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Lehrende: Daniela Babilon
Veranstaltungsart:
Proseminar
Orga-Einheit: Anglistik/Amerikanistik
Anzeige im Stundenplan:
Semesterwochenstunden:
2
Unterrichtssprache:
Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl:
- | 50
Voraussetzungen und Empfehlungen:
Introduction to Literary Studies: students must have successfully completed the course
Kommentar:
"Differences are never just ‘differences,’" postcolonial critic C. T. Mohanty noted in 2003. "In knowing differences and particularities, we can better see the connections and commonalities because no border is ever complete or rigidly determining" (7). And yet, in cultural discourses various groups of people are repeatedly construed as entirely alien; they are seen as ‘other’ and deviant from the norm. In consequence, their ‘otherness’ seems to be the reason for their social marginalization – and, frequently enough, it serves as justification for inequality. Literature and other media play a crucial role in this construction of otherness, being able to perpetuate the dominant views on the socially marginalized but also having the potential to question stereotypes and work against them. Therefore, in this seminar, we will analyze and discuss how various kinds of otherness are represented in (American) literature. We will critically discuss concepts of difference and being other and relate these theoretical issues to literary examples by writers such as Langston Hughes, William Faulkner (Light in August), Amiri Baraka, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Kathryn Stockett (The Help), and Audre Lorde. Here, we will predominantly be concerned with texts in which boundaries are not only depicted, but also criticized and/or (partially) undermined.
For this purpose of critical discussion, students of this course will have the opportunity to practice their skills regarding the literary analysis of prose, poetry, and drama. Moreover, participants will get acquainted with the research methods for writing a term paper. We will discuss reading strategies as well as questions concerning finding a topic, formulating adequate research questions and thesis statements, citing sources, and formatting a paper.
Please note: This course will be based on the exchange of opinions and ideas. As it will not only be enriching for the seminar as a whole but also be important for your own writing, please be prepared to actively participate in discussions and to practice your argumentation skills (writen and oral).
Please bring: 3 sheets of colored paper
Mohanty, C. T. "Under Western Eyes Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anitcapitalist Struggles" in: Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 2003, vol. 28, no. 2. (499-535). http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/342914, last visited: January 27, 2010.
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