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Angst, Sex, and Dreams: the Psychoanalytic Worlds of Freud, Kafka, and Bachmann
GERMAN 188

Course Information

Description

This course examines three German-language writers whose works establish foundational critiques of modern Western society. Why do we all seem to feel so discontent? What explains the differences between our conscious and unconscious thoughts? Why is our sexuality so fraught and yet so central to our lives? And is there a link between analysis of our inner selves and the preponderance of legal, bureaucratic, and administrative regimes that can turn waking life into a nightmare? Focussing on selected essays, lectures, and works of fiction by Sigmund Freud, Franz Kafka, and Ingeborg Bachmann, this course will develop tools to analyze the human psyche as it manifests in texts, actions, and social systems. 

Course Notes

Discussion in English, readings in English and optionally in German.

School Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Course Component Seminar
Subject German
Grading Basis FAS Letter Graded
Exam/Final Deadline Dec. 11, 2025
General Education N/A
Quantitative Reasoning with Data N/A
Divisional Distribution Arts and Humanities
Course Level For Undergraduate and Graduate Students