| Unit name | From Judgement to Trial: Selected Works by Franz Kafka |
|---|---|
| Unit code | GERM20049 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Debbie Pinfold |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of German |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
A son who unquestioningly carries out the death sentence pronounced on him by his father; a man who is arrested ‘without having done anything wrong’: Kafka’s depictions of helpless individuals caught up in intricate and opaque mechanisms of justice have lost nothing of their power since they were first published in the early twentieth century. Close engagement with his texts will enable you to explore crucial questions such as how authority is constructed and thus provides insights into some of the worst abuses of power in the modern world. The texts have been subjected to multiple and contradictory interpretations ever since they were published and thus present you with a fascinating opportunity to engage with different critical perspectives and approaches, to hone your own ideas and arguments in discussion with them and your peers, and so to develop confidence in your own scholarly voice.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This optional unit enables you to study one of the most influential authors in modern German-speaking and indeed world literature. For students of German it builds on the key skills of literary analysis you acquired in year 1, asking you to engage critically with a range of intellectual approaches and thereby continue to develop your own scholarly voice. Students of CLC and other disciplines within the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences are also very welcome to bring their own disciplinary perspectives to the discussion of Kafka’s work: all the set texts are available in English translation.
An overview of content
In the first half of the unit we will undertake close readings of a selection of Kafka’s shorter fiction dealing with the topic of the law, guilt and punishment (‘Vor dem Gesetz’ / ‘Before the Law’; ‘Das Urteil’ / ‘The Judgement’; and ‘In der Strafkolonie’ / ‘In the Penal Colony’). In addition to developing your personal response to these texts, you will be encouraged to explore multiple critical perspectives on the stories as a means of enhancing your understanding of Kafka’s works and of learning to evaluate critically the scholarship you read. This work will lay the foundations for the second half of the unit, which will focus on the novel Der Proceß / The Trial, Kafka’s fullest exploration of the themes of guilt and justice.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
Kafka himself referred to books as ‘the axe for the frozen sea in us’ and it is difficult to imagine reading Kafka’s work and coming away from it unchanged. More specifically, through engaging with Kafka’s work and exploring multiple critical perspectives on it in seminar discussions you will develop your ability to read critically, to evaluate different scholarly perspectives, and to construct your own critical position. You will gain greater confidence in expressing your specialist knowledge in your own scholarly voice to academic and general audiences.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Analyse the contents and context of selected German narrative texts, read in the original (or, where appropriate, in translation);
2. Critically evaluate selected works of scholarship;
3. Work in teams to present specialist knowledge of primary and secondary literature to a general, educated audience;
4. Make critical use of secondary literature to support and develop their own written interpretations of the set texts;
5. Make useful contributions to academic discussions.
The unit will be taught through a mixture of informal lectures, seminar discussions for which you will prepare using questions and asynchronous tasks on Blackboard, and small group work. It will also be supported by individual consultations with the unit director as needed.
How you will be assessed
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Group critical summary of a scholarly approach to the short story ‘Das Urteil’ / ‘The Judgement’, 500 words (0%, not required for credit)
This piece offers an opportunity to practise collaborative writing in your group for the first summative assessment and receive early feedback on your written engagement with scholarly arguments.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Collaborative wiki page, 2,000 words (30%) [ILOs 1-4]
Essay, 2,000 words (60%) [ILOs 1,2 and 4]
Contribution mark (10%) [ILOs 5]
This mark is intended to reflect the importance of critical discussion of primary and secondary literature, both in seminars and via asynchronous methods such as pre-seminar Padlets.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. GERM20049).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
