FRS 001C — Sec. 001 — (1 unit) — CRN 35489 — T 7:10 - 8:00 pm — 25 Wellman Hall
Aspects of Comedy, Parody, Irony and Tragedy in Modern Short Fiction

Instructor: John Fetzer, Department of German, College of Letters and Science

Description: This class will examine three short stories by Thomas Mann, Tristan, The Blood of the Walsungs and Mario and the Magician in order to illustrate how each of these modern tales treats aspects of the four central literary components on which the course focuses. Consequently elements of both theory and practice with regard to concepts and devices which are central to the study of literature in general should come into clearer focus. The goal of this course is to clarify to some extent such basic terms as "comic," "tragic," "ironic," etc. (which are frequently bandied about rather indiscriminately and sometimes even incorrectly), by means of concrete examples taken from the texts of a writer who is known as "the ironic German." Mann is also a master of parody in its modern idiom. And even though it has been said — perhaps with tongue in cheek — that the shortest book in the world is the history of German humor, there is no dearth of the comic element as well as its converse, the tragic, in the above cited works of this complex twentieth-century writer and thinker.

Format: Approximately three class hours will be devoted to a discussion and analysis of each of Mann's three novella/short stories, focusing on the four components in either their presence or absence. Short film clips from the works parodied by the author (Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, his Ring of the Nibelung, and perhaps even selected excerpts from the cinematic adaptation of the novel The Magic Mountain) will be utilized to illustrate certain points of correlation. The tenth hour will serve as a wrap-up discussion. The film excerpts shown in class will be made available for viewing outside of class as will an audio program of lectures on the elements of comedy and modernism. The students will be required to lead one short group discussion on an assigned topic for the work under consideration and to participate actively in group discussions conducted by other students. Grading: The grade for the seminar will be computed as follows: the quality of participation in class discussions (as discussion leader as well as active participant in group sessions) (50%) and a three-page paper dealing with some aspect of the material covered in the course (50%).

About the Instructor: I came to Davis as an Assistant Professor of German in 1965 and remained on the active faculty until 1993 (aside from two guest professorships, one at Dartmouth in 1976 and the other at the University of Exeter, England, in 1989-90). Twice I served as Chair of the Department of German and Russian 1981-1984; 1996-1997) and for five years I was the director of the Summer Institute for German language and Culture at UC Santa Barbara. I have had three Fulbright grants and one Guggenheim Fellowship, all of which have enabled me to further my study and scholarship in Europe. My research has focused primarily on German Romantic and modern literature, with a heavy emphasis on musicoliterary ties. Since retirement, I have, aside from teaching one course each year from 1993-1997, had more time for musical pursuits: I also play tennis daily and golf weekly (some would say “weakly”), but I have also continued my research in German literature. During recent years, for instance, I have given invited lectures at Trinity College, Dublin, at the Gregoriana in the Vatican, and at the University of Karlsruhe (all these presentations have now been published). On the whole, musical composition constitutes my most cherished avocation. In addition to being a member of the Davis Community Church Choir, I also sang with the UCD Symphony and Chorus in Brahms’ “Requiem” and Beethoven’s Mass in C in recent years.