HS White Supremacy

Dozentinnen/Dozenten:

Heike Paul, Katharina Gerund

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, Magister, Master, Bachelor

Termine:

Mo, 12:15 - 13:45, C 301

Inhalt:

From the KKK to the Alt-Right: The Ideology of White Supremacy in the United States
This seminar seeks to shed light on current political developments by historicizing white supremacist thought in 19th and 20th century US history. In the aftermath of slavery (itself the most drastic manifestations of white supremacist rule in the US), racial segregation and the reign of the Ku Klux Klan continued to enforce racial hierarchies in the American South and in other parts of the country. In 1915, D. W. Griffith’s epic film The Birth of a Nation idealizes the KKK as an institution that had allegedly saved the nation from ‘black misrule’. Throughout the 20th century, social, (bio)political, and cultural movements have reiterated white supremacist agendas: among them the American Eugenics movement and other proponents of a scientific racism, the Patriot Movement (two of its members were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995) and various anti-government militia groups as well as Christian fundamentalists and other religious factions. More recently, on the occasion of Donald Trump’s victory of the US presidential elections, Alt-Right representatives have once again claimed that “America belongs to white men.” Based on historical and historiographical sources, literature, and representations of racism/racist fantasies in American popular culture, we will reflect on the history of white supremacist thought in the US and its ongoing relevance.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please purchase and read: Thomas Dixon, The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan (1905) Toni Morrison, Home (2012) Additional material will be made available on studon.

HS: Native American Studies

Dozent/in:

Klaus Lösch

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, Magister, Master, Bachelor

Termine:

Di, 14:15 - 15:45, C 301

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Zugehörigkeit zu den Modulen:

• BA English and American Studies (neu): 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 4
  

• MA Literaturstudien – interdisziplinär: Modul 4

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

Inhalt:

According to Gerald Vizenor, a prominent Native American author and scholar, Native Americans are "fugitives" in literature, history, and popular culture in the sense that cultural representation has obscured their presence in American culture and replaced them by various forms of the "invented Indian." In this class we will deal with the discursive strategies and the power dynamics involved in the misrepresentation, the expropriation and the discrimination of Native Americans and discuss the political issue of tribal sovereignty. Against this background the seminar will analyze various contemporary literary texts (see below) and films (Grandfather Sky, Smoke Signals, Grand Avenue, House Made of Dawn) written and produced by Native Americans. The discussion will be organized around theoretical approaches to representation and resistance, cultural identity, and the negotiation of cultural boundaries. Native American "texts" may be seen as belonging to an autonomous tribal discourse, a counter-hegemonic discourse, or a discourse of hybridity and transculturation – but please do not expect to get a glimpse of the "real, authentic American Indian" by studying Native American literatures and films. Participants are expected to read a lot, to contribute to a group project, and to give a short presentation in class. Screenings will take place in separate meetings. Shorter texts will be made available online.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Please purchase and read: Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America (2013);
Gerald Vizenor, The Heirs of Columbus (1991);
Sherman Alexie, Flight (2007);
Louise Erdrich, The Round House (2012)

Masterseminar Readings in (American) Literary Studies

Dozent/in:

Harald Zapf

Angaben:

Masterseminar, Magister, Master

Termine:

Mo, 10:15 - 11:45, KH 1.012

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches Das Seminar Readings in (American) Literary Studies gehört in folgenden Studiengängen jeweils zu folgenden Modulen:
° MA North American Studies – Culture and Literature: Aufbaumodul Literary Studies
° MA The Americas / Las Américas: Modul 4, North America: Culture and Literature

Inhalt:

This course 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.

Readings in North American Cultural Studies

Dozent/in:

Klaus Lösch

Angaben:

Masterseminar, 1 SWS

Termine:

Di, 10:15 - 11:45, C 303

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

This seminar belongs to MA North American Studies:
Culture and Literature: Aufbaumodul 4 Kulturwissenschaft

Inhalt:

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 trains the application of theoretical approaches to individual case studies.

American Naturalism

Dozent/in:

Ulf Schulenberg

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS

Termine:

Do, 10:15 - 11:45, C 301

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Das HS Literature kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• L-GYM Englisch (neu): "Hauptmodul L-Gym Literature"

• BA English and American Studies (neu): "Hauptmodul A Literature" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• BA American Studies: "Hauptmodul A Literature/Culture" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)
  

• MA North American Studies - Culture and Literature: Mastermodul 5: "Aufbaumodul Literary Studies": HS mit begleitendem Kurs
  

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

Das HS Culture kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• BA English and American Studies (neu): "Hauptmodul A Culture" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• BA American Studies: "Hauptmodul A Literature/Culture" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• MA North American Studies - Culture and Literature: Mastermodul 4: "Aufbaumodul Cultural Studies": HS mit begleitendem Kurs

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

Inhalt:

The world is a very bad place, and you’re doomed anyway. This is the – admittedly somewhat simplified - message of naturalist texts. As a radicalized or scientized realism, naturalism was influenced by Social Darwinism, the process of industrialization, an increasingly positivistic and materialistic world view, as well as by Zola’s idea of the “bête humaine”. In this seminar, we will analyze the characteristics of this fascinating literary period. We will clarify the differences between realism and naturalism, and we will discuss to what degree naturalism prepared the ground for aesthetic modernism. We will read the following texts:

• Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

• Frank Norris, McTeague

• Jack London, The Sea Wolf
  

Empfohlene Literatur:

• Donald Pizer, Realism and Naturalism in Nineteenth-Century American Fiction. Urbana: Southern Illinois UP, 1984.

• Keith Newlin (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Naturalism. New York: Oxford UP, 2011.
  

Tutorium Internationale Masterstudierende

Dozent/in:

Selina Steubing

Angaben:

Tutorium, 1 SWS, Master

Termine:

Do, 16:00 - 17:00, C 601

Inhalt:

The tutorial is designed to accompany students during all stages of the MA North American Studies. It focuses on introducing especially international students to the ins and outs of the German university system, negotiating FAU student platforms, basics of research in literary and cultural studies, and techniques of academic writing. The tutor is in close contact with all teachers in the program, in particular with the person responsible for a bridge course also designed for international students in the MA North American Studies.

Violence and American Literature

Dozent/in:

Ulf Schulenberg

Angaben:

Hauptseminar, 2 SWS

Termine:

Mi, 16:15 - 17:45, C 301

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Das HS Literature kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• L-GYM Englisch (neu): "Hauptmodul L-Gym Literature"

• BA English and American Studies (neu): "Hauptmodul A Literature" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• BA American Studies: "Hauptmodul A Literature/Culture" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)
  

• MA North American Studies - Culture and Literature: Mastermodul 5: "Aufbaumodul Literary Studies": HS mit begleitendem Kurs;
  

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

Das HS Culture kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• BA English and American Studies (neu): "Hauptmodul A Culture" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• BA American Studies: "Hauptmodul A Literature/Culture" mit begleitender Independent Study Group (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul II)

• MA North American Studies - Culture and Literature: Mastermodul 4: "Aufbaumodul Cultural Studies": HS mit begleitendem Kurs;
  

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

Inhalt:

Violence has been an integral part of American history and culture from the Middle Passage to the Columbine shooting and Donald Trump’s rhetoric. In this seminar, we will analyze different forms of violence; for instance, physical violence, racial violence, rhetorical violence, and epistemic violence. We will begin our discussion with theoretical texts that seek to clarify the complexity of the practice of violence. Then, we will ask whether American literature can help us determine whether there is a form of violence that can be termed genuinely American. We will read the following texts:

• Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Live of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

• Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, or, The Evening Redness in the West

• Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho
  

Empfohlene Literatur:

• Bruce B. Lawrence and Aisha Karim (eds), On Violence: A: Reader. Durham: Duke UP, 2007.

• Slavoj Zizek, Violence. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008.
  

VL American Literary and Cultural History, 19th Century

Dozent/in:

Ulf Schulenberg

Angaben:

Vorlesung, 2 SWS, LAFV, Magister, Master, Bachelor

Termine:

Di, 8:15 - 9:45, KH 1.016

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Die VL kann wie folgt verwendet werden:

• L-GYM Englisch (neu): "Optionsmodul Literature" (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenmodul Literature)
  

• BA English and American Studies (neu): "Hauptmodul B" Literature oder Culture
  

• MA North American Studies Mastermodul 6: "Überblicksmodul": VL plus Independent Study
  

• Alte Studiengänge (Studienbeginn vor WS 07/08): Hauptstudium (Zulassungsvoraussetzung: Zwischenprüfung)

Inhalt:

In the nineteenth century, the multilayered complexity of American literature became increasingly obvious. In his influential Studies in Classic American Literature, D.H. Lawrence even advanced the argument that the real beginning of American literature was James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking novels. Furthermore, many literary scholars contend that the American Renaissance, with authors such as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson, still ought to be regarded as the most distinguished period of American literature. This lecture course will offer a broad overview of nineteenth-century American literature. However, it will go further by discussing American literature in its cultural context. We will focus on complex terms such as “the American romance” and “regionalism,” as well as on period terms like “Romanticism,” “realism,” and “naturalism.” Furthermore, we will analyze American literature and culture in a transnational perspective, seeking to elucidate to what degree the nineteenth century can already be termed modern.

Empfohlene Literatur:

• Jonathan Arac, The Emergence of American Literary Narrative, 1820-1860. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2005.

• Richard Brodhead, Cultures of Letters: Scenes of Reading and Writing in Nineteenth-Century America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

• Richard Gray, A History of American Literature. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.