Suburbia

Dozent/in:

Eva-Sabine Zehelein

Termine:

Di, 12:00 - 14:00, U5/02.18

Inhalt:

Suburbia is a field which is extravagantly large, complex and contested. It might even be called by some “intellectual sprawl.” This is not surprising, since suburbia is a geographical and architectural phenomenon, but also part of an economic system, a politics, an ethic, and suburbia is a place of cultural creation, reflection and negotiation, a set of values and a way of life. And this is just the reason why it has become a symbolic minefield which the American everyman ogles rather skeptically from his picture window, simultaneously perceiving himself in the glasses’ reflection. We will look at the historical genesis of suburbia and its contemporary realities and zoom in on some cultural (re)presentations.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy and read: Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (the novel!), T.C. Boyle, Tortilla Curtain. Course requirement: oral presentation.

Walt Whitman in American Culture

Dozent/in:

Christine Gerhardt

Termine:

Einzeltermin am 21.10.2022, 14:00 - 16:00, U5/01.17
Einzeltermin am 28.10.2022, 14:00 - 17:00, U5/01.17
Einzeltermin am 29.10.2022, 10:00 - 17:00, U5/01.17
Einzeltermin am 18.11.2022, 14:00 - 17:00, U5/01.17
Einzeltermin am 19.11.2022, 10:00 - 17:00, U5/01.17
Course registration starts on August 15!!!

Inhalt:

In this course, we will read the work of one of America’s most innovative and influential poets, focusing on the ways in which his work responded to major developments in nineteenth-century American culture. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) sought to forge a living connection between a new kind of poetry and the massive changes he witnessed in the US as an evolving, conflict-ridden democracy. And indeed, throughout the various editions of Leaves of Grass (1855-92), his free-flowing lines, powerful imagery, and wide range of social, political, and sexual concerns challenged conventional notions of poetry more radically, and talked about American culture more openly and inclusively, than any other nineteenth-century poet.

In our seminar, we will begin with the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. What was so revolutionary about this slim book of 12 poems? Who is its author, does it contain poetry at all, what does its unusual format suggest? We will move on to discuss how some of Whitman’s most iconic poems think about key events and dynamics of his time, including race, slavery, and the Civil War, changing notions of gender and sexuality, the natural sciences and beginning environmentalism, and the fate of democracy. Throughout, we will link Whitman – who always hoped to be read across space and time – to our own cultural moment, considering the resonances of his vision for the 21st century.

Empfohlene Literatur:

You need to buy a critical edition of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, ideally this one:

• Whitman, Walt. Poetry and Collected Prose. Ed. Justin Kaplan. New York: Library of America, 1982 [or later editions].

(Alternatively, Leaves of Grass and other Writings, Norton Critical Edition, edited by Michael Moon, 2002; or the older but excellent Leaves of Grass, A Norton Critical Edition, edited by Sculley Bradley and Harold Blodgett, will also work well.)

Women's Rights in the U.S.

Dozent/in:

Johanna Feier

Termine:

Di, 18:00 - 21:00, MG2/01.10
Einzeltermin am 14.2.2023, 14:00 - 15:00, U5/01.17
Classes will take place biweekly. Some of the Tuesday evening time slots in alternate weeks will be used for film screenings.

Inhalt:

By overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the Supreme Court effectively ended bodily autonomy for more than half of the U.S. population. In their dissenting opinion, the liberal justices succinctly stated that young women today will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. In view of that historic decision, this course will explore the cultural evolution of women s rights in the U.S. While tracing texts from the American Revolution until now, we will pay particular attention to how the issue of women s rights intersects with other realms of inequality, specifically racism. In addition to several audio-visual texts, we will discuss writings from the traditional feminist canon as well as lesser-known examples by literary activists.

Classes will take place biweekly. Some of the Tuesday evening time slots in alternate weeks will be used for film screenings.
Seminar Sessions:

• 2022: Oct. 18+25; Nov. 08+22; Dec. 06
• 2023: Jan. 10+24; Feb. 07

Empfohlene Literatur:

A reader will be provided in the first week of classes.

“Daddy, is it you?” – American Father(hood)s

Dozent/in:

Eva-Sabine Zehelein

Termine:

Mo, 12:00 - 14:00, U5/01.18

Inhalt:

Fathers have long been banned to the side-lines of gender(ed) research to an extent that somewhat polemically inclined writers such as D. Blankenhorn diagnosed a Fatherless America (1995) psychologist Helen Smith has spoken about Men on Strike: why men are boycotting marriage, fatherhood, and the American Dream (2013), and Susan Faludi would write some 550 pages on Stiffed: The Roots of Modern Male Rage (1999/2019).

What does all of this mean? How come? And what, indeed, has happened to men and men as fathers from the Puritan head of household via the Victorian hegemonic male to today’s partner in parenting? In other words: how have changes in the American fabric as well as within normative expectations vis à vis the American family affected manhood and the role and function of the father and of fathering as a social practice? In how far do cultural representations and social practices conform or clash, and how are these discursively framed?

In multidisciplinary fashion we will explore concepts of (toxic) masculinity and patriarchy, male identity and various definitions of father(hood)s, and discuss a variety of cultural texts—short story, poem, (graphic) novel, painting, photograph and film.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please buy and read: Cormac McCarthy, The Road; Alison Bechdel, Fun Home; Noah Hawley, The Good Father. Course requirement: oral presentation.