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| One may argue with a strong degree of historical justification that existential philosophy was born when a young Soren Kierkegaard attended the lectures of the venerable German Idealist, Friedrich Schelling, in 1841. While listening to the older man speak about his "Philosophy of Revelation," the Dane was struck by what he felt to be the lack of attention given to lived experience. Kierkegaard reacted to his disappointment by embarking on an authorship dedicated to understanding how modern individuals experienced the particularities of life in a world without certainty. Thus, it can be argued that modern existential thought was born while traveling back and forth on a road that connects Copenhagen to Berlin. From there it spread to all four cardinal points of the compass, yet the tradition that emerged from this moment remained particularly prominent in both Germany and Scandinavia, permeating the manifold forms of cultural production. Kierkegaard to Kafka: the Existential Tradition in Germany and Scandinavia explores the connection between German and Scandinavian culture through the lens of an existential tradition expressed in philosophy, literature, drama, the visual arts and cinema. However, we will not restrict our course of study to Existentialism proper. Our survey will attempt to account for and to understand the manifold aspects of the revolt against idealism. This intention leads us to engagement with a variety of German and Scandinavian cultural phenomena all of which are concerned with "life" as it is articulated through experience. The course includes texts written by Soren Kierkegaard, Henrik Ibsen, Friedrich Nietzsche, Knut Hamsun, Rainer Maria Rilke, Franz Kafka, and Martin Heidegger. We will also view a film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and view paintings by various artists from Germany and Scandinavia. This course fulfills both the Arts and Letters and International Cultures requirements. It provides a framework for reading both the philosophical and creative manifestations of existential thought by guiding the student through the different types of claims made by different types of cultural expression. The course also offers an opportunity for the student to compare how artists, writers, and thinkers from four different cultures engage with a specific set of concerns. |
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- Dept or Instructor approval required; check course details for effective dates. When approved, use the Add/Drop menu to add the course by entering the CRN directly
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