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Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts
1888-1990

Deutsche Autobiographien, Tagebücher, Bilder und Briefe

An Intermediate German Cultural and Literary Reader

Andreas Lixl-Purcell

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
Fort Worth 1990
ISBN 0-15-529592-6

Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts 1888-1990 is a German Studies textbook for intermediate or advanced intermediate courses with an emphasis on language, literature, culture, conversation, and composition. Thirty-six documentary texts, such as autobiographies, journals, memoirs, and letters, offer students an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary studies and classroom discussions. The selections, many never before published, give a personal view of major historical events, including the opening of the Berlin Wall. The book includes vocabulary glosses, grammar exercises, conversation and composition topics, and more than 100 historical illustrations. A chronology at the beginning of each chapter lists major political, social, and artistic events of the period. Review and expansion exercises emphasize oral and written reports on various topics, including biography, geography, art, science, and German cultural history.

Introduction. Autobiography as a Learning Tool

TEIL I BLICK ZURÜCK INS KAISERREICH
Chronology 1888-1914

1. Elias Canetti, Meine früheste Erinnerung
2. Gustav Mahler, Briefe aus Leipzig, 1888
3. Thomas Mann, Kindheit in Lübeck
4. Julie Kaden, Jugend in Dresden
5. Arno Holz, Erinnerung
6. Anna Mosegaard [Leseprobe], Leben als Dienstmagd
7. Kaiser Wilhelm II., Das Neue Reich
8. Franz Kafka, Tagebuch

TEIL II KRIEG, REVOLUTION UND INFLATION
Chronology 1914-1922

9. Käthe Kollwitz, Bekenntnisse
10. Walter Roy, Briefe von der Front
11. Christiane von Hofmannsthal, Wiener Tagebuch
12. Georg Grosz, Berlin 1919
13. Klaus Mann, Foxtrott in den Palace-Hotels

TEIL III ERINNERUNGEN AN WEIMAR DEUTSCHLAND
Chronology 1923-1933

14. Paul Wegener, Die Zukunft des Films
15. Heinrich Kelb, Erinnerungen an die Schule 1927
16. Maria Gaberschek, Kindheit am Land
17. Ernst Toller, Vom Versagen des Pazifismus in Deutschland

TEIL IV FASCHISMUS, HOLOCAUST UND EXIL
Chronology 1933-1945

18. Adolf Hitler, Propaganda
19. Bertolt Brecht, An die Nachgeborenen
20. Anneliese Rothenberger, Vorsingen in Koblenz
21. Lucie Begov, Auschwitz-Birkenau 1944
22. Konrad Adenauer [Leseprobe], Kriegsende
23. Carola Stern, Es kamen die Russen

TEIL V ZWISCHEN WIEDERAUFBAU UND REBELLION 1945-1969
Chronology 1945-1968

24. Herr Müller, Vom Nullpunkt anfangen
25. Frau Coldam, Meine Panther
26. Gertrud von Le Fort, Gedanken zur Atombombe
27. Vera Kamenko, Transport nach Deutschland
28. Florian Seidl [Leseprobe], Beatmusik-Begeisterung
29. Christa Wolf, Nachdenken

TEIL VI AUTOBIOGRAPHISCHES AUS OST UND WEST
Chronology 1969-1990

30. Verena Stefan, Häutungen
31. Norbert Klugmann, Heimat ist schwer zu finden
32. Ulrike Meinhof, Brief einer Gefangenen
33. Christraut Peters, Ein halbes Jahr "Grün"
34. Ihsan Ataçan; Tahsin Pekbas, Türken deutscher Sprache
35. Kathrin Rüegg, Tessiner Tagebuch
36. Bettina Girrbach, et al., Die große Wende in der DDR

Selected Bibliography

Credits

Introduction

Autobiography as a Learning Tool

Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts 1888-1990. Deutsche Autobiographien, Tagebücher, Bilder und Briefe is designed as an illustrated textbook for German conversation and composition courses above the elementary level. The purpose of the textbook is to advance oral and written proficiency in the foreign language, and to deepen the knowledge of central European cultural history over the last hundred years. Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts 1888-1990 presents a collection of recollections by musicians, artists, writers, architects, film-makers, politicians, and critics. Each chapter offers an other perspective, a different voice, and a personal view of history. The anthology is based on autobiographical documents and historical images that illuminate a broad cultural horizon beginning with the Hohenzollern Empire and ending with post-modern developments east and west of the wall.

With communicative and interpretative competence being the goal, Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts offers an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary study with a specific focus upon the Liberal Arts. The textbook contains 36 German reading selections and a catalog of illustrations that allow for great flexibility in accommodating readers with varied proficiencies and interests. Placed within a historical and humanist environment, the chapters encourage interactive classroom discussions and oral presentations.

To provide students with intermediate and advanced level vocabulary, all chapters start with a pre-reading apparatus to set the stage. A "Chronology" at the beginning of each period part lists the major scientific, political, social, and artistic events to help readers better understand the context of the readings. Short English introductions orient about key figures and background references mentioned in the chapter, and outline the various developments of German cultural history. Glossaries called "Bausteine"and "Vokabel" before and after each reading separate active from passive vocabulary, and accommodate the average student's frequent use of a dictionary. As a lead-in to post-reading discussions, the exercises are designed to generate classroom conversations and oral presentations. Exercises entitled "Fragen", "Konversation", and "Komposition"check discrete textual items as well as global comprehension, and as such encourage students to draw their own conclusions. In order to contextualize the photographs, and to make references to illustrations pedagogically useful, short conversational "Übungen" follow most of the catalog images. Expansion exercises such as "Kurzreferate" and "Autobiographische Berichte" emphasize biographical research and writing.

Based on the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural range of 20th-century memoir literature, the genre of autobiography offers a unique tool for the acquisition of both, primary language skills and historical knowledge. The broad span of subject matter exposes the reader to a humanist environment that presents the study of foreign cultures and traditions as an integral component of modern liberal arts education. By incorporating memories from three generations, Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts invites readers to trace their own experience and understanding of history, and to engage in critical reading, thinking, and writing.

Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts 1888-1990. Deutsche Autobiographien, Tagebücher, Bilder und Briefe is divided into six parts which focuses on consecutive periods of modern German history.

I. Life in the Monarchy 1888-1914

I I War, Revolution, Inflation 1914-1922

I I I. Memories of Weimar Germany 1923-1932

IV Fascism, Holocaust, Exile 1933-1945

V. Between Reconstruction and Rebellion 1946-1968

VI. Voices from East and West 1969-1990

Although the 36 chapters of Stimmen eines Jahrhunderts proceed along historical lines and thus reconstruct the changing cultural assumptions of consecutive generations, the individual chapters form autonomous pedagogical units and can be treated independently. Texts and photographs are based on published autobiographical material and original archive documents. The following libraries and museums have been contributed materials: The Deutsches Literaturarchiv (FRG), the Akademie der Künste in Berlin (FRG), Akademie der Künste der DDR (GDR), the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation in Amsterdam, the Yad Vashem Archives, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Leo Baeck Institute in New York.

UNCG German Studies

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