Kafka’s relation to his literary and cultural context, his characteristic narrative modes, humor and parody in his works, and the challenges his texts pose for readers. Attention will be paid to his position in the Prague Circle and his relationship to other writers and thinkers of the period.

Tracing poetry from its origins in religious practice, the course examines the process of secularization and the ways in which modern poems retain traces of sacred texts. As poets grapple with an increasingly secular world, the emergence of modernity is revealed in vivid ways. Class discussions will explore the extent to which reminiscences of the sacred form part of the deeper appeal of poetry and its ability to shape meaning in the modern world.

This course is offered in the General Education Program under the rubric "Culture and Belief."

Close study of Sebald’s narrative and poetic works, as well as a selection of his scholarly essays, against the backdrop of recent literary theory. One emphasis in this semester's seminar was on questions of narrative, but of course Sebald's works are so rich that it's impossible to limit any course on him to a single focus. We spent a little more time than in previous Sebald seminars on Die Ringe des Saturn, which proved to be very rewarding.