In this seminar, we will tackle the topic of 'coming of age' from different perspectives. We will trace the historical development of the definition of what it means to grow up and to become an adult from the 19th century into the 21st. Associated key terms of discussion will be biography, transformation, identities, change, persistence, resistance, resilience.
Please read the novels Cat’s Eye und Little Fires Everywhere.
Requirements for students of English: Regular and active participation. You must have finished reading both novels by Atwood and Ng. Should there be too many students, there will be a test to check on this. It is also mandatory that you turn up for the first meeting, no exceptions.
Registration: You'll need to register on HISLSF AND on Moodle in the first week of the semester; no exceptions. You'll receive the Moodle password via HISLSF.
Course material: use the time before we get together online for extensive and intensive reading.
Leistungsnachweis: For a Studienleistung, you'll have to attend the meetings and be prepared for (an) additional task(s), depending upon the development of the course and your course of studies.
For a Prüfungsleistung, see above plus one research paper.
Literaturhinweise:
Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye (novel 11988)
Elizabeth Bishop, "In the Village" (short story, 1953; available online)
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (novel, 11847)
Stephen Daldry (dir.), Billy Elliot (film, GB 2000)
Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere (novel, 2017)
This lecture intends to provide a rough historical background, to discuss representative texts which emphasize certain literary developments, and to offer exemplary readings of the English novel and its tradition. We will start with the 'fathers' of the modern novel (Defoe, Swift, Fielding, Richardson etc) and work our way towards late 19th century representatives like Oscar Wilde and Thomas Hardy.
Note: The written exams in literary studies ("Fachklausur Literaturwissenschaft") for "Englisch" (L1, L2, L3, L4) will be based on material surveyed in this lecture. Hence, exam candidates are encouraged to attend.
Literaturhinweise:
The novels covered prominently in this lecture are (selection; abbreviated titles):
Defoe, Robinson Crusoe // Defoe, Moll Flanders // Swift, Gulliver's Travels // Richardson, Pamela //Austen, Northanger Abbey // Austen, Emma // Shelley, Frankenstein // Dickens, Oliver Twist // Dickens, Christmas Carol // E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights // Ch. Brontë, Jane Eyre // Collins, The New Magdalen // Stoker, Dracula// Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde // Wilde, Dorian Gray
Having read some of them is advisable .
This Übung is based on my lecture on History of the Novel (18th and 19th century). Texts will be studied in much greater detail and with more emphasis on interpretative techniques.
Material/ Literaturhinweise:
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Voraussetzungen: Regular and active participation. You must have finished reading both novels. Should there be too many students (max. 25), there will be a test to check on this.
It is also mandatory that you turn up for the first meeting, no exceptions.
Unruly is a difficult adjective; it always depends on the (historical, social, psychological, ….) context, and on what the respective society assumes to be its opposite: Obedient? Adjusted? Adapted? . In this seminar, we will look at the representation and evaluation of women who do neither conform to the expectations of their peers nor to readers’ expectations. The seminar will cooperate with the Staatstheater Kassel production “Die Zähmung der Widerspenstigen” which will premiere on June 1st. Further information will be provided during the first meeting.
Requirements: Regular and active participation. You must have finished reading both plays by Shakespeare. Should there be too many students, there will be a test to check on this. It is also mandatory that you turn up for the first meeting, no exceptions.
Registration: You'll need to register on HISLSF AND on Moodle in the first week of the semester; no exceptions. You'll receive the Moodle password via HISLSF.
Course material: use the time before we get together online for extensive and intensive reading.
Leistungsnachweis: For a Studienleistung, you'll have to attend the meetings and be prepared for (an) additional task(s), depending upon the development of the course and your course of studies.
For a Prüfungsleistung, see above plus one research paper.
Literaturhinweise:
Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride
Caryl Churchill, Top Girls
Aritha van Herk, The Tent Peg
William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag