HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Cont. German Studies:politics, Soc.&Cult

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Oded Steinberg

Coordinator Email: oded.steinberg@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours:

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Oded Steinberg

Course/Module description:
“What is the German Fatherland?” This was the question the nationalist and racialist writer Ernst Moritz Arndt aimed to answer in his famous poem of 1813? in this course we will follow a similar question by discussing how a series of key writers, from the 18th century and up until our own age, perceived this very composite theme. By mainly adopting the methods of intellectual history and the history of concepts (Begriffsgeschichte) we will read canonical and less known texts that discuss this issue. Although we will follow a certain chronological timeline we will mainly underscore three themes that illustrate both the continuities but also the divergencies in the understanding of the concept of German Nationalism. The key themes include the concept of “historical time and periodization” this includes questions such as when did the nation begin and What is the periodization of German nationalism? Another theme explores the relation between the alleged different concepts of German Patriotism, Nationalism, Ethnicity and Race? The last theme focuses on the question how and what historical events shaped German nationalism?

Course/Module aims:

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
To critically analyze key themes in German Nationalism

Be knowledgeable with canonical and less canonical primary texts and studies on German Nationalism.

Analyze the continuities as well as “ruptures” in German nationalism.

Compare between German Nationalism and other prominent cases of European nationalism.

Attendance requirements(%):

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:

Course/Module Content:
Major theories and studies on German Nationalism
Deep into the past: Tacitus and Germania
Romanticism and Nationalism: Herder
Fighting France: Fichte, Arndt and Hegel
The revolutionaries of 1848
1871: Constructing the Nation
Justifying the WWI
Weimar Republic and Nationalism
1933: Racializing the Nation
Could Germany be a Nation Again: Post WWII perceptions
1989 and the reunification
Globalization and Nationalism in the 21st century

Required Reading:
Blackbourn, David. The Long 19th Century: A History of Germany, 1780-1918 (Oxford, 1998)
Breuilly, John. Nineteenth-century Germany: Politics, Culture and Society 1780-1918. Second ed. London, UK; New York, NY, 2020.
Greenberg, Udi. The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Hagen, William. Germany in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation. Cambridge UP, 2012.
Kaes, Anton and Martin Jay, Edward Dimendberg (eds.), The Weimar Republic Sourcebook. Berkeley: UC, 1994.
Schulze, Hagen. The Course of German Nationalism: From Frederick the Great to Bismarck 1763-1867. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Sheehan, James. German History, 1770-1866. Oxford: OUP, 1989

Additional Reading Material:

Grading Scheme :
Essay / Project / Final Assignment / Home Exam / Referat 60 %
Presentation / Poster Presentation / Lecture/ Seminar / Pro-seminar / Research proposal 20 %
Active Participation / Team Assignment 10 %
Attendance / Participation in Field Excursion 10 %

Additional information: