be required to carefully read assigned texts and respond to a number of them. You will also interact respectfully with your fellow students, either online or in class. A final exam will be administered during the last session of the course. close