Tempo - Bodies in Motion: Leisure, exerc

This course introduces students of German on the advanced level of language acquisition to depictions of wayfarers in Romantic and modern literature. It includes more recent, 21st-century developments such as literary representations of extreme or physically challenging adventure sports. The selection of texts is geared toward exploring the human experience of leisurely or athletic experiences in urban or natural surroundings. The literary sources make us aware of how the experience of hiking, walking, swimming or climbing is inextricably tied to an understanding of the value of outdoor activities while acknowledging the strong impact of modern technology (maps, GPS, special gear or means of transportation) and recognizing changing attitudes toward strenuous or even risky movements in mountains, rivers, seas or deserts. First, a number of memorable Romantic songs and short poems will give us the opportunity to quickly identify central themes; as we move from poetry to prose, we will continuously adhere to the principle of simplicity and conciseness; this is why we will limit the scope of analysis by using excerpts from novels or longer stories. This way we can spend time on expanding your vocabulary; other features—such as grammar, central motifs, and stylistic features will be of equal importance. Our aim is to reduce the complexity of a text written in German to manageable level and develop our own lexicon for discussing the main topic of “bodies in motion.”