Neighbors and Enemies in Germany
Fall 2008
A biblical injunction, first articulated in
Leviticus and then elaborated in the Christian teachings, stipulates that one
should love one’s neighbor as oneself. This course explores the friend/enemy
nexus in German history, literature and culture. Of particular interest is the
figure of the neighbor as both an imagined extension of the self and as an
object of fear or even hatred. We will examine the vulnerability and anxiety
generated by Germany’s unstable and shifting territorial borders, as well
as the role that fantasies of foreign infiltration played in defining German
national identity. We will also examine the racial and sexual politics
manifested in Germany’s real or imagined encounters with various perceived
“others”. Most importantly, this course investigates the tensions in German
history and culture between a chauvinist belief in German racial or cultural
superiority and moments of genuine openness to strangers. In the concluding
part, we will examine the changing meanings of friendship and hospitality in a
globalizing world. Course materials will draw on film, art, memoirs, novels,
short theoretical texts and selections from scholarly literature. Authors will
include Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Ernst Jünger, Erich Maria Remarque, Carl
Schmitt, Immanuel Kant, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel.
All texts will be read in English translation. Requirements include regular
participation in class discussions, short essays, a midterm and final
examination.