Contemporary Jewish Women s Literature

Dozent/in:

Christoph Houswitschka

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 8, Gender und Diversität, Zentrum für Interreligiöse Studien, Erweiterungsbereich

Termine:

Mi, 18:00 - 20:00, U9/01.11
Mi, 18:00 - 20:00, U2/01.33

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09):
freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

MA English and American Studies:
Master Module English and American Literature: Seminar (8 ECTS)
Profile Module English and American Literature I-VI: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)
Consolidation Module English and American Literature I-IV: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)

Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies:
Master Module or Profile Module I or III English and American Literature: Seminar (8 ECTS)

Erasmus and other visiting students:
Seminar (6 or 8 ECTS)

Modulzuordnung für Judaist/innen:
BA-Hauptfach Jüdische Studien:
V/H-1 (Jüdische Literatur, Kunst und Kultur)
BA-Nebenfach Jüdische Studien und Judaistik 45:
V/N-45 2a+3a (Sprache und Literatur)

2. (De)Registration:
in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 04.03.2020, 10:00 - 25.04.2020, 23:59 (NEW) guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

The seminar aims to trace issues of identity and belonging in texts by Jewish British women writers. In British society ever since World War II, it has been class more than anything else that made it difficult for Jews to define an identity of their own; either they were excluded or they assimilated into society, but they did not have or did not want to have a voice of their own.
In this seminar we will discuss a variety of perspectives that shape Jewish identity in Great Britain by focusing of the contribution of women writers. The topics will include immigration from Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, exiles who had either escaped or survived the Shoah, the foundation of the State of Israel, the legacy of the Shoah, the Palestinian conflict, orthodox and liberal Judaism, and old and new forms of anti-Semitism.
Among the writers we will discuss is Marjorie Agosin, a Chilean-American writer, who is going to be a guest in our seminar on 17th June. She will talk about and read from her new book, Maps of Memory (2020).

We will read, discuss and include a number of texts. The list below is more than we can actually do in one semester. So please understand it as a list of suggestions and let me know at your earliest convenience whether you are interested in any specific text for your presentation/paper. The texts marked with this sign ° are for smaller presentations, i.e. for students who do not want to write a term paper.

Grace Aguilar (1816-1847): The Vale of Cedars, or the Martyr: A Story of Spain in the Fifteenth Century (written before 1835, published in 1850)
Marghanita Laski: The Little Boy Lost (1949) (novel)

Bernice Rubens: Set on Edge (1960); I, Dreyfus (1999); Brothers (2001) (novels)

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: A Birthday in London (1963) (short story)°

Muriel Spark: The Mandelbaum Gate (1965) (novel)

Karen Gershon: A Tempered Wind (1992/2009) (autobiography)

Michelene Wandor: Return to Sender (1986) (play), Song of the Jewish Princess (1989) (short story)°

Anita Brookner: Latecomers (1988); A Family Romance (1993) (novel)

Elena Lappin: Noa and Noah (1998) (short story)°

Linda Grant: When I Lived in Modern Times (2000) (novel)

Charlotte Mendelson: Almost English (2013) (novel)

Tamar Yellin: The Genizah at the House of Shepher (2005); Kafka in Bronteland (2006) (novels)

Naomi Alderman: Disobedience (2006); The Lessons (2010); The Liars' Gospel (2012); The Power (2016) (novels)

Natasha Solomons: Mr. Rosenblum's List (2010); The Novel in the Viola (2011), The Song Collector (2015), House of Gold (2018) (novels)

Julia Pascal: The Holocaust Trilogy (1995) (play)

Marjorie Agosin: A Cross and a Star (1995) (memoir)

Empfohlene Literatur:

see above

New Lines and Movements: Post-war English Poetry

Dozent/in:

Christoph Houswitschka

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 8, Studium Generale

Termine:

Do, 16:00 - 18:00, MG2/01.02
Do, 16:00 - 18:00, U2/01.33

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09):
freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

MA English and American Studies:
Master Module English and American Literature: Seminar (8 ECTS)
Profile Module English and American Literature I-VI: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)
Consolidation Module English and American Literature I-IV: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)

Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies:
Master Module or Profile Module I or III English and American Literature: Seminar (8 ECTS)

Erasmus and other visiting students:
Seminar (6 or 8 ECTS)

2. (De)Registration:
in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 04.03.2020, 10:00 - 25.04.2020, 23:59 (NEW)
guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

This seminar will guide you through the fascinating variety of poetry that emerged from the post-war period and evolved into the diversity of contemporary poetry. We will begin with a short look back to the poetry of modernism (T.S. Eliot) and the political poetry in the 1930s (Auden, Spender, MacNeice). The seminar then starts with Robert Conquest s New Lines introducing us to poets of the 1950s and beyond. The diversity of British poetry is difficult to categorise. There are individual poets such as Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes, Geoffrey Hill, Peter Porter, Thom Gunn, Tony Harrison, and others. Some poets gained a reputation as representatives of the bygone rural England (John Betjeman). Others might be read as poets of a particular region such as Edwin Morgan, Hugh MacDiarmid, John Burnside or Jackie Kay for Scotland, or Dylan Thomas and R.S Thomas for Wales, and John Harris and D.M. Thomas for Cornwall. Recent poets include ethnic minorities and immigrants, i.e. diasporic poetry (Derek Walcott, George Szirtes, Benjamin Zephaniah) and women poets such as Emily Berry, Alice Oswald or Clare Pollard. Reading these poets in class, you will learn a lot about the changing poetic language in the twentieth century, but also about history and politics, society and culture in the United Kingdom throughout a troubled century.

Postcolonial London: Urban Narrative and Diasporic Identity

Dozent/in:

Emilija Lipovsek

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 8, Studium Generale, Erweiterungsbereich

Termine:

Einzeltermin am 17.7.2020, 15:00 - 20:00, U5/02.18
Blockveranstaltung 18.7.2020-19.7.2020 Mo-Fr, Sa, So, 10:00 - 18:00, U5/02.18

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Module Allocation
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft/ Kulturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09):
freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft/ Kulturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

MA English and American Studies:
Master Module English and American Literature/Culture : Seminar (8 ECTS)

Profile Modules English and American Literature I-VI/ Culture I-VI: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)

Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies:
Master Module or Profile Module I or III English and American Literature/ Culture: Seminar (8 ECTS)

Erasmus and other visiting students:
Seminar (6 or 8 ECTS)

Not open for Consolidation Module!

(De)Registration in FlexNow:
04.03.2020, 10:00 - 25.04.2020, 23:59 (NEW)

Inhalt:

Starting with the Empire Windrush sailing out in 1948 until the beginning of the 21st century, the seminar will focus on the span of over fifty years of postcolonial migration to London. After living and working in London for many years, migrants still feel left on the margins of the British society. Although born and bred in the UK, their children’s sense of belonging is undermined by other Londoners constantly asking: ‘Where are you really from?’ Special emphasis will be given to the questions of diasporic identities, institutional racism manifesting as discriminations that the first and second generations of migrants face in schools and workplaces, police cruelty, underpaid jobs, problems with housing, and differences in culinary traditions and climate. The seminar will discuss how London in urban narratives like The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, Brick Lane by Monica Ali, and The Small Island by Andrea Levy reflects the liminal space between the ‘Englishness’, the migrants’ dreams and disappointment.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Mandatory reading list:
Monica Ali. Brick Lane . (2003)
Hanif Kureishi. The Buddha of Suburbia . (1990)
Andrea Levy. The Small Island. (2004)
Zadie Smith. White Teeth. (2000)

The Bloomsbury Group

Dozent/in:

Beatrix Hesse

Angaben:

Seminar, ECTS: 8

Termine:

Fr, 12:00 - 14:00, U5/02.17
Einzeltermin am 15.5.2020, 12:00 - 14:00, U5/01.18

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft/ Kulturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09):
freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY:
Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft/ Kulturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)

MA English and American Studies:
Master Module English and American Literature/ Culture: Seminar (8 ECTS)
Profile Module English and American Literature I-VI/ Culture I-VI: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)
Consolidation Module English and American Literature I-IV/ Culture I-IV: Seminar (8, 6, 5 or 4 ECTS)

Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies:
Master Module or Profile Module I or III English and American Literature/ Culture: Seminar (8 ECTS)

Erasmus and other visiting students:
Seminar (6 or 8 ECTS)

2. (De)Registration:
in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 04.03.2020, 10:00 - 25.04.2020, 23:59 (NEW)

guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

The Bloomsbury Group (after the London borough of Bloomsbury) is a term frequently used for a number of writers, painters and critics of the first half of the twentieth century who were also close personal friends. Members of the group included the writers Virginia Woolf and E. M. Forster, the painters Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and Roger Fry, the biographer Lytton Strachey, the social economist John Maynard Keynes and the critics Leonard Woolf and Clive Bell. The aim of this course will be to investigate whether it really makes sense to speak of a “group”, i.e. if, in what way and to what extent the individual artists influenced each other or followed a common aesthetics. In view of the number of members and the huge influence they exerted in their various fields, a treatment of the group’s activities within the limits of one seminar will necessarily be highly selective. Hence, we will concentrate on fiction and painting, that is, the (shared?) artistic principles of the group, and largely ignore the equally intriguing political issues (for instance pacifism and changing gender roles). Students enrolling for this class will be expected to read two longer texts, E. M. Forster’s novel Howards End and Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, as well as a selection of shorter, mostly non-fictional, texts that will be made available in class. Considering the topic of this class, which is concerned with collaboration, mutual criticism and lively interaction, it is essential that students make an effort to attend the seminar regularly. Please note that you must have read Howards End by the second week of term!

Empfohlene Literatur:

Texts:
E. M. Forster, Howards End
Virginia Woolf, The Waves
(any edition)

American Migrations: History, Culture, Literature

Dozentinnen/Dozenten:

Christine Gerhardt, Sabine Freitag

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 8, Das Blockseminar findet Ende August 2020 im Chalet Giersch in Manigod, Frankreich, statt.

Termine:

The pre-meeting is mandatory for all participants and takes place on April 28 in room U9/01.11 at 6 p.m. (sharp).
Vorbesprechung: Dienstag, 28.4.2020, 18:00 - 20:00 Uhr, U9/01.11

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Please note: This course starts during the week April 20-25, when important information about the organization of this semester will be shared. Therefore, make sure to be registered for this class on FlexNow at least one day before the first scheduled session/meeting! Registered students will then be signed into the respective VC class by the instructor.

1. Modulzuordnung und Zugangsvoraussetzung / Part of modules resp. courses of study:

CULTURAL STUDIES - also open for the consolidation module!

B.A. Anglistik/Amerikanistik

• Vertiefungsmodul Kulturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS), Zugangsvoraussetzung: Aufbaumodul Kulturwissenschaft

B.A. Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09):

• freie Erweiterung: Seminar (6 ECTS)

M.A. Anglistik/Amerikanistik:

• Mastermodul Kulturwissenschaft (Variante I): Seminar (8 ECTS)
• Mastermodul Kulturwissenschaft (Variante II): Seminar (6 ECTS)
• Profilmodul Kulturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS)
• Erweiterungsmodul: Seminar (8 ECTS)

M.A. English and American Studies / Joint Degree:

• Compulsory Subjects and Restricted Electives: Mastermodul Cultural Studies
• Restricted Electives: Profilmodul Cultural Studies

M.A. Literatur und Medien:

• Film- und Bildwissenschaft: Seminar (Referat + Hausarbeit, 8 ECTS)
• Erweiterung Film- und Bildwissenschaft: Seminar (Referat + Hausarbeit, 8 ECTS)

Erweiterungsbereich Anglistik/Amerikanistik im Rahmen anderer M.A.:

• Exportmodul Anglistik/Amerikanistik 1 oder 2: Mastermodul Kulturwissenschaft (Variante I): Seminar (8 ECTS)
• Exportmodul Anglistik/Amerikanistik 2: Mastermodul Kulturwissenschaft (Variante II): Seminar (6 ECTS)

LA (alt) alle, Diplom, Magister:

• Hauptseminar Kulturwissenschaft, Zugangsvoraussetzung: Zwischenprüfung oder Hauptseminaraufnahmeprüfung

LITERARY STUDIES - also open for the consolidation module!

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS), Zugangsvoraussetzung: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft
• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09): freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS
• LA neu GY: Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS), Zugangsvoraussetzung: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft
• M.A. English and American Studies / Joint Degree: Compulsory Subjects and Restricted Electives (Master Module English and American Literature); Restricted Electives (Profile Module English and American Literature I-VI: Seminar)
• Erweiterungsbereich Anglistik/Amerikanistik im Rahmen anderer MA: Master Module or Profile Module I or III English and American Literature: Seminar (8 ECTS)
• LA alt (alle), Diplom, Magister: Hauptseminar Literaturwissenschaft, Zugangsvoraussetzung: Zwischenprüfung oder Hauptseminaraufnahmeprüfung
• Erasmus and other visiting students: Seminar (8 ECTS)

2. Voraussetzungen für Punktevergabe / Prerequisites for obtaining credit points:

• active participation
• presentation
• term paper in English (following the Style Sheet)

3. An- und Abmeldung (FlexNow) / Enrollment:

• via FlexNow (Students without access to FlexNow (Erasmus or Joint Degree) please send an email to the instructor of the course)
• An-/Abmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung (course registration): March 02 May 02, 2020
• An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung (ECTS/ToR registration): 03. Juni 2020 - 03. Juli 2020

Für Studienortwechsler, Erasmusstudenten sowie Studierende, die den Leistungsnachweis zur baldigen Prüfungsanmeldung benötigen, werden im begrenzten Umfang Plätze freigehalten. Bei Teilnahmewunsch trotz Überbuchung des Seminars wenden Sie sich bitte per Email an die Dozentin.

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.

Information on how to solve problems with your registration: https://www.uni-bamberg.de/anglistik/studium/informationen-zu-flexnow/*

Inhalt:

Please note: This course starts during the week April 20-25, when important information about the organization of this semester will be shared. Therefore, make sure to be registered for this class on FlexNow at least one day before the first scheduled session/meeting! Registered students will then be signed into the respective VC class by the instructor.

Much of US-American culture has been shaped by histories of migration both global migrations to the US, and internal migrations within and across the North American continent. The impact of migration on American culture and its narratives can hardly be overestimated. On the one hand, the US has long prided itself to be able to absorb people, languages, and cultures from all over the world; the American Dream and the idea that the US was destined to spread from Atlantic to Pacific are deeply linked to concepts of migration. On the other hand, the slave trade and Native American relocations profoundly contradict idealizing notions of the US as nation of immigrants.

We will study formative moments in the history of American migration, from the first arrival of European colonists to major moments of mass immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Focusing on key phenomena such as the California gold rush and the dust bowl, the African American Great Migration to the North and the shift of wealthy whites to the sunbelt South, we will discuss how different forms of migratory unrest have shaped American cultures.

At the same time, we will explore which role literature has played in negotiating the meanings of migration in the US. Reading a selection of short stories by different (im)migrant authors, we will ask: how do migration stories shape but also critique dominant ideas of the Melting Pot, the American Dream, or the Frontier? Which roles do family, food, education, or the natural world play in the migratory imagination? How do ethnicity and gender inflect these stories perspectives? And which formal and aesthetic features characterize American literature of migration?

Organization:
This is a regular seminar for which you can get 2 8 ECTS points in English and American Studies, or in History, or for the Studium Generale. It will take place as a compact seminar (Blockseminar) at a study center in the French Alps (Chalet Giersch, Manigod), Aug. 14 (Fr) Aug. 21 (Fr) 2020, with a pre-meeting on April 28, 2020 (6-8 p.m. sharp, U9/01.11).

We will travel by car in small groups; the week costs about 120,-- (double room) plus 60,-- (food) per student.

For details and pictures from the last 3 seminars, see https://www.uni-bamberg.de/amerikanistik/exkursionen/.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send an email to christine.gerhardt(at)uni-bamberg.de, I ll be happy to help!

There is a limited number of slots, so please register as soon as possible via FlexNow, or by sending an email!

Requirements:
The seminar will be held in German and English. Students can use the language they feel most comfortable with, but should be able to follow discussions and read short texts in both languages. Each participant should give a 20-minute presentation. For a grade, you can write a final paper or take an oral exam.

Readings:
We will read 10-15 short stories, and a number of historical and conceptual essays about migration history and literature. All texts will be made available on the Virtual Campus by April.

Contemporary Arab-American Literature and Culture

Dozentinnen/Dozenten:

Christine Gerhardt, Lale Behzadi

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 8, The first session takes place on April 21st, 2020!

Termine:

Di, 18:00 - 21:00, U9/01.11

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Modulzuordnung und Zugangsvoraussetzung / Part of modules resp. courses of study:

Please note that this course is now ALSO OPEN for CULTURAL STUDIES (Hauptseminar Vertiefungsmodul, Master modules, Profile Modules, Consolidation module)!

LITERARY STUDIES - also open for the consolidation module!

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS), Zugangsvoraussetzung: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft
• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (bis einschließl. Studienbeginn zum WS 2008/09): freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS
• LA neu GY: Vertiefungsmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar (8 ECTS), Zugangsvoraussetzung: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft
• M.A. English and American Studies / Joint Degree: Compulsory Subjects and Restricted Electives (Master Module English and American Literature: Seminar, 8 ECTS; Consolidation Module in English and American Literature I - IV: Seminar, 8, 6, 5, or 4 ECTS); Restricted Electives (Profile Module English and American Literature I-VI: Seminar, 8, 6, 5, or 4 ECTS)
• Erweiterungsbereich Anglistik/Amerikanistik im Rahmen anderer MA: Master Module or Profile Module I or III English and American Literature: Seminar (8 ECTS)
• LA alt (alle), Diplom, Magister: Hauptseminar Literaturwissenschaft, Zugangsvoraussetzung: Zwischenprüfung oder Hauptseminaraufnahmeprüfung
• Erasmus and other visiting students: Seminar (8 ECTS)

• BA Islamischer Orient: Vertiefungsmodul I+II
• MA Arabistik/Arabic Studies: MA Ar 01, 02, 03
• Masterstudiengänge Orientalistik: Nachbarmodul im Kernbereich; Modul im Erweiterungsbereich

2. Voraussetzungen für Punktevergabe / Prerequisites for obtaining credit points:

• active participation
• presentation
• term paper in English (following the Style Sheet)

3. An- und Abmeldung (FlexNow) / Enrollment:

• via FlexNow (Students without access to FlexNow (Erasmus or Joint Degree) please send an email to the instructor of the course)
• An-/Abmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung (course registration): March 02 - May 02, 2020
• An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung (ECTS/ToR registration): 03. Juni 2020 - 03. Juli 2020

Für Studienortwechsler, Erasmusstudenten sowie Studierende, die den Leistungsnachweis zur baldigen Prüfungsanmeldung benötigen, werden im begrenzten Umfang Plätze freigehalten. Bei Teilnahmewunsch trotz Überbuchung des Seminars wenden Sie sich bitte per Email an die Dozentin.

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.

Information on how to solve problems with your registration: https://www.uni-bamberg.de/anglistik/studium/informationen-zu-flexnow/*

Inhalt:

This interdisciplinary course offers an introduction to the aesthetic, cultural, and political significance of contemporary Arab-American literature from the joint perspectives of Arabic Studies and American Studies. We will focus on how Arab-American literature has been informed by and speaks back to two major contexts: the historical and current developments in diverse Arab cultures, and the shifting role of the United States as a “nation of immigrants.” Starting out from a survey of the historical dynamics that have shaped major strands of Arab-American migration, we will read a selection of novels, short stories, and poems to discuss how specific thematic concerns and formal features resonate in various Arab, American, and Arab-American frameworks. Throughout our readings, we will engage with critical concepts such as migration and diaspora, postcolonialism and transnationalism, orientalism and memory, race and gender, so students are expected to come to this seminar with an interest in theoretical issues as well. All readings are in English.

Empfohlene Literatur:

All students are required to get and read these two novels before the beginning of the semester:

• Rabih Alameddine: I, The Divine (2002)
• Diana Abu-Jabir, Crescent (2003)

Further primary and secondary readings will be made available on the Virtual Campus before the beginning of the term.