Elizabeth Gaskell: Fighting Ideology - Accepting Ambivalence
- Dozent/in
- Barbara Kehler
- Angaben
- Seminar/Proseminar
2 SWS, benoteter Schein
Studium Generale, verpflichtend: begleitende Übung "Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten" und Bibliothekstutorium "Einführung in die Datenbankrecherche für Anglisten"
Zeit und Ort: Mo 8:30 - 10:00, M12A/00.09
- Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches
- 1. Modulzuordnung und Zugangsvoraussetzung:
- BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
- BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09): freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS
- BA Berufliche Bildung: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS
- Lehramt GHS: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft b: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Introduction to English and American Literature (= Einführung)
- Lehramt RS: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Introduction to English and American Literature (= Einführung)
- Lehramt RS (ab Studienbeginn WS 2012/13): Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Introduction to English and American Literature (= Einführung)
- Lehramt GY: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
- Lehramt neu GY (Kombination mit Russisch): Wahlpflichtmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS
2. An/Abmeldung:
26. Juli 2013 (9 Uhr) bis Tag vor der ersten Sitzung (über FlexNow!)
Studierende ohne FlexNow!-Zugang (z.B. Erasmus oder Joint Degree) senden bitte eine E-Mail an barbara.kehler(at)uni-bamberg.de.
Für Studienortwechsler, Erasmusstudenten sowie Studierende, die den Leistungsnachweis zur baldigen Prüfungsanmeldung benötigen, werden im begrenzten Umfang Plätze freigehalten. Bei Überbuchung des Seminars fällt die Entscheidung über die Teilnahme in Rücksprache mit der Dozentin/dem Dozenten.
Studierende, die an der Lehrveranstaltung als Gäste teilnehmen wollen, melden sich bitte nicht über FlexNow! sondern per Email an und erscheinen zur ersten Sitzung; erst dann kann endgültig geklärt werden, ob Gäste aufgenommen werden können.
Informationen zur Ammeldung in FlexNow: http://www.uni-bamberg.de/englit/news_englische_literaturwissenschaft/anmeldung_zu_lehrveranstaltungen_und_studienbegleitenden_leistungsnachweisen/
- Inhalt
- “I’ll not listen to reason […]. Reason always means what someone else has got to say” (Martha in Cranford). Reason, when merely listened to instead of being continuously challenged, mediates normed ideology. Martha, however, refrains from accepting normed ideology and thus formulates an intellectual approach recognisable in many of Elizabeth Gaskell’s heroines and heroes. Even if Mary Smith and the ladies of Cranford, Margaret Hale and John Thornton, Molly Gibson and the gentlemen of Hamley Hall first have to overcome their own ideological prides and prejudices, they finally strive for individual autonomy and a right of independent thought and action; they thus challenge a Victorian society which is normed and maintained by widely accepted class- and gender-specific ideologies and which denies the individual subject’s ambivalence. In her novels, Gaskell demonstrates extraordinary perceptiveness for the individual subject’s diversity and its conflict between ideologically determined and independent reason, between bodily and mental heteronomy and autonomy. Focusing on (the adaptations of) Cranford, North and South and Wives and Daughters, we will closely scrutinise – using different social and literary theories and covering the substantial differences between the "gentle" South and the "industrial" North of England – the characters’ tightrope walk through Victorian society, their explosive encounters with Victorian institutions and their alarming meetings with Victorian individuals who are thoroughly determined to maintain the status quo. In their struggle for independence, Gaskell’s characters realise that the power of normed ideology is maintained not only by those social institutions in power (nobility, church, enterprise, trade union) but also by those individuals accepting power for their convenience; encountering such opposition, it often remains disturbingly debatable if Gaskell’s heroines and heroes can finally liberate themselves and others in formulating a reason which is free of (normed) ideology and which allows them to remain independent in accepting ambivalence.
Nevertheless, even if it often remains unclear if Gaskell’s protagonists succeed in liberating themselves and others, Gaskell always succeeds in liberating her readers who, though drawn into her stories which are captivating, romantic and heart-warming, are forced to consider and re-consider the power structures permeating the normative society depicted in her novels, novellas and short stories; this liberation continues today when Gaskell’s novels are re-discovered, unsurprisingly in a time when the individual subject – maybe more than ever – is facing ideological heteronomy, and when Gaskell, who has relentlessly and severely criticised ideology, is finally acknowledged as one of the great female writers of English literary history.
By the beginning of the seminar, participants are expected to have read Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (1851-53), North and South (1854-55) and Wives and Daughters (1864-66); further reading assignments will be announced in class and made available in VC (excerpts from Mary Barton (1848), Ruth (1853), Sylvia’s Lover’s (1863); selected short stories). Knowledge of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will be appreciated for comparative studies. Participants are equally expected to have seen Cranford (BBC, 2007), North and South (BBC, 2004) and Wives and Daughters (BBC, 1999). Watching the adaptations is no substitute for reading the original narratives.
Participants are expected to attend class regularly, to raise discussions, to prepare a presentation and discussion including group work and to write a term paper of about 3000-4000 words.
- Empfohlene Literatur
- All participants are expected to have access to a copy of Cranford, North and South and Wives and Daughters; adaptations do not need to be purchased but are available in the Semesterapparat.
- Englischsprachige Informationen:
- Credits: 6
- Zusätzliche Informationen
- Erwartete Teilnehmerzahl: 15
- Institution: Lehrstuhl für Englische Literaturwissenschaft
Hinweis für Web-Redakteure: Wenn Sie auf Ihren Webseiten einen Link zu dieser Lehrveranstaltung setzen möchten, verwenden Sie bitte einen der folgenden Links:Link zur eigenständigen Verwendung Link zur Verwendung in Typo3
|
|