'Writers from elsewhere' II: Reading Abdulrazak Gurnah

Dozent/in:

Touhid Chowdhury

Angaben:

Übung, 2 SWS, ECTS: 4, Studium Generale, Erweiterungsbereich

Termine:

Mi, 12:00 - 14:00, Raum n.V.
All participants registered via FlexNow will be added to the VC course (see link "online") before the course begins. The link to Microsoft Teams will be published on the VC. If you join the course after the first session, please contact the lecturer.

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:
all modules including an obligatory/optional reading tutorial (Übung) for literature in
LA GS/HS/MS/RS/GY
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik
MA English and American Studies
MSc WiPäd
Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies

open for Consolidation Module Literature (Übung)
NOT open for Ergänzungsmodul Literature

2. (De)Registration:
in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 07.09.2020, 10:00 - 15.11.2020, 23:59
guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

In his essay “‘Commonwealth Literature’ Does not Exist,” Salman Rushdie devises the idea of ‘writers from elsewhere’ referring to those contemporary novelists, poets and playwrights who, although often not born into the English language have chosen it as the medium of their expression. This new definition, in general, is a reaction to the idea of ‘Commonwealth Literature’ as formal and at times flattering appreciation of a diverse group of writers writing in English. According to Rushdie ‘Commonwealth Literature’, in a sense, also confines all these writers into ghettos together with the cultures from which they originate. Besides, literature written in English after the Second World War is too vast a territory to be measured with any precision if we stick to narrow definitions like ‘Commonwealth Literature’. Great Britain has provided the linguistic, literary and cultural context to what can broadly be called ‘writers from elsewhere’: Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, Simi Bedford or Hanif Kureishi are some of the names that we all know. These novelists are notable examples of immigrant writers who have contributed to British fiction with their transnational outlook and alternative uses of English. In contrast to the aforementioned names, Abdulrazak Gurnah has not got enough attention in literary circle or in academic discourse, although his novels have been short listed for Booker Prize. Nevertheless, he remains a formidable talent whose work deserves more recognition than it has received to date, especially outside Britain where he resides and has received most fame.

This course will offer an in-depth look at Abdulrazak Gurnah’s writing from linguistic, historical and cultural perspectives. We will analyse key literary works of him and try to posit them within the new canon of ‘writers from elsewhere’. The primary objective of this course is to introduce Abdulrazak Gurnah to students. Also, creating a sense of awareness of his culturally induced writing style among students.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Memory of Departure (1987)
Paradise (1994)
By the Sea (2001)
The Last Gift (2011)
Gravel Heart (2017)

Just Write

Dozent/in:

Touhid Chowdhury

Angaben:

Nachbesprechung

Termine:

Zeit/Ort n.V.

Key Texts in Literary Theory

Dozent/in:

Touhid Chowdhury

Angaben:

Übung, 1 SWS, ECTS: 1, Studium Generale

Termine:

jede 2. Woche Mi, 20:00 - 22:00, Raum n.V.
All participants registered via FlexNow will be added to the VC course (see link "online") before the course begins. The link to Microsoft Teams will be published on the VC. If you join the course after the first session, please contact the lecturer.
ab 11.11.2020

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (ab Studienbeginn zum WS 14/15): Ergänzungsmodul Methoden und Theorien der Englischen und Amerikanischen Literaturwissenschaft (alle Haupt- und Nebenfächer) (1 ECTS)

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (ab Studienbeginn zum SoSe 2009): Ergänzungsmodul Methoden und Theorien (1 ECTS, ab Studienbeginn zum SoSe 2012 unbenotet)

• alle alten Studiengänge: Übung (1 ECTS)

NOT open for Consolidation Module

2. (De)Registration:

in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 07.09.2020, 10:00 - 15.11.2020, 23:59

guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

In this seminar we will study trends and schools in literary theory since the 1950s. We may discuss key texts by thinkers identified with formalism and structuralism, deconstruction and poststructuralism, gender studies and queer theory, psychoanalytical criticism, (Neo)Marxism and Cultural Materialism, New Historicism, postcolonial criticism and reader-response theory.
Depending on the participants personal interests, we may also consider more recent approaches like ecocriticism and possible-worlds theory or less "canonized" theories (e.g. systems theory).

The course is intended to assist students in both finding own approaches towards primary texts and in identifying mind-sets and methods applied in the secondary sources they read in their other seminars: "What theory demonstrates [...] is that there is no position free of theory, not even the one called common sense" (V. B. Leitch).

Empfohlene Literatur:

A course reader will be made available for download at our VC group once the schedule has been agreed upon.

“Where modesty’s ill manners”: English Restoration Comedy

Dozent/in:

Touhid Chowdhury

Angaben:

Seminar/Proseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 6, Studium Generale

Termine:

Di, 18:00 - 20:00, Raum n.V.
All participants registered via FlexNow will be added to the VC course (see link "online") before the course begins. The link to Microsoft Teams will be published on the VC. If you join the course after the first session, please contact the lecturer.

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Module Allocation:
1.1 Seminar
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft / freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS
Ergänzungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar max. 6 ECTS
BA Berufliche Bildung: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS
LA GS/HS/MS/RS: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft (b): Seminar 6 ECTS
LA GY: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS
M.Sc. WiPäd: Aufbaumodul Fachwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

NOT open for Consolidation Module
Open for Ergänzungsmodul Literature

(De)Registration in FlexNow: 07.09.2020, 10:00 - 15.11.2020, 23:59

Inhalt:

English Restoration Comedy, also known as ‘comedy of manners’, covers a historical period between 1660 and 1710. Restoration period followed an era of puritanical role in England that banned any types of public performances at the theatre. The playhouses and theatres were re-opened by Charles II, the newly restored King of England. This new freedom and re-opening of theatres after a ban of 18 years during the Puritan role gave birth to a ‘rakish’ style of theatre that was witty, satirical, bawdy, clever, uproarious and socially diverse. While many critics considered the plays from this period as highly immoral, artificial or just plain old-fashioned, the social satire they offer makes for fascinating analysis.

In this course, we are going to analyze and interpret plays from both historical and social context of Restoration period. In-class discussion will take a critical look at typical motifs and concepts in Restoration Comedy, as well as on the courtly politics, class relations and the divisions between London and country life of the late 17th century England. To do so, students must read the plays listed below by the beginning of the semester.

Empfohlene Literatur:

The following plays must have been read by the beginning of the semester

William Wycherley. The Country Wife (1675).
George Etherege. Man of Mode (1676).
Aphra Behn. The Rover (1677).
John Vanbrugh. The Provoked Wife (1697).
William Congreve. The Way of the World (1700).
George Farquhar. The Beaux Stratagem (1707).