Key Texts in Literary Theory

Dozentinnen/Dozenten:

Christoph Houswitschka, Chiara Manghi

Angaben:

Übung, 1 SWS, ECTS: 1, Studium Generale

Termine:

jede 2. Woche Mi, 20:00 - 22:00, U9/01.11

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)

2. (De)Registration:

in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 01.10.2018 (10:00) - 10.01.2019(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.

Literary Twins

Dozent/in:

Chiara Manghi

Angaben:

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

Termine:

Do, 14:00 - 16:00, U9/01.11

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

• Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies

• BSc. BWL

• MA WiPäd

This class can also be taken for Ergänzungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft (Hauptfach und Nebenfach)

2. (De)Registration:

in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 01.10.2018(10:00) - 10.01.2019(23:59)

guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

Literature is full of twins: evil twins, twins who impersonate each other, twins in showbusiness. Readers (and theatregoers) through the centuries are still inevitably fascinated, confused and dazzled. Anglophone literature is no exception.

In this class we will first gather a brief and basic overview of notorious twins from Greek and Roman mythology - such as Romolus and Remus, Castor and Pollux - then we will move on to England. We will read one of William Shakespeare’s plays featuring twins, Twelfth Night, or What You Will, where playing with the double goes along with playing with gender roles.

We will then work on Angela Carter’s last novel Wise Children, about identical twin sisters and performers Dora and Nora Chance, where magical realism is accompanied by constant Shakespearean references. The last full text we will read is Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, a story with gothic elements about secret twin(s) and storytelling, with intertextual references to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

The aim of this class is to become able to recognize and analyze major features and recurring themes in the literary representation of twinhood. We will try to answer questions such as: Is twinhood a game of exclusion? How is twinhood represented in literature throughout time and in different genres?

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please acquire a copy of the books we are going to read in class as soon as possible.

William Shakespeare. Twelfth Night.
Diane Setterfield. The Thirteenth Tale.
Angela Carter. Wise Children.
more primary texts tba in class