American Literature and the Public Sphere since 1945 [AE_HSPublic]

Lecturer:

Antje Kley

Details:

Hauptseminar, 2 cred.h

Dates:

Mon, 16:15 - 17:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Das Hauptseminar kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• MA North American Studies - Culture and Literature: Modul 7,8

• MA The Americas / Las Américas: Modul 3b,4

• MA Literaturstudien - intermedial und interkulturell: Modul 4,5,7,8

• MA Ethik der Textkulturen: M3, M4

• Lehramt Englisch an Gymnasien: Hauptmodul L-GYM Literature (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul L-GYM Literature)

• BA English and American Studies: Hauptmodul A mit begleitender Independent Study Group

• MA English Studies: "Freie Ergänzungsstudien/Wild Card" mit begleitendem Kurs
  

Contents:

This online seminar invites students to explore concepts and manifestations of the public sphere and to consider how the publication and discussion of literary writing participates in the formation of public opinion. Based on revisions of Jürgen Habermas’ historical description of the public sphere by Nancy Fraser, Seyla Benhabib and others, the seminar will focus on four prominent cases to study the dynamics of the literary system (the discursive and institutional contexts and conditions for publication including the publishing industry, education, the media landscape and the marketplace) in the second half of the twentieth century and into the present. These are Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” (1955) and the scandal it caused, Toni Morrison’s highly acclaimed iconic novel Beloved (1987), Suzanne Collins’ globally best selling dystopian novel The Hunger Games (2008) and Amanda Gorman’s recent inauguration poem “The Hill We Climb” (2021). The case studies provide occasion for contextualized close readings and will serve as starting points for a more general exploration of the ways in which literature matters.

Recommended literature:

• Allen Ginsberg. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Pocket Poet Series. 1956; Woolf Haus, 2020.

• Toni Morrison. Beloved. 1987; Vintage, 2016.

• Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games. Vol. 1. Scholastic, 2008.

HS Contemporary Writing by North American Women [AE_HSContW]

Lecturer:

Harald Zapf

Details:

Hauptseminar, 2 cred.h

Dates:

Wed, 14:15 - 15:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Das Mittelseminar/Hauptseminar Literature gehört in folgenden Studiengängen jeweils zu folgenden Modulen:

• Lehramt Englisch an Gymnasien: Hauptmodul L-GYM Literature (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul L-GYM Literature)

• BA English and American Studies: Hauptmodul A

Für BA-Studierende ist an diesen Kurs eine Independent Study Group angeschlossen.

Das Hauptseminar gehört in folgenden Masterstudiengängen jeweils zu folgenden Modulen:

• MA North American Studies - Culture and Literature: Aufbau- und Vertiefungsmodule

• MA The Americas/Las Américas: Module 3b,4,7

• MA Literaturstudien - intermedial und interkulturell: Module 4,5,7,8

Contents:

We are going to analyze half a dozen much-talked-about and highly acclaimed books - all of them published in 2019/20 and written by North American women born in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Jamaica, and Spain: Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, Jeanine Cummins's American Dirt, Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive, Ann Patchett's The Dutch House, Claudia Rankine's Just Us, and Lisa Taddeo's Three Women. What kinds of books are these? What can we say about them within the frameworks of poetics and hermeneutics? Why are they (considered) great, exceptional, praiseworthy, unputdownable, interesting, important, controversial, ...?

Recommended literature:

• Michael W. Clune, A Defense of Judgment

• Rita Felski, Hooked: Art and Attachment
  

HS Race and Racism in US Popular Culture [AE_HSRace]

Lecturer:

Katharina Gerund

Details:

Hauptseminar, 2 cred.h

Dates:

Mon, 10:15 - 11:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Modulzugehörigkeit:

• BA English and American Studies: Hauptmodul A (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• MA North American Studies: Culture and Literature (4) Aufbaumodul Cultural Studies (7) Vertiefungsmodul Cultural Studies

• MA The Americas/Las Américas: Modul 4

Contents:

In this seminar, we will critically examine structural racism in/and the US entertainment business and discuss the construction of racialized identities in popular cultural venues. Drawing on critical race theory and recent scholarship on structural racism, we will analyze a range of (contemporary) cultural texts with an eye to their representational politics, their genealogies, and the specific contexts of their production and reception.
Our discussions will revolve around examples of the entertainment sector’s systematic racism as well as recent challenges to and critiques of these exclusionary structures (e.g. #OscarsSoWhite); they will probe the relationship between popular culture and activism (e.g. with regard to BLM, its support by pop stars and athletes, and its representations on screen); and they will explore the (de)constructions of race and racism in various popular cultural genres and formats (incl. music videos, TV shows, Hollywood blockbusters as well as documentaries and public intellectual discourse).

This seminar is an interdisciplinary BAA-seminar and organized in collaboration with LMU Munich and U Passau. It includes a two-day student conference on July 23 and 24, 2021 that will either be held at the BAA in Munich or remotely.

Recommended literature:

All readings will be available via StudOn.

HS The Myth of the American West in US Culture [AE_HSWest]

Lecturer:

Klaus Lösch

Details:

Hauptseminar, 2 cred.h

Dates:

Tue, 14:15 - 15:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Zugehörigkeit zu den Modulen:

• BA English and American Studies: Hauptmodul A. (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II) 

• Lehramt Englisch an Gymnasien (neu): Hauptmodul L-GYM Literature (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul Literature) 

• MA North American Studies: Culture and Literature (4) Aufbaumodul Cultural Studies (7) Vertiefungsmodul Cultural Studies 

• MA The Americas / Las Américas: Modul 3b,4

• MA English Studies: "Freie Ergänzungsstudien/Wild Card": Wie Aufbaumodul, mit begleitendem Kurs

Für die BA-Studierenden ist an diesen Kurs eine Independent Study Group angeschlossen.

Contents:

The myth of the American West figures prominently in hegemonic narratives of US nation building and constructions of Americanness, in which terms such as pioneer, trailblazer, and frontier abound. In the cultural imaginary of the U.S. the West has been variously conceptualized as virgin land, open space, safety valve, wilderness (to be turned into a garden), or as the birthplace of a specifically American character. From an indigenous perspective, however, the West and the westward expansion refer to a violent history of dispossession, attempted genocide, and forced assimilation.
In this seminar we will analyze various representations of the West and its multiethnic populace in American literature and popular culture since the 18th century. In order to develop appropriate analytical tools, we will discuss concepts such as settler colonialism, othering, wilderness, savagism, frontier, manifest destiny, ethnocide, rugged masculinity, and going native. Case studies include autobiographical texts, (dime) novels, graphic novels, paintings, photography, performances, popular music, TV series, and film (classical and revisionist).

Recommended literature:

Caroline Matilda Kirkland, A New Home - Who'll Follow?; Or, Glimpses of Western Life (1839) (a version is available online)
Charles Portis, True Grit (1968)
Gerald Vizenor, Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles (1990)
Shorter texts will be made available on StudOn.

MAS Readings in (American) Literary Studies [AE_MAAmLit]

Lecturer:

Harald Zapf

Details:

Masterseminar, 2 cred.h, Master

Dates:

Wed, 16:15 - 17:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Modulzugehörigkeit:

• MA North American Studies – Culture and Literature: Aufbaumodul Literary Studies

• MA The Americas/Las Américas: Modul 4, North America: Culture and Literature
  

Contents:

This seminar focuses on particular aspects of North American literary criticism and theory. It builds on the North American Literary Studies course from the winter semester and enlarges the students' understanding of issues discussed there.

Recommended literature:

The course material will be available in FAU-libraries.

MAS Readings in North American Cultural Studies [AE_MAAmCult]

Lecturer:

Klaus Lösch

Details:

Masterseminar, 1 cred.h, Master

Dates:

Tue, 10:15 - 11:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Modulzugehörigkeit

• MA North American Studies: Aufbaumodul Cultural Studies (Master Modul 4)

• MA Literaturstudien - intermedial und interkulturell: Amerikanistik, Modul A (M 4)

• MA English Studies: Aufbaumodul Cultural Studies (Master Modul 4)

• MA The Americas/Las Américas: North America: Culture and Literature (AM4)

• MA The Americas/Las Américas: North American Studies (AM3b)

Contents:

This course is the follow up to the class North American Cultural Studies (winter term); it focuses on selected issues in contemporary Cultural Studies and on the application of theoretical approaches to individual case studies.

Recommended literature:

The texts will be made available on StudOn.

VL American Literary and Cultural History, 20th Century [AE_VL20thC]

Lecturer:

Antje Kley

Details:

Vorlesung, 2 cred.h

Dates:

Thu, 12:15 - 13:45, room tbd

Prerequisites / Organisational information:

Die VL American Literary and Cultural History, 20th Century kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• L-GYM Englisch: "Optionsmodul L-GYM Literature" oder "Optionsmodul L-GYM Culture" (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul Literature bzw. Culture)

• BA English and American Studies: "Hauptmodul B Literature" (ausgenommen Studienrichtung American Studies)

• MA North American Studies Mastermodul 6: "Überblicksmodul": VL inkl. Independent Study mit intensivem Lektüreprogramm

• MA English Studies: "Freie Ergänzungsstudien/Wild Card": VL inkl. Independent Study mit intensivem Lektüreprogramm

• MA Ethik der Textkulturen: M2, M3

Contents:

This lecture offers a survey of 20th century American literature and culture, the so-called ‘American Century’. It will introduce significant selections from the diverse body of 20th century American writing from its modernist beginnings, via postmodernism and neorealism to the recent turn of the century. Through the lens of literary writing and other cultural products, we will study reflections on the US becoming a modern, hegemonic, and an increasingly fractured nation.
For MA students, the lecture is supplemented by a comprehensive reading program.
In order to receive credit for the lecture, all students take a 20 minute oral exam at the end of the semester (scheduled for Thursday August 1, 2019). For MA students the oral exam is based on three response papers they hand in during the semester (covering five texts from the reading list on five pages each).

Recommended literature:

• Richard Ruland and Malcolm Bradbury, “Modernism in the American Grain,” From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History of American Literature (New York: Penguin, 1992) 239-430.

• Richard Gray, “Making It New: The Emergence of Modern American Literature,” A History of American Literature (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004) 336-552.