Field of humanities related to German language, German literature, and German culture
German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminatesGerman language,literature, andculture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus onGerman culture,German history, andGerman politics in addition to the language and literature component. Approaches to the discipline vary by country. Modern German studies is usually seen as a combination of two sub-disciplines: German linguistics alongside Germanophone literature and cultural studies.[1]
Common names for "German Studies" for the field within German-speaking countries areGermanistik,Deutsche Philologie, andDeutsche Sprachwissenschaft und Literaturwissenschaft. In English, the termsGermanistics orGermanics are sometimes used (mostly by Germans), but the subject is more often referred to asGerman studies,German language and literature, orGerman philology. Academics who specialize in German studies are referred to as Germanists.
German linguistics is traditionally calledphilology in Germany, though most German studies departments house linguists whose focus relates to German or Germanic language(s) in both their historic and present forms. The periods of German's philological development are roughly divided as follows:
In addition, the discipline examines German under various aspects: the way it is spoken and written, i.e., spelling; declination; vocabulary; sentence structure; texts; etc. It compares the various manifestations such as social groupings (slang, written texts, etc.) and geographical groupings (dialects, etc.).
The study ofGerman literature is divided into two parts:Ältere Deutsche Literaturwissenschaft deals with the period from the beginnings of German in the early Middle Ages up to post-Medieval times around AD 1750, while the modern era is covered byNeuere Deutsche Literaturwissenschaft.[2] The field systematically examines German literature in terms ofgenre,form,content, andmotifs as well as looking at it historically by author and epoch.[3] Important areas includeedition philology,history of literature, andtextual interpretation. The relationships of German literature to the literatures of other languages (e.g. reception and mutual influences) and historical contexts are also important areas of concentration.
German literature studies benefits from the particularly rich printing tradition of the German-speaking world. GivenJohannes Gutenberg and thus the modern printing press originates from German-speaking Europe, Germanic texts have historically enjoyed a heightened status among scholars. Other prominent historical figures, such asMartin Luther have also marked the history of literature through his dissemination of the Bible and thereby an early and strong German-speaking reading culture compared to other European publics.
The study ofGerman culture encompasses issues related toGerman politics,German history,Holocaust studies, national identity, German art,art history, migration,film studies,museum studies,memory studies,German Literature, and media. The sub-field is highly interdisciplinary drawing from both thehumanities andsocial sciences to examine issues related to contemporary German-speaking countries. Such approaches are often focalized through the lens of the German-speaking nation at present. Thus, the study of countries such as Austria and Switzerland, as well as other German-speaking groups, are often focalized not only through their shared German linguistic and cultural heritage, but for their distinct national and diasporic contexts. German cultural studies therefore incorporates the historical areas of German influence across Europe and overseas as it relates to both migration and colonization.[4]
German cultural studies is most common in departments located outside of a German-speaking country, acting in many forms as a form of area studies related to the GermanSprachraum. A heightened focus on German cultural studies became apparent following the fall of theBerlin Wall in 1989 and has increasingly been tied to the field ofEuropean Studies.
In the years following the fall of the wall, theGerman federal government established Centers for German and European Studies throughout North America.[5] This effort sought to increase transatlantic political, cultural, and academic cooperation between the United States and post-Soviet Europe, with a strong focus on Germany's increased importance within the European Union as a reunified state. Sponsored by theGerman Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), theseCenters for German and European studies mark a distinct departure from traditional German studies programs and are often housed within broader internationally oriented departments dealing with international affairs, area studies, or public policy within North America. The DAAD Centers for German and European Studies in North America are listed as follows:
At least in Germany and Austria, German studies in academia play a central role in the education of German school teachers. Their courses usually cover four fields:[6]
German language and literature of up to about 1750 (Ältere Sprache und Literatur)
German language and literature since approximately 1750 (Neuere Literaturwissenschaft)
Specifics of thedidactics of teaching German (Fachdidaktik)
Several universities offer specialized curricula for school teachers, usually called "Deutsch (Lehramt)". In Germany, they are leading to a two step exam and certificate by the federated states of Germany cultural authorities, called theStaatsexamen ("state exam").
As an unsystematic field of interest for individual scholars, German studies can be traced back toTacitus'Germania. The publication and study of legal and historical source material, such as MedievalBible translations, were all undertaken during theGerman Renaissance of the sixteenth century, truly initiating the field of German studies. As an independent university subject, German studies was introduced at the beginning of the nineteenth century byGeorg Friedrich Benecke, theBrothers Grimm, andKarl Lachmann.
TheNazi period, and immediate predecessor periods before and afterWorld War I, left large parts of the field, which had drifted off more and more into race-biological thinking, greatly compromised and damaged, as major proponents on both the literature (e.g. Prof.Josef Nadler in Vienna) and the linguistics side (e.g. Prof. Eberhard Kranzmayer in Graz) were actively working for the Nazi Party (Kranzmayer,Höfler) and their racist goals (Nadler)[7] While great efforts have been made in the denazification of the field, some biases are suggested by overseas Germanist to have remained.[8] After all, post-war academia, with "Nazi party membership among university professors greatly exceed[ing] that of the population at large,"[9] was not a complete restart, least of all, in German philology, where 90% of university teachers wereNSDAP members.[10]
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Beutin, Wolfgang.Deutsche Literaturgeschichte. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1992.
Bogdal, Klaus-Michael, Kai Kauffmann, & Georg Mein.BA-Studium Germanistik. Ein Lehrbuch. In collaboration with Meinolf Schumacher and Johannes Volmert. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 2008.ISBN978-3-499-55682-1
Burger, Harald.Sprache der Massenmedien. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1984.
Fohrmann, Jürgen & Wilhelm Voßkamp, eds.Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Germanistik im 19. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1994.
Hartweg, Frédéric G.Frühneuhochdeutsch. Eine Einführung in die deutsche Sprache des Spätmittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2005.
Hermand, Jost.Geschichte der Germanistik. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1994.ISBN978-3-499-55534-3
Hickethier, Knut.Film- und Fernsehanalyse. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1993.
Hickethier, Knut, ed.Aspekte der Fernsehanalyse. Methoden und Modelle. Hamburg: Lit, 1994.
Hohendahl, Peter Uwe.German Studies in the United States: A Historical Handbook. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
Kanzog, Klaus.Einführung in die Filmphilologie. Munich: Schaudig, Bauer, Ledig, 1991.
Muckenhaupt, Manfred:Text und Bild. Grundfragen der Beschreibung von Text-Bild-Kommunikation aus sprachwissenschaftlicher Sicht. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 1986.
Schneider, Jost, ed.Methodengeschichte der Germanistik. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2009.
Schumacher, Meinolf.Einführung in die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2010.ISBN978-3-534-19603-6
Shitanda, So. "Zur Vorgeschichte und Entstehung der deutschen Philologie im 19. Jh.: Karl Lachmann und die Brüder Grimm", inLiterarische Problematisierung der Moderne. Medienprodukte : Zugänge-- Verfahren-- Kritik, ed. by Teruaki Takahashi. Munich: Iudicium, 1992.
Van Cleve, John W. and A. Leslie Willson.Remarks on the Needed Reform of German Studies in the United States. Columbia, SC: Camden House, 1993.
^Hutton, Christopher. 1999. Linguistics and the Third Reich. Routledge, pp. 2-3.
^Kandel, Eric R. 2006. In Search of Memory. New York: W. W. Norton, p. 30
^Jandl M (2022) Die Germanistik in Graz in der Nachkriegszeit. In: Halbrainer H, Korbel S, Lamprecht G (eds)Der schwierige Umgang mit dem Nationalsozialismus an österreichischen Universitäten: Die Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz im Vergleich. Graz: Clio, pp.157–194.
Germanistik im Netz – Erlanger Liste (The 'Erlanger Liste' is currently[as of?] the largest collection of links to the various aspects of G***, including such archives, publishers, etc.; in German)
Literaturwissenschaft online ("Literaturwissenschaft online" Kiel University's e-learning site with live and archived lectures; free of charge; in German.)
