Courses Summer 2021

1402-1 Lecture: US-American Literature: Beginnings to Present

Wednesday, 5 – 7 pm
Prof. Katja Kanzler

Exam: written examination (90 min) covering the entire module

This lecture will provide a survey of US-American literary history from its colonial pre-history to the present. It will discuss important themes, modes, and genres that characterize US literature throughout its history, its cultural contexts, and the literary periods into which these developments have been organized. In the course of this survey, we will explore the – partly very different, partly continuous – ways in which texts across these periods define ‘Americanness,’ in which they approach human nature and social differences, and the ideas about the role and operations of literature that they reflect.

1402-2 Seminar: American Cultures and Society

Choose one out of seven seminars (1402-2a-g):

1402-2a/b/c US Cultural History and Politics: Values and Institutions

either                      a) Tuesday, 11 am -1 pm
Dr. Eleonora Ravizza

or

b) Tuesday, 1 - 3 pm
Dr. Eleonora Ravizza

or

c) Wednesday, 1 - 3 pm
Dr. Eleonora Ravizza

This class will cover how historical, political, and social developments in the United States were and are influenced by the rapidly changing national landscape. In this seminar, we will discuss various topics relevant to both historical and contemporary United States in terms of what determines American values and how they have shaped and empowered (or undermined) certain institutions. We will then look at how traditional American values such as freedom, justice, and equality have evolved through time and how they have influenced the socio-political realm. Topics will include racial inequality, political corruption, the healthcare system, and the justice system.

In addition to gaining knowledge about the historical background, students will also have the opportunity to apply their findings in group discussions about a variety of texts, such as newspaper articles, magazine articles, and online videos. The seminar thus invites an interdisciplinary dialog between history, politics, and cultural studies.

Please note that all seminars will start in the week of April 19.

1402-2d/e/f/g US Cultural History and Politics: Myths and Narratives

or

d) Wednesday, 11 am - 1 pm
Dr. Sebastian Herrmann

or

e) Wednesday, 1 - 3 pm
Dr. Sebastian Herrmann

or

f) Thursday, 11 am - 1 pm
Dr. Sebastian Herrmann

or

g) Thursday, 1 - 3 pm
Dr. Sebastian Herrmann

Historical, political, and social developments in the United States have always been influenced by long-standing myths and narratives. In this seminar we will accordingly discuss how (popular) cultural imaginations have shaped social and political realities, considering topics such as the American Dream, immigration, the myth of Manifest Destiny, notions of individuality and self-reliance, and others. We will also engage with the reverse perspective, looking at how these myths and narratives have been shaped by social and cultural realities.

In addition to gaining knowledge about the cultural and historical background, students will also have the opportunity to apply their findings in group discussions about a variety of texts, such as newspaper articles, magazine articles, and online videos. The seminar thus invites an interdisciplinary dialog between history, politics, and cultural studies.

Please note that all seminars will start in the week of April 19.

Seminar: “Timeless Age”

Thursday, 11 am – 1 pm
Dr. Katja Schmieder

Everybody and everything ages, and age as a topic, trope, and analytical lens enjoys a dubious popularity. Even though “age” has finally been established as the “fourth category” of difference in cultural studies, it is still underrepresented on curricula and in scholarship. In this seminar, we will examine and discuss how age “as a cultural script, a biomedical condition, and a social-political status” (Kunow) impacts fiction and non-fiction texts – and, after all, the field of American studies. With the help of scholarly input from Gulette, Woodward, Kunow, and Maierhofer we might talk about texts ranging from Poe’s “Morella,” Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and Roth’s The Dying Animal to movies such as Harold and Maude (1971) or Hard Candy (2005).

Seminar: “Why I am not a painter”: Doing Things with Words and Other Arts in North American Literature

Thursday, 5 - 7 pm
Helen DeWitt (Picador Guest Professor)

This seminar will focus on the relationship between US- American writing in the late 20th and early 21st century and other forms of art. The course will start by looking at the complex relationship between writers and other artists at the time of ‘the New York School.’ We will consider their writing in the context of later writers who also look to other arts but stay in their own lane. We will also look at the transformation of the book represented by the development of the graphic novel (Spiegelman, Bechtel, Clowes, Ware), the interplay of images and text in Edward Carey’s remarkable self-illustrated Heap House trilogy, and the construction of novel as auction catalogue by Leanne Shapton. This range of material will give us scope to explore wider theoretical and cultural contexts opened up by work such as that of Pierre Bourdieu, Erving Goffman, A.C. Danto, Olav Velthuis, Orlando Patterson, and Michael Lewis.

Texts read may include: Frank O’Hara, “Why I am not a poet”; John Ashbery, “Self-portrait in a convex mirror”; Toi Derricotte, “The Mirror Poems”; Richard Howard, “1801: Among the Papers of the Envoy to Constantinople”; Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (extract); Edward Carey, Heap House (extract); Leanne Shapton, Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry; Robert Gluck, Jack the Modernist (extract); Art Spiegelman, Maus; Joe Sacco, Palestine; Alison Bechdel, Welcome to the Fun Home; Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth; Daniel Clowes, Ghost World; Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker; extracts from A.C. Danto, The Transfiguration of the Commonplace (German translation acceptable); Olav Velthuis, Talking Prices; Edward Tufte, Envisioning Information; Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life; Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death; Michael Lewis, Moneyball (Chapter 4), The Blind Side (Chapter 5); Pamela Pfiffner, Inside the Publishing Revolution: The Adobe Story;  David Owen, Copies in Seconds.