Gender, Race, and Nationality: Transatlantic Literature and Culture from the 18th to the Early 20th Century

Dozent/in:

Mareike Spychala

Termine:

Do, 16:00 - 18:00, U5/01.18

Inhalt:

While U.S.-American Literature and Culture and British Literature and Culture are often researched, analyzed, and taught separately, literary and cultural texts have long travelled back and forth across the Atlantic. Accordingly, this seminar will provide an introduction to the field of Transatlantic Studies and investigate literary and cultural texts that journeyed from Great Britain to the United States and vice versa.

More specifically, by reading texts from different genres and periods, we will trace how questions of gender, race, and nationality are negotiated, adapted, and in some cases re-negotiated in transatlantic literature. Additionally, we will talk about the ways print culture and ideas surrounding authorship and copyright changed between the 18th and the early 20th century.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Students are asked to buy and start reading the following texts BEFORE the beginning of class.

• Harriet Beecher Stowe,Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) – preferred edition: Norton Critical Edition (ISBN: 978-0393933994)
• Paula Bernat Bennett (ed.), Palace-Burner: The Selected Poetry of Sarah Piatt (2001)
• Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret (1862) – preferred edition: Penguin Classics (ISBN: 978-0140435849)
• Nella Larsen, Quicksand (1928) – preferred edition: Norton Critical Edition (ISBN: 978-0393932423)

Further Readings will be made available via the VC.

More than Meets the Eye: A Survey of POC Voices in U.S. American Literature and Culture

Dozent/in:

Nicole K. Konopka

Termine:

Mo, 16:00 - 18:00, U2/00.25
Einzeltermin am 23.1.2023, 16:00 - 18:00, SP17/00.13
Einzeltermin am 13.2.2023, 16:00 - 18:00, U9/01.11

Inhalt:

Studying U.S. American literature and culture would be incomplete without considering the wealth of POC perspectives. In this class we will discuss exemplary and marginal cultural artefacts of the past and present and the phenomena that are closely linked to the specific historical experiences of People of Color. Our classroom material will include mostly literary texts, but also music, film, painting, sculpture, food etc. As the title of the seminar suggests, we will employ several of our senses to deal with the topic, which may also include a field trip to an exhibition.

Since we will deal with one of the key issues of American Studies, the reading list of this class will be rather extensive and students are expected to come to class prepared for lively, critical discussions.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Most shorter reading (poems, speeches, short stories, secondary reading) will be provided via the VC. However, students are expected to acquire the following books (in print or as e-book) BEFORE the start of the semester and start reading the first two books (Jacobs and Hansberry) as soon as possible:

• Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) - prefered edition: The Norton Critical Edition (ISBN 0393614565)
• Lorrain Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
• Mark Long, Jim Demonakos (authors), and Nate Powell (illustrator), The Silence of Our Friends (2012)
• James Hannaham, Delicious Foods (2018)

Additionally recommended reading:

• Kai Wright (ed.). The African American Experience: Black History and Culture Through Speeches, Letters, Editorials, Poems, Songs, and Stories. Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2009.
• Neil Irvin Painter. Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present. New York: OUP, 2007.