GRMN1320I, FALL 2018 T/Th 1:00 to 2:20 pm

W HA T IS A N IMA GE ?
GERMAN AESTHETICS & ART
FROM LESSING TO HEIDEGGER

ZACHARY SNG OFFICE HRS: Thursdays, 3-5 pm

Department of German Studies (or by appointment)
Email: Zachary_Sng@Brown.edu Rm 101, 190 Hope Street

This course offers a survey of some of the most important German-language contributions
to theories of art from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, alongside
some discussions of how these theories might help us to understand and analyze certain art
works.

The word “aesthetics” first entered our modern critical vocabulary in the eighteenth
century, but it covered a domain that was vastly different from what we associate with it
today. The readings in this course will give you an overview of some of the changes that
the concept has undergone, and examine how these changes reflect developments in the
way we think about art and its role in society.

The focus will not be on a history of art or on art criticism, but rather on theoretical
accounts of judgment, taste, beauty, form, etc. We will look at how these aesthetic
questions intersect with other important discussions about knowledge, subjectivity, ethics,
politics, power, identity etc. All readings in English translation, but if you have a reading
knowledge of German, I can also make the originals available.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course will be made up of a combination of lectures and discussions. At the beginning
of each new unit of the course, I will introduce the new text or author that we will be
discussing, and sketch out some key arguments, questions, and problems. I will also point
you to specific passages and topics, and we will discuss them for the rest of the unit.

Because the seminar will be driven very much by the discussion sessions, I ask that you
show up well prepared, having read the texts assigned and considered the questions that I
might have posed to you. Our work in class will be to unpack some of the finer points and
 difficulties of the texts, and you will not be able to participate fully without having read
and engaged with the text yourself.

Additional visual material will distributed through Canvas and assigned for preparation;
these will be just as important as the reading, so please treat them as such when preparing
for class.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

There will be two short 5-page papers and one longer, 7-page final paper. The papers will
deal with our readings, but you will also be given the opportunity to write about specific
art-works (visual and literary) in relation to our theoretical readings.

The paper assignments will test your understanding of the theoretical material and your
ability to connect them to specific works of art. The papers will therefore be argumentative
and analytic, rather than research-based.

The Final Grade will be calculated as follows:

2 Short Paper (5 pages each) – 40%

Final Paper (around 7 pages) – 40%
Attendance and Participation – 20%

You should plan to spend around 10 hours a week on reading and preparation, in addition
to the 3 hours spend in class. The 2 short papers should require about 6-7 hours each, and
the final papers should require about 10-12 hours.

COURSE MATERIAL

All readings (with one exception) will be distributed as PDFs and images through the
course Canvas site. Readings will be available in English translation. Please let me know if
you would have interest in working with the original German; I would be happy to make
those available.

There will be just one book that students are asked to purchase – Friedrich Schiller’s
Aesthetic Education of Man.
COURSE SCHEDULE

6 Sep to 18 Sep: G. E. Lessing, Laocoon: Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry
(1766)
Tues, 9/11: Preface + Sections 1-4 (pp. 58-74)
Thu, 9/13: Sections 5-8 (pp. 75-86)
Tue, 9/18: Sections 16-18 (pp. 98-110)
+ Thu, 9/20: Some images for discussion

25 Sep to 4 Oct: Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgment (1790) [selections]

Tue, 9/25 - Thu, 9/27: Kant on the Beautiful
Tue 10/2 - Thu, 10/4: Kant on the Sublime
** PAPER 1 ASSIGNMENT - DUE MONDAY, OCT 8TH **

9 Oct to 16 Oct: Friedrich Schiller, The Aesthetic Education of Man (1794-5)

Tues, 10/9: Letters 1-9 | Thu, 10/11: Letters 12-20
Tues, 10/16: Letters 21-25 + some images for discussion

23 Oct to 29 Oct: German Romanticism

Tue 10/23: Heinrich von Kleist, “On the Marionette Theater”(1810)
Thu 10/25: Fragments from the Athenaeum (1798)
Tues 10/30: Heinrich von Kleist, “Thoughts on a Seascape by Friedrich” (1810)

6 Nov to 8 Nov: Hegel

G. W. F. Hegel, Lectures on Aesthetics (1835) [selections]
** PAPER 2 ASSIGNMENT - DUE MONDAY, NOV 12TH **

13 Nov to 15 Nov: Nietzsche, “The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music” (1872)
Tue, 11/13: Sections 1-15 | Thu, 11/15 Sections 15-25

27 Nov to 29 Nov: The Modern Period

Tues 11/27: Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction” (1935)
Thu 11/29: Walter Benjamin, “Short History of Photography” (1939) +
images

4 Dec to 6 Dec:
Martin Heidegger, “The Origin of the Work of Art" (1950)
** FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT – DUE FRIDAY DEC 14TH **