Courses
Courses - Summer Term 2007
Dr. Anna-Christina Giovanopoulos
Course Description
This lecture course is going to provide an overview on the rise of a specific genre, the English novel from its origin(s) in the later seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. In his classic account Ian Watt pointed out the importance of social and economic factors for an understanding of the English novel (1957). Since then, literary theory and historical research have entered into controversial debates of Watt's concepts and have questioned his approach. Despite this, Watt has remained a stimulating point of departure for an analysis of eighteenth-century novels. In this lecture course we will extend Watt's model and read other critical texts such as Lennard J. Davis's or Michael McKeon's examinations of the origins of the novel.
You will be introduced to a variety of critical readings of key novels of which you are required to read selected passages in order to deepen your understanding of the texts, such as Defoe's Moll Flanders, Richardson's Pamela, Fielding's Tom Jones, but also Lennox's The Female Quixote, and novels by Manley and Haywood. In preparation for the lectures you may consult a standard literary history, such as H.U. Seeber's Englische Literaturgeschichte.
Dr. Anna-Christina Giovanopoulos
Course Description
In this class we shall focus on the eighteenth century as presented both in film adaptations and in original films. Applying the tools of film analysis you will arrive at considered readings of technical and thematic aspects and you will also become acquainted with various film styles.
While familiarity with, for example, H. Fielding's Tom Jones or W.M. Thackeray's Barry Lyndon will enrich your readings of the films, a textual knowledge of the novels is not a requirement for participation, but strongly recommended if you write a term paper. You are expected to watch the films several times and to take careful notes on which to base the discussions. Among the films explored in class are two versions of Tom Jones (1963, 1997), Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract and Stephen Frear's Dangerous Liaisons. Other films may be included at the suggestions of students.
In this class we shall focus on the eighteenth century as presented both in film adaptations and in original films. Applying the tools of film analysis you will arrive at considered readings of technical and thematic aspects and you will also become acquainted with various film styles.
While familiarity with, for example, H. Fielding's Tom Jones or W.M. Thackeray's Barry Lyndon will enrich your readings of the films, a textual knowledge of the novels is not a requirement for participation, but strongly recommended if you write a term paper. You are expected to watch the films several times and to take careful notes on which to base the discussions. Among the films explored in class are two versions of Tom Jones (1963, 1997), Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract and Stephen Frear's Dangerous Liaisons. Other films may be included at the suggestions of students.
Prerequisites
Zwischenprüfung
Credit Requirements
Regular attendance and active participation in class, a presentation or group presentation, and a final paper (15-18 pages).
Registration
Films and further material will be made available to you in class.
Dr. Anna-Christina Giovanopoulos
Course Description
School is an (almost) inescapable fact of life, and adults often remember their schooldays with extreme feelings of either nostalgia or hatred. In this course you will be introduced to the history of the public school and school novels. First, we will discuss developments during the nineteenth century and explore the rise of the public school novel. Then we will consider how the topic was treated in the twentieth century, a period during which, generally speaking, a critical view of the effects of a public school education was presented in serious literature.
We will begin with readings of Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes and include a classic film version. Then we will analyse authors representing various ideologies: F.W. Farrar, Talbot Baines Reed, Rudyard Kipling, and P.G. Wodehouse. For the twentieth century, the focus is on James Hilton, Terence Rattigan and Julian Mitchell.
Prerequisites
Zwischenprüfung
Credit Requirements
Regular attendance and active participation in class, a presentation or group presentation, and a final paper (15-18 pages).
Required Reading before the start of classes
Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays (available from the university book shop). There will be a brief test to check your textual knowledge. A Reader will be available in one of the copy shops.
Dr. Anna-Christina Giovanopoulos
Course Description
The Examenskolloquium is open to students preparing for their final and for their intermediate exams. It is intended to give you the opportunity to present your research projects and to raise specific questions and/or difficulties at an early stage. Further, you are encouraged to engage in critical debates over approaches and topics with your peers. We will also revise general and specific topics required for your intermediate and final exams, discuss your reading lists, and take both oral and written mock exams.
Mark Schreiber, M.A.
Course Description
This lecture course will provide an overview of the methods, theories and areas of enquiry in the study of literature as part of the larger discourse of media and cultural studies. The course tries to lay the necessary foundations for a scholarly approach to literature and texts in general. That is, the study of literature will be situated in a wider context, i.e. the network of literary communication. This entails:
- a discussion of literary genres and their specifics (fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction)
- an introduction to the basic tools for the study of literature (bibliography, stylistics, rhetorical figures, imagery, metrics, poetics)
- a survey of important critical approaches and methods
The lectures will be accompanied by a weekly tutorial (details will be announced at the beginning of the course).
Prerequisites for Participation
As this lecture will be conducted in English, students should have a sufficient knowledge of the language. Furthermore, students should show an interest in gaining knowledge about the methods and theories of the study of literature, culture and the media.
Requirements for Credits
As partial requirement for the successful completion of Module 2.3. (Anglistische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft I), students will sit a 90-minute written exam at the end of the course.
Type of Modul-Exam: n.a.
Required Reading
Klarer, Mario (2004). An Introduction to Literary Studies. London: Routledge.
Mark Schreiber, M.A.
Course Description
In the mid-1990s a new posse of young playwrights from Britain and Ireland burst on to the theatre scene with plays that were clearly designed to shock their audiences by Quentin Tarantino-style actionism and the explicit portrayal of violence, cannibalism, sodomy, and any kind of perversity. Literary critics and historians have meanwhile begun to identify this new trend as the third wave of the New British Drama and have pointed out its affinities with Jacobean revenge tragedies of the early seventeenth century.
Assuming that the violence and aggression in these plays is more than simply coincidental or collateral, we will have to subject these plays to some serious crossexamining: What are the motives behind such an aesthetics of violence and its mediation through drama? In how far does such ‘cool’ dramaturgy reflect the values of contemporary society? Are these plays then a reflection of/on the much vaunted socio-politics of ‘Cool Britannia’ (UK) or the ‘Celtic Tiger’ (Ireland)?
The following plays and playwrights (that have also made their mark on the German stage) will be on the agenda:
Sarah Kane Blasted (1995), Mark Ravenhill Shopping and F***ing (1996), Enda Walsh Disco Pigs (1996),Mark O’Rowe Howie the Rookie (1999), Martin McDonagh The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2001).
A Reader containing the plays will be available for purchase at UniCopy Dietze (copy shop near Mensa) from the beginning of March. Students are expected to have read the plays before the start of the course.
Recommended Reading
Die Londoner Theaterszene der 90er (1998). Ed. Nils Tabert. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Prerequisites
In order to participate, students of Anglistik/Amerikanistik need to have completed the lecture course “Introduction to the Study of Literature” successfully. Please present the Schein in the first session of the course.
Requirements
regular and active participation, oral (group) presentation, term paper (10-15 pp.), deadline for term papers: 16 July 2007 (for BA students) and 1 October (for Magister students).
Dr. Hans-Joachmin Hermes
Course Description
5 ERASMUS-students invited
In this Proseminar we will study William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Othello, the Moore of Venice, which was first performed in 1603 or 1604. Subjects of interest will be plot overview, analysis of major characters, themes, motifs, and imagery. Among the themes and motifs will be those of intrigue, jealousy and revenge. As to the motif of jealousy, Samuel Taylor Coleridge had his reservations: “I take it to be rather an agony that the creature [Desdemona], whom he [Othello] had believed angelic … should be proved impure and worthless” (Table Talk, 1796). Shakespeare’s imagery is often sexual, it refers to plants, animals, and especially toward the end it recurs to hell and damnation. The play is a true specimen of late Elizabethan drama. A forthcoming Chemnitz production will premiér in the Schauspielhaus in May 2007 and is to remain in repertoire over the summer.
Required Reading
Text of Othello in any scholarly English edition. Recommended: Othello by William Shakespeare, Penguin Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-14-062105-1  , € 3,10. Supplier: Universitas.
Prerequisites
Einführungskurs “Introduction to the Study of Literature”.
Requirement for credits
Regular attendance, 1 oral presentation, 1 term paper in (English or German).
Sina Nitzsche, M.A.
Course Description
This seminar aims at understanding the different dimensions of the Cold War culture in the United States, Great Britain and Germany West and East. In the US, for example, the Cold War was a time where cultural difference was seen as a threat to the dominant American ideology. Cultural difference constituted, for example, homosexuality, non-White ethnicity or a strong femininity beyond the domestic sphere. This apparent fear of a cultural difference translated into the cultural output of that time, such as Hollywood movies like Don Siegel’s sci-fi flick Invasion of the Body Snatchers , or literary texts such as Joseph Heller’s postmodern novel Catch-22 or TV shows like The Twilight Zone.
The leading research question will be the treatment of the Other, esp. through questions of literary, filmic and/or musical genres. The seminar objective is to take on a comparative perspective and draw conclusions about how those cultural issues are handled in different contexts. Furthermore, implications about contemporary developments with the recent war on terror and its cultural implications in Europe and America will be made.
The structure of the seminar is divided into two major parts: The first part consists of a preparation section were an introduction to the Cold War culture is given. Students are expected to develop their own research topic. The second part consists of a student conference which will be held at the end of May 2007 where students will present their research findings in front of a public audience. Therefore, students are asked to conduct independent research and should have a sense of individual time management.
Registration
In order to participate, students of Anglistik/Amerikanistik need to have completed the lecture course “Introduction to the Study of Literature” successfully. Please present the Schein in the first session of the course.
Credit Requirements
Regular attendance, oral presentation at student conference, and a research paper (10-12 pages).
Literature
Whitfield, Stephen J. (1991). The Culture of the Cold War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP.
Sinfield, Alan (1993). Literature, Culture and Politics of Postwar Britain. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Junker, Detlef, ed. (1990). Die USA und Deutschland im Zeitalter des Kalten Krieges, 1945-1990: Ein Handbuch. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.
André Nimtz , M.A.
Course Description
In this Proseminar we will have a closer look at the works of one of the most controversial figures in English Romantic literature: William Blake (1757-1827). By fusing poetry and painting into a literary work of art Blake created a mythological universe of his own. While some critics termed his visions an outgrowth of mysticism others refer to Blake as the great prophet of his age who in his works wrapped his cultural and social surroundings in the cloth of religious allegory.
To acquire an overview over Blake's mythological world we will look both at his own Illuminated poems and at his illustrations for the works of other authors. Thus, the seminar will cover works like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793), Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793), The Four Zoas (1797), Milton (1804-1808), Jerusalem (1804-1820) and, furthermore, Blake's paintings for The Book of Job (1821-25), The Book of Revelation and Dante's Divine Comedy (1308-21, 1825-26) among others.
Prerequisite
Successful completion of the lecture "Introduction to the Study of Literature". Magister-Students should present the Schein in the first session of the course.
Credit Requirements
Regular attendance and active participation in the discussion, oral presentation, term paper (10-15 pp.).
Required Reading
A reader with relevant material will be made available in the first session.
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English Literature(s) 