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SECOND PUBLIC EXAMINATION

Honour School of Modern Languages
Honour School of History and Modern Languages

GERMAN VI

MEDIEVAL GERMAN CULTURE (TO 1450):

TEXTS, CONTEXTS AND ISSUES

TRINITY TERM 2017

Thursday, 1 June, 9.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.

Candidates must answer THREE questions.

Candidates must NOT make ANY ONE writer or work the principal subject of
MORE THAN ONE ANSWER.

Candidates must NOT answer questions with reference wholly or chiefly to works
they are offering as Medieval Prescribed Texts, or which form the principal topic
of their Special Subject or Extended Essay.

Candidates offering Wolfram’s Parzival in Paper IX are not debarred from

writing on other works by Wolfram in Paper VI.

Do not turn over until told that you may do so.

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 1. ‘Ein wirkliches Grundthema mittelalterlicher Literatur ist, dass die Ichrede zwar auf
Selbstpräsenz zielt, dabei aber stets auf Differenz trifft’ (B. HASEBRINK). Discuss.

2. To what extent is ‘minne’ distinct from modern notions of love? Illustrate your answer with
examples from the period.

3. Discuss the significance of genealogy as a structuring principle of medieval narrative.

4. ‘Frühe deutschsprachige Lyrik ist gerade nicht als einfach, als eindimensional, als isoliert zu
charakterisieren, sondern als in eminentem Maß polyphon’ (A. GEROK-REITER). Discuss.

5. ‘Die Tragödie war dem Mittelalter gänzlich unbekannt’ (R. TOEPFER). Discuss.

6. ‘In der höfischen Kultur setzt sich eine als “höfisch”’ verstandene Elite durch die Privilegierung
des Gesichtssinns vom Rest der Gesellschaft ab’ (J.-D. MÜLLER). Discuss.

7. Discuss how ANY ONE text from the period reflects on concepts of exile and migration.

8. ‘Die Welt des Hofes steht der des Waldes oder der Wildnis gegenüber’ (CH. KIENING).
Discuss with reference to ONE OR MORE texts from the period.

9. Analyse the role of suffering and wounding in ANY ONE work of secular or religious writing
you have studied.

10. To what extent are modern concepts of authorship appropriate for studying medieval literature?

11. Discuss how ANY ONE text from the Old High German period reflects on the status of the
vernacular as a literary language.

12. ‘Held ist die Mischung einer archaischen Kraft-Kampf-Vorstellung mit einem kulturell
“raffinierten” Konzept’ (U. DRAESNER). Discuss concepts of the heroic in ANY ONE Old
High German text in the light of this statement.

13. Assess the strategies by which ANY ONE literary text from the period adapts stories from
classical antiquity for a Christian audience.

14. EITHER, (a) ‘The king’s search for a bride is a prominent motif in medieval German
writing’ (B. MURDOCH). Discuss.

OR, (b) Discuss the role of disguise and deception in ONE OR MORE examples of
bridal quest narratives.

15. EITHER, (a) Assess the role of supernatural elements in ONE OR MORE examples of
Arthurian literature.

OR, (b) Consider the function of the narrator in ANY ONE Arthurian romance.

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16. EITHER, (a) Examine the fascination with violence in Wolfram’s work.

OR, (b) Consider the way in which Wolfram’s works portray the relationship between
extradiegetic and intradiegetic world.

17. EITHER, (a) What is the significance of the performance situation for a reading of medieval
courtly love songs?

OR, (b) Discuss the way in which ANY ONE author of courtly love songs establishes
distance between the singer and his audience.

18. EITHER, (a) To what extent are the lovers presented as a model for others in Gottfried’s
Tristan?

OR, (b) Discuss the role of music and music-making in Gottfried’s Tristan.

19. EITHER, (a) Assess the significance of the body or bodies in EITHER the Nibelungenlied
OR the Klage OR BOTH.

OR, (b) ‘All in all, the story depicting a catastrophe has become a national epic’
(UNESCO). Discuss the genre of the Nibelungenlied in the light of this
statement.

20. EITHER, (a) How useful is the term ‘post-classical’ for an understanding of later Arthurian
romance?

OR, (b) Assess the role of comic elements in courtly narrative.

21. Discuss how ANY ONE text you have studied relates to an earlier text.

22. EITHER, (a) To what extent should we consider ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ as mutually
exclusive categories when reading MHG texts?

OR, (b) ‘Legenden erzählen davon, wie Gewalt Heiligkeit hervorbringt’ (CH.
KIENING). Discuss.

23. EITHER, (a) Consider the function of gender-stereotyping in the ‘maeren’.

OR, (b) Discuss the role of situational AND / OR narrative ambiguity in the ‘maeren’.

24. EITHER, (a) Assess the significance of unmediated dialogue with God in ANY
ONE work of religious writing you have studied.

(b) Consider the role of sensual experience in ANY ONE work of mystical
writing.

25. Discuss the way in which ANY ONE work from the period stages an encounter with a different
world.

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TURN OVER
26. To what extent does university learning exert an influence on vernacular writing? Illustrate your
answer with reference to ONE OR MORE texts you have studied.

27. Assess the way in which EITHER Neidhart OR Oswald von Wolkenstein OR Wittenwiler’s
Ring articulate the relationship between the aristocratic world and that of the ‘dörper’.

28. Can prayer be considered a literary genre? Illustrate your answer with examples from the
period.

29. Examine the way in which ANY ONE late-medieval text addresses the issue of human
mortality.

30. To what extent are EITHER comedy OR tragedy appropriate terms for analysing medieval
drama?

31. What is specifically medieval about ANY ONE late-medieval work you have studied?

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