Lit.wiss. Hauptseminar : American Historiographic Metafiction: Kurt Vonnegut, E.L. Doctorow, Toni Morrison

Dozent/in:

Sylvia Mayer

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 8

Termine:

Mo, 10:15 - 11:45, U9/111
ab 22.10.2007

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Magister, Diplom und Lehramt: Zwischenprüfung bzw. Hauptseminaraufnahmeprüfung
BA: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft
Students interested in the course are kindly asked to register before October 13, 2007 by e-mail (sylvia.mayer@split.uni-bamberg.de)

Inhalt:

Since the 1960s American literature has been characterized by the powerful re-emergence of the historical novel – a re-emergence with a difference if we compare novels such as Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five (1960), E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime (1974), and Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) with those 19th century texts that defined the genre. While the classic historical novel assumed that ‘history’ could be directly accessed and ‘mirrored’ in language, the postmodern historical novel – which Linda Hutcheon categorized as a type of “historiographic metafiction” – has put emphasis on the fact that knowledge of the past is always mediated by cultural discourses and language conventions, that the representation of history is always a cultural and linguistic construction.
In this seminar we will start out with a discussion of seminal theoretical texts that help us to understand the concept of “historiographic metafiction”. After that we will study the novels by Vonnegut, Doctorow and Morrison as representatives of the genre. While in Slaughterhouse Five the bombing of Dresden is the key historical reference point, Ragtime focuses on American history in the decade before World War I. Beloved, finally, addresses the institution of slavery in the post- and pre-Civil War periods. We will analyze the metafictional quality of the texts, i.e. the way they critically investigate concepts of ‘history’, ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’, and we will identify and assess the use of narrative techniques such as the self-conscious narrator, intertextuality and parody.

A 'Schein' requires regular attendance and participation, a presentation in class and a written paper of 10-12 pages (in English!) to be handed in by March 7, 2008.
Participants of the seminar are expected to buy the editions of the texts given below and to have read all novels by the beginning of the semester.
Bitte beachten Sie, dass die erste Sitzung am 22.10.2007 stattfindet.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime. Penguin Modern Classics. London: Penguin, 2006. [ISBN-10: 0141188170; ISBN-13: 978-0141188171] Morrison, Toni. Beloved. London: Vintage. 1997. [ISBN-10: 0099760118; ISBN-13: 978-0099760115] Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five Or the Children’s Crusade. A Duty Dance with Death. London: Vintage, 2000. [ISBN-10: 0099800209; ISBN-13: 978-0099800200]

Lit.wiss. Hauptseminar: The Early American Novel: Charles Brockden Brown, |Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker| (1799), Catharine Maria Sedgwick, |Hope Leslie; or, Early Times in Massachusetts| (1827), James Fenimore Cooper, |The Pioneers| (1823)

Dozent/in:

Sylvia Mayer

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 8

Termine:

Do, 14:15 - 15:45, U5/217

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Magister, Diplom und Lehramt: Zwischenprüfung bzw. Hauptseminaraufnahmeprüfung
BA: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft
Students interested in the course are kindly asked to register before October 13, 2007 by e-mail (sylvia.mayer@split.uni-bamberg.de)

Inhalt:

In this seminar we will discuss the beginnings of American novelistic production in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Charles Brockden Brown’s Edgar Huntly, Catharine Maria Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie, and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers represent the effort made by novelists to contribute to the formation of a specific American cultural identity during this period of the Early Republic in which the young nation had to come to terms with the transition from colony to independent state. All three novels are concerned with historical processes of European settlement of North America and with the emergence of distinctly American communities after independence. They focus on the encounter between European settlers and the Native American population, on the contrast between “old” and “new” world in terms of social, political and cultural issues as well as on the role of gender concepts in these processes. Class discussion will address these thematic issues as well as issues of narrative convention that characterize the texts which can be categorized as gothic (Brown) and historical novels (Sedgwick, Cooper).
Participants of the seminar are expected to buy the editions of the texts given below and to have read all novels by the beginning of the semester.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy the following texts:
Brown, Charles Brockden. Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker. Penguin Classics. New York: Penguin, 1988. [ISBN-10: 0140390626; ISBN-13: 978-0140390629]
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pioneers. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. [ISBN-10: 0192828029; ISBN-13: 978-0192828026]
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria. Hope Leslie; or, Early Times in the Massachusetts. New York: Penguin, 1998. [ISBN-10: 0140436766; ISBN-13: 978-0140436761]

Lit.wiss. Proseminar : "Willa Cather, O Pioneers! (1913), Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927)"

Dozent/in:

Sylvia Mayer

Angaben:

Proseminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 6

Termine:

Mi, 10:15 - 11:45, U9/111

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Magister, Diplom und Lehramt: Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
BA: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
Please register by e-mail (sylvia.mayer@split.uni-bamberg.de) until October 13, 2007

Inhalt:

Central to Willa Cather’s novels O Pioneers! and Death Comes for the Archbishop is the frontier experience in the American Midwest and Southwest. O Pioneers! is set in the Nebraska prairies around 1900 and tells the story of Swedish immigrant Alexandra Bergson’s struggle to make a living for herself and for her family in a landscape that demands a lot of the immigrants both physically and mentally. Death Comes for the Archbishop, a historical novel set in 19th-century New Mexico, addresses the pioneering efforts of the Catholic Church in the American Southwest by tracing the efforts of Bishop Jean Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant, who attempt to organize the new diocese of New Mexico. Seminar discussions will start with a focus on narratological analysis of the texts and then move on to discussions of various dimensions of the frontier experience. Central will be the immigrant experience, the encounter of European settlers with the various other ethnic groups of the native population, and the impact that the land, the natural environment, has on the process of settlement..
Participants of the Proseminar are expected to buy the editions of the texts given below and to have read both novels by the beginning of the semester. There will be a test concerning basic aspects of contents of the novels ("Test zur Überprüfung der Textkenntnis") in the third meeting of the seminar.

A 'Schein' requires regular attendance and participation, a presentation in class and a written paper of 10-12 pages (in English) to be handed in by March 7, 2008.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy the following texts:
Willa Cather. Death Comes for the Archbishop. New York: Vintage, 1990. [ISBN-10: 0679728899; ISBN-13: 978-0679728894]
Willa Cather. O Pioneers! Oxford’s World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. [ISBN-10: 0192832166; ISBN-13: 978-0192832160]

Proseminar II : Literature and Race: The Harlem Renaissance

Dozent/in:

N.N.

Angaben:

Proseminar, benoteter Schein

Termine:

Zeit/Ort n.V.

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

A c h t u n g!
Das Proseminar muss leider ersatzlos a u s f a l l e n !
Studierende, die sich bereits für das Seminar angemeldet haben, mögen sich bitte für ein alternatives Proseminar II anmelden!

Proseminar I: Introduction to English and American Literature

Dozent/in:

Claudia Deetjen

Angaben:

Proseminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 6

Termine:

Fr, 8:15 - 9:45, U5/218

Proseminar II: Carribean Coming-of-Age Novels: George Lamming, Jamaica Kincaid, Samuel Selvon

Dozent/in:

Fatim Boutros

Angaben:

Seminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 6

Termine:

Mo, 16:00 - 18:00, U2/130

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Magister, Diplom und Lehramt: Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
BA: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
Please register by e-mail (fatim.boutros@web.de) until October 13, 2007

Inhalt:

The representation of childhood and youth has a prominent function in fictional writing from the Caribbean. The Coming-of-Age novel is a genre frequently used for the exploration of the complexity of experiences with which adolescents are confronted. Within the Caribbean region, an analogy is often established between the challenges adolescents face and the political struggles of former colonies. The quest for emancipation and self-determination provides an important structural link between the private and the public spheres, which is captured by the literary texts in suggestive images. We will read Jamaica Kincaid’s 1990 novel Lucy before we turn to texts of two First Generation writers – Sam Selvon’s 1952 novel A Brighter Sun and George Lamming’s 1953 classic In the Castle of my Skin. Throughout the course of the seminar, theoretical texts will be discussed in order to provide specific analytical angles for the interpretation of the literary texts.

A 'Schein' requires regular attendance and participation, a presentation in class and a written paper of 10-12 pages (in English!) to be handed in by March 7, 2008.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy the following texts:
Lamming, George, In the Castle of My Skin. London: Longman, 1980.
Kincaid, Jamaica, Lucy. [A Novel] New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002.
Selvon Samuel, A Brighter Sun. Harlow, Essex: Longman, 1989.

Die Romane müssen rechtzeitig bestellt werden, da sie über den Buchhandel häufig nicht kurzfristig verfügbar sind.

Proseminar II: Regionalism, Realism, Naturalism: The American Short Story, 1865-1914

Dozent/in:

Bärbel Kramer

Angaben:

Proseminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 6

Termine:

Fr, 12:00 - 14:00, MS12/014

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Magister, Diplom und Lehramt: Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
BA: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
Please register by e-mail (baerbel.kramer@gmx.net) until October 13, 2007.

Inhalt:

During the era from the end of the Civil War to World War I American society witnessed significant changes: technological innovations, mass immigration and a new racial consciousness and, in the 1890s, the rise of the New Woman. These changes found expression in the literature of the time, which can be divided into three major movements: Regionalism/Local Color (~1865-1895), Realism (~1865-1890) and Naturalism (~1880-1918). Breaking with the conventions of Romanticism and Transcendentalism, a faithful representation of believable (‘real’) characters and settings and an authentic, uniquely American language was at the center of these movements. This course will offer background information to the period and introduce a number of theories of the short story. Following Nagel’s American Realism Reader, students will analyze short stories by Mark Twain, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, Ambrose Bierce and Charlotte Perkins. Note: Although dealing with short stories, this course will require much and continuous reading, as a) short stories are not always necessarily short and b) students will be asked to read and discuss further (theoretical) texts throughout the term.

A ‘Schein’ requires regular attendance and participation, a presentation in class and a written paper of 10-12 pages (in English!) to be handed in by 7 March 2008.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy the following texts:
Nagel, James and Tom Quirk (eds). The Portable American Realism Reader. New York: Penguin, 1997. (ISBN: 0-14-026830-8)

Proseminar II: Writing 'Indian Country' Today: Native American Literature

Dozent/in:

Claudia Deetjen

Angaben:

Proseminar, 2 SWS, benoteter Schein, ECTS: 6

Termine:

Mi, 18:00 - 19:30, MS12/015

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Magister, Diplom und Lehramt: Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
BA: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
Please register by e-mail (ClaudiaDeetjen@gmx.de) until October 13, 2007.

Inhalt:

The publication of N. Scott Momaday’s novel House Made of Dawn (1968) launched the so-called Native American Renaissance. Today some of the most promising and exciting young authors in the American literary scene are Native American writers. The short stories by Sherman Alexie and the novel by Linda Hogan that we will read combine techniques of 20th century American literature with expressions of Native American oral traditions. In order to really understand these texts, we will learn about histories and cultural contexts of Native American peoples. The works chosen for this seminar are by writers from the Kiowa, the Spokane and the Chickasaw tribes of Montana, Washington and Oklahoma. In the analysis of these two twentieth-century novels and the collection of short stories, we will see how Native American writers negotiate themes of ongoing colonial history and its personal effects in Indian Country. In the first two weeks there will be a short test on knowledge of the primary texts.

A 'Schein' requires regular attendance and participation, a presentation in class and a written paper of 10-12 pages (in English!) to be handed in by March 7, 2008.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy the following texts:
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York: George Press, 1993/2005. ISBN-10: 0802141676, ISBN-13: 978-0802141675
Hogan, Linda. Mean Spirit. New York: Ivy Books, 1990/1992. ISBN-10: 0804108633, ISBN-13: 978-0804108638
Scott Momaday, N. House Made of Dawn. New York: Harper Collins, 1968/1999. ISBN-10: 0060931949, ISBN-13: 978-0060931940

Tutorium zur Introduction to English and American Literature

Dozent/in:

Valentin Werner

Angaben:

Tutorien, 2 SWS, ECTS: 1

Termine:

Mi, 12:00 - 14:00, U2/130
Einzeltermin am 21.1.2008, 14:00 - 16:00, U2/133
ab 24.10.2007

Übung zur Vorlesung "The United States as 'Nature's Nation': An Introduction to Ecocriticism"

Dozent/in:

Sylvia Mayer

Angaben:

Übung, 2 SWS, ECTS: 2

Termine:

Mo, 14:00 - 16:00, MS12/009
vom 22.10.2007 bis zum 10.12.2007

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Students interested in the course are kindly asked to register for the course before October 13, 2007 by e-mail (sylvia.mayer@split.uni-bamberg.de).

Inhalt:

In this class we will read and discuss a few theoretical essays that introduce us to the field of ‘ecocriticism’ / ecologically oriented literary and cultural studies. The texts will be made available on “Virtueller Campus” by the beginning of September 2007.
Please note that the class starts October 22, 2007 and ends December 10, 2007.

Vorlesung: The United States as 'Nature's Nation': An Introduction to Ecocriticism

Dozent/in:

Sylvia Mayer

Angaben:

Vorlesung, 2 SWS, Schein, ECTS: 4, BA-Studierende: 2 ECTS bei Teilnahme; 4 ECTS bei Teilnahme und bestandener Klausur

Termine:

Do, 12:15 - 13:45, U5/217

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Please register by e-mail (sylvia.mayer@split.uni-bamberg.de) until October 13, 2007

Inhalt:

This series of lectures provides a survey of the cultural history of nature in the USA. The lectures address the role that various concepts of nature and environment have played in terms of defining the American experience, including the specific American aesthetic response to nature and an increasingly endangered natural environment. Among the key concepts addressed are the European American concepts of ‘wilderness’, ‘pastoral’ and ‘sublime’, but also the animistic concept of nature developed by many Native American peoples. The survey will reach back to the colonial period starting in the early 17th century, emphasis will, however, be put on the 20th and 21st centuries. At stake will be literary and non-literary texts as well as the visual media.
Theoretically and methodologically the lectures originate in the still fairly young scholarly field of ‘ecocriticism’, i.e. ecologically oriented literary and cultural studies, which have pointed out the urgency of addressing the forms and functions of literary and other cultural representations of nature in an era of environmental crisis. The (tentative) syllabus will be made available on “Virtueller Campus” by the beginning of September 2007.

Hinweis: Es besteht keine Verpflichtung, zusätzlich zur Vorlesung die Übung zum selben Thema zu besuchen. Die Übung stellt eine nützliche Ergänzung dar, ist jedoch als separate, eigenständige Lehrveranstaltung zu sehen.

Empfohlene Literatur:

For those students who would like to participate in this lecture class more actively, the reading or watching of the following texts and films is recommended:
Literary texts (in alphabetical order): Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower; Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia; Rachel Carson, Silent Spring; Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer; Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature”; Robert Frost, “Mowing”; Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit; Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia; Thomas King, Truth & Bright Water; Henry David Thoreau, Walden. Films: Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth (2006); The Day After Tomorrow (2004, dir. Roland Emmerich).