German Theatre
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course is aimed at students of all Humanities: its main objective is a mutual enrichment of knowledge and skills gained in the field of Literary/German Studies with those of Cultural Studies and Performance and Media Studies. History, theory, methods and topics of German drama and theatre are thus to be discussed, partly in seminar form, applied to dramaturgically/scenically/aesthetically significant examples, taken from modern and contemporary German Drama and Theatre. These examples will be considered both in their premises and development contexts as well as with regard to their dramaturgical, scenic and intermedial reception and to their intercultural mediation.
Expected learning outcomes
As far as the Dublin Descriptors are concerned, following learning outcomes are expected: Knowledge and understanding: overview on significant epochs of Modern/Contemporary German Drama and Theatre and of methods and theories of Theatre Studies in Germany, with particular regard to drama and performance analysis. Understanding of the main theoretical and methodological issues regarding the study of German Drama and Theatre and of its intercultural and intermedial adaptations. Applying knowledge and understanding: analysis skills with regard to the structure of modern drama and of performance, ability in discussing these issues in the class and of autonomously applying the developed methods on other examples (reading list); competencies in writing a paper on a case study (so called Hausarbeit), competencies and skills in teamwork (collective production of texts & materials for the mediation, communication, dissemination of German-language theatre in contemporary cultural contexts).
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
If strictly necessary, the following emergency teaching practices will be adopted.
Teaching methods:
The course will be held (as well as in attendance, if possible, in any case according to university guidelines) by online synchronous online lectures using Teams. Lessons will not be recorded.
Reference materials:
No changes are planned.
Learning verification procedures and assessment criteria:
No changes are planned (papers + oral interview, if necessary in videoconferencing on MS Teams)
Teaching methods:
The course will be held (as well as in attendance, if possible, in any case according to university guidelines) by online synchronous online lectures using Teams. Lessons will not be recorded.
Reference materials:
No changes are planned.
Learning verification procedures and assessment criteria:
No changes are planned (papers + oral interview, if necessary in videoconferencing on MS Teams)
Course syllabus
The course is entitled:
Frank Wedekind's Theatre
and consists of the following three teaching parts:
A: Frank Wedekind's Theatre in its Time: Aesthetics, Drama, Performance
B: Theatre Studies in Theory and Practice: Frank Wedekind from page to stage
C: Wedekind 2.0: adaptations and transformations in literature, arts and media
Students interested in acquiring 6 ECTS will stick to the program of parts A&B (first exam in "German Theatre") or of the parts A&C (second exam in "German Theatre"). Students interested in acquiring 9 ECTS will stick to the program of parts A, B, and C (first exam in "German Theatre"). Anyone who takes a second exam in "German Theatre" for 9 ETCS must agree upon a personal syllabus with the professors (office hours).
The course aims to bring literary studies into dialogue with cultural and performance studies. Introductory lectures, seminar discussions, group and pair work as well as individual activities are to be dealing and exercising methodological questions and analytical practices and will concretely address following questions: What are Drama and Theatre Studies and what is their relationship with Literature and Cultural studies at the core of Humanities? What is their specific German tradition and development? What does Theatre History mean, with what sources does one work, how can one investigate them? What are the main aspects of dramatic writing, theorizing and theatre practice in German Theatre, taking Frank Wedekind as an example? How does one analyse dramas, essays, theatre materials and productions as well as contemporary adaptations and transmediations? How does one investigate the intercultural transfer regulating the arrival of German-language theatre in the Italian context (mediation, translation, staging)?
The course program is valid until September 2026. Starting with the exam term of December 2026 only the program of the 2025-26 course will be valid.
Frank Wedekind's Theatre
and consists of the following three teaching parts:
A: Frank Wedekind's Theatre in its Time: Aesthetics, Drama, Performance
B: Theatre Studies in Theory and Practice: Frank Wedekind from page to stage
C: Wedekind 2.0: adaptations and transformations in literature, arts and media
Students interested in acquiring 6 ECTS will stick to the program of parts A&B (first exam in "German Theatre") or of the parts A&C (second exam in "German Theatre"). Students interested in acquiring 9 ECTS will stick to the program of parts A, B, and C (first exam in "German Theatre"). Anyone who takes a second exam in "German Theatre" for 9 ETCS must agree upon a personal syllabus with the professors (office hours).
The course aims to bring literary studies into dialogue with cultural and performance studies. Introductory lectures, seminar discussions, group and pair work as well as individual activities are to be dealing and exercising methodological questions and analytical practices and will concretely address following questions: What are Drama and Theatre Studies and what is their relationship with Literature and Cultural studies at the core of Humanities? What is their specific German tradition and development? What does Theatre History mean, with what sources does one work, how can one investigate them? What are the main aspects of dramatic writing, theorizing and theatre practice in German Theatre, taking Frank Wedekind as an example? How does one analyse dramas, essays, theatre materials and productions as well as contemporary adaptations and transmediations? How does one investigate the intercultural transfer regulating the arrival of German-language theatre in the Italian context (mediation, translation, staging)?
The course program is valid until September 2026. Starting with the exam term of December 2026 only the program of the 2025-26 course will be valid.
Prerequisites for admission
Students of all degree courses who are enrolled at least in the second year of a three-year degree course are admitted to the course, without specific prerequisites
Teaching methods
The course adopts following teaching methods: introductory lectures, plenum discussions, group and pair work, individual activities; reading and commenting on significant texts and passages, practical exercises on the use of sources for theatrical studies; viewing and commenting on documentaries, films and theatre performances; meeting with theatre artists and workers.
Teaching Resources
The course has a website on the "My Ariel" online teaching platform. There one finds materials for attending the course and preparing for the exam as well as further information and material.
Hereunder the syllabus for attending students; indications for non-attending students follow right away.
attending student = a student who actively and continuously participates in the lectures, discussions, work and activities offered. Those who are present but not in a participative and active manner and those who do not attend (in the sense indicated) at least 75% of the lectures are considered non-attenders.
SYLLABUS FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS
Teaching Unit A
A1 - Frank Wedekind:
-"Frühlings Erwachen"
-"Lulu" (= "Erdgeist" + "Die Büchse der Pandora")
recommended editions
Frühlings Erwachen. Eine Kindertragödie. Mit einem Kommentar von Hansgeorg Schmidt-Bergmann. Suhrkamp 2002ss. ISBN 978-3-518-18821-7
Lulu (Erdgeist. Die Büchse der Pandora). Hrsg. von Edgar Weiß. Reclam 1989ss . ISBN 978-3150085677
(as far as translations in other languages are concerned, please note that in any case only integral editions are accepted)
A2 - Texts and documents uploaded on ARIEL.
Those who have gaps in their cultural-historical and dramaturgical preparation are invited to fill them through the study of: C.M. Buglioni, M. Castellari, A. Goggio, M. Paleari: "Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento" (= vol. 1). Milano: Mondadori 2019 (Part III)
Teaching unit B
- Materials provided by the teacher, discussed and used in class and related to the history, theory and practice of German Drama and Theatre studies (see ARIEL)
- Individual written paper of each attending student, in application of the analytical skills learned during the course. Theme and scope are to be agreed with the professor; deadline for the delivery of the paper (per mail or during office hours): two weeks before the exam term (Bachelor: 10,000 characters; Master: 20,000 characters)
Teaching unit C
- Materials provided by the teacher, discussed and used in class (see ARIEL)
- Collective project work, to be presented and discussed collegially.
Information for non-attending students
During office hours, non-attending students (i.e. those who do not attend at all and those who attend less than 75% of the lessons) will be given further directions for the preparation of the exam.
SYLLABUS FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS
A1 - Frank Wedekind:
-"Frühlings Erwachen"
-"Lulu" (= "Erdgeist" + "Die Büchse der Pandora")
recommended editions
Frühlings Erwachen. Eine Kindertragödie. Mit einem Kommentar von Hansgeorg Schmidt-Bergmann. Suhrkamp 2002ss. ISBN 978-3-518-18821-7
Lulu (Erdgeist. Die Büchse der Pandora). Hrsg. von Edgar Weiß. Reclam 1989ss . ISBN 978-3150085677
(as far as translations in other languages are concerned, please note that in any case only integral editions are aceptde)
A2 - Texts and documents uploaded on ARIEL + one of the following volumes, available in electronic edition on the SBA (www.minerva.unimi.it).
- Hartmut Vincon: Frank Wedekind. Metzler 2016. ISBN: 9783476102300
- Ruth Florack: Wedekinds "Lulu": Zerrbild der Sinnlichkeit. De Gruyter 2016. ISBN: 9783484320765
- Gail Finney: Women in Modern Drama: Freud, Feminism, and European Theater at the Turn of the Century. Cornell 2019. ISBN : 1-5017-4189-6
Those who have gaps in their cultural-historical and dramaturgical preparation are invited to fill them through the study of: C.M. Buglioni, M. Castellari, A. Goggio, M. Paleari: "Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento" (= vol. 1). Milano: Mondadori 2019 (Part III)
Teaching unit B
Both following volumes:
- Christopher Balme: "Einführung in die Theaterwissenschaft". Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag 2003ff. (English ed. id.: "The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies". Cambridge: CUP 2008)
- L. Lari: "Generi letterari. Dramma". Bari: Graphis 2004ss.
Unità didattica C
Teaching unit C
Three plays (C1) and three studies (C2)
C1
- G. Hauptmann, "Die Weber" or R. Wagner, "Tristan und Isolde" (libretto)
- A. Schnitzler, "Reigen" or H.v. Hofmannsthal, "Elektra"
- G. Kaiser, "Von morgens bis mitternachts" or W. Hasenclever, "Antigone"
C2
- Il teatro di regia. Genesi ed evoluzione (1870-1950), a cura di Umberto Artioli, Carocci 2018ss., ISBN 9788843091379.
- Sonia Bellavia: Max Reinhardt, Carocci 2021, ISBN: 9788829011629
- Paolo Quazzolo: Il teatro espressionista. Carocci 2023. ISBN: 9788829017546
Those who have gaps in their cultural-historical and dramaturgical preparation are invited to fill them through the study of: C.M. Buglioni, M. Castellari, A. Goggio, M. Paleari: "Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento" (= vol. 1). Milano: Mondadori 2019 (Part III)
Hereunder the syllabus for attending students; indications for non-attending students follow right away.
attending student = a student who actively and continuously participates in the lectures, discussions, work and activities offered. Those who are present but not in a participative and active manner and those who do not attend (in the sense indicated) at least 75% of the lectures are considered non-attenders.
SYLLABUS FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS
Teaching Unit A
A1 - Frank Wedekind:
-"Frühlings Erwachen"
-"Lulu" (= "Erdgeist" + "Die Büchse der Pandora")
recommended editions
Frühlings Erwachen. Eine Kindertragödie. Mit einem Kommentar von Hansgeorg Schmidt-Bergmann. Suhrkamp 2002ss. ISBN 978-3-518-18821-7
Lulu (Erdgeist. Die Büchse der Pandora). Hrsg. von Edgar Weiß. Reclam 1989ss . ISBN 978-3150085677
(as far as translations in other languages are concerned, please note that in any case only integral editions are accepted)
A2 - Texts and documents uploaded on ARIEL.
Those who have gaps in their cultural-historical and dramaturgical preparation are invited to fill them through the study of: C.M. Buglioni, M. Castellari, A. Goggio, M. Paleari: "Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento" (= vol. 1). Milano: Mondadori 2019 (Part III)
Teaching unit B
- Materials provided by the teacher, discussed and used in class and related to the history, theory and practice of German Drama and Theatre studies (see ARIEL)
- Individual written paper of each attending student, in application of the analytical skills learned during the course. Theme and scope are to be agreed with the professor; deadline for the delivery of the paper (per mail or during office hours): two weeks before the exam term (Bachelor: 10,000 characters; Master: 20,000 characters)
Teaching unit C
- Materials provided by the teacher, discussed and used in class (see ARIEL)
- Collective project work, to be presented and discussed collegially.
Information for non-attending students
During office hours, non-attending students (i.e. those who do not attend at all and those who attend less than 75% of the lessons) will be given further directions for the preparation of the exam.
SYLLABUS FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS
A1 - Frank Wedekind:
-"Frühlings Erwachen"
-"Lulu" (= "Erdgeist" + "Die Büchse der Pandora")
recommended editions
Frühlings Erwachen. Eine Kindertragödie. Mit einem Kommentar von Hansgeorg Schmidt-Bergmann. Suhrkamp 2002ss. ISBN 978-3-518-18821-7
Lulu (Erdgeist. Die Büchse der Pandora). Hrsg. von Edgar Weiß. Reclam 1989ss . ISBN 978-3150085677
(as far as translations in other languages are concerned, please note that in any case only integral editions are aceptde)
A2 - Texts and documents uploaded on ARIEL + one of the following volumes, available in electronic edition on the SBA (www.minerva.unimi.it).
- Hartmut Vincon: Frank Wedekind. Metzler 2016. ISBN: 9783476102300
- Ruth Florack: Wedekinds "Lulu": Zerrbild der Sinnlichkeit. De Gruyter 2016. ISBN: 9783484320765
- Gail Finney: Women in Modern Drama: Freud, Feminism, and European Theater at the Turn of the Century. Cornell 2019. ISBN : 1-5017-4189-6
Those who have gaps in their cultural-historical and dramaturgical preparation are invited to fill them through the study of: C.M. Buglioni, M. Castellari, A. Goggio, M. Paleari: "Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento" (= vol. 1). Milano: Mondadori 2019 (Part III)
Teaching unit B
Both following volumes:
- Christopher Balme: "Einführung in die Theaterwissenschaft". Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag 2003ff. (English ed. id.: "The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies". Cambridge: CUP 2008)
- L. Lari: "Generi letterari. Dramma". Bari: Graphis 2004ss.
Unità didattica C
Teaching unit C
Three plays (C1) and three studies (C2)
C1
- G. Hauptmann, "Die Weber" or R. Wagner, "Tristan und Isolde" (libretto)
- A. Schnitzler, "Reigen" or H.v. Hofmannsthal, "Elektra"
- G. Kaiser, "Von morgens bis mitternachts" or W. Hasenclever, "Antigone"
C2
- Il teatro di regia. Genesi ed evoluzione (1870-1950), a cura di Umberto Artioli, Carocci 2018ss., ISBN 9788843091379.
- Sonia Bellavia: Max Reinhardt, Carocci 2021, ISBN: 9788829011629
- Paolo Quazzolo: Il teatro espressionista. Carocci 2023. ISBN: 9788829017546
Those who have gaps in their cultural-historical and dramaturgical preparation are invited to fill them through the study of: C.M. Buglioni, M. Castellari, A. Goggio, M. Paleari: "Letteratura tedesca. Epoche, generi, intersezioni. Dal Medioevo al primo Novecento" (= vol. 1). Milano: Mondadori 2019 (Part III)
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam is an oral interview, usually in Italian. One can choose to take the exam in German, too. Items dealt with during the course and/or the preparation are to be discussed in an adequate form, as far as vocabulary, structure, content and critical spirit are regarded. Presentation and commenting on the individual acitivities and paper (if any) are also required. The oral test aims to verify the acquisition of the skills and knowledge described above and may differ on the basis of the chosen readings and of the activities planned for attending or non-attending students.
The final grade is expressed in thirtieths and takes into account, where applicable, the score obtained for the paper. The student has the right to refuse the grade (in this case the exam will be recorded with "withdrawn").
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the professor (mail; office hours). The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the professor, in agreement with the competent Office.
The final grade is expressed in thirtieths and takes into account, where applicable, the score obtained for the paper. The student has the right to refuse the grade (in this case the exam will be recorded with "withdrawn").
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the professor (mail; office hours). The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the professor, in agreement with the competent Office.
Professor(s)