The Introduction to Literature Course 4103-WL11

Objectives: to familiarize the students with the basic concepts of literary theory which may be useful in the analysis and interpretation of literary texts discussed during the History of German Literature course.
The course content:
1. Literary kinds and genres:
The division criteria for literary kinds and genres
2. Poetry
The author and the literary ego
Direct and indirect poetry
3. Prose
Compositional categories in epic works
The structure of the represented reality (motifs, plots, characters)
Time and space
The narrative situation (the narrator and the narrative perspective)
Style and composition
4. Drama
Drama and theater
The structure of the represented reality (plot, kinds of characters, time, space)
The linguistic structure of a drama (dialogue, monologue, the language of the characters)

The introduction to literary theory is accompanied by a practical application of the categories and concepts introduced during the course in the form of literary analysis of 3 poems representing different literary epochs, 3 short stories (from 19th and 20th century), as well as fragments of drama.

Compositional and stylistic features of poetry (versification, poetic devices, imagery)