Difference between revisions of "2023-24 MM Literary History and Literary Studies"

Latest revision as of 10:58, 18 October 2023

• Modul: ang902, ang622, pb113, pb114
• Lecturer: Anna Auguscik

• Course: Literature, Literary History and Literary Studies
• Time: Thursday 14.30-16.00h
• Venue: A13 0-027

• Course Description: This course is designed to accompany the lecture ‘Introduction to Literary History and Textual Analysis’ (3.02.040) with additional discussions of the ideas, theories, and texts mentioned there. The course is meant to add to students' construction of a ‘narrative’ of this field, or, in other words, to students’ understanding of the history and culture of literary studies as an academic discipline. Why do we read certain texts? Why do we read them with certain ‘analysis tools’? Each week, we will discuss the contents of the lecture and read texts that will open up this perspective. Please note that we will concentrate on reading secondary literature but it would be good to familiarize yourself with the current BM's corpus. Hence, please buy and read:

• Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Eds. Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan. The Arden Shakespeare, third series. London: Bloomsbury, 2011. Print. [ISBN: 978-1408133477]
• Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. The 1818 Text. Oxford: OUP, 2020. Print. [ISBN: 978-0198840824]

PLEASE NOTE that you will have to visit both the lecture and the course (Thursday, 12.15-14.15h and 14.30-16.00h).

• Course Requirements

• Requirements for 3 KP: active attendance (incl. a RPO)
• Requirements for 6 KP: active attendance (incl. a RPO) and an (oral/)written contribution in the form of a seminar paper (15 pp), based on the topic of the seminar.
• As part of the "Aktive Teilnahme" regulation:

    Die aktive Teilnahme besteht aus folgenden Komponenten
    - regelmäßige Anwesenheit: max. 3 Abwesenheiten und gegebenenfalls Nacharbeit
    - Vor- und Nachbereitung des Seminarstoffs (Expertengruppen, Vorbereitung/Lektüre von Texten) 
    - Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Fragestellung aus dem Problembereich des Seminars, durch:
      *Übernahme von Ergebnispräsentationen (Gruppenarbeit) und 
      *Entwicklung einer Research Paper Outline im Laufe des Semesters: 
       Wahl eines Themenbereichs (bis letzte Sitzung vor Weihnachten),
       Abstract mit Fragestellung inkl. Forschungsbibliographie (RPO) (bis 20. Jan), 
       Vorstellung der Fragestellung (letzte Semestersitzung).

Session 1: 19 October

• 12-14h Lecture: "Introduction and Overview. What Is Literature? What Do We Do with Literature?"
• 14.30-16h Course Introduction and Discussion
• Reading: Simon During's essay on the demoralization of the humanities in The Conversation (2022) and Ken Gelder's response

Session 2: 26 October

• 12-14h Lecture: "What Do We Do with Literature? – Examples and Practices"
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: Anton Kirchhofer, "The Foucault Complex" (1997)
• Handout Literature & Representation

Session 3: 2 November

• Online Lecture: "Working with Literature: Rules and Practices"
• Online reading week: Olaf Simons, Marteaus Europa, oder der Roman bevor er Literatur wurde (2001; Auszüge)
• Handout Traditions in our discourse about literature

Session 4: 9 November

• No lecture, Practice week: Recap and Practical Unit (with tutors)
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: excerpts from Jonathan Culler, Structuralist Poetics (1975)

Session 5: 16 November

• 12-14h Lecture: "Literature in Historical Context: Poetry and Rhetoric"
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: excerpts from Aristotle, Poetics and Rhetoric
• Handout Analysing Poetry
• Handout Rhetoric

Session 6: 23 November

• 12-14h Lecture: "Literature in Historical Context: Drama"
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: excerpts from Manfred Pfister, The Theory and Analysis of Drama (1993)
• Handout Analysing Dramatic Communication

Session 7: 30 November

• No lecture, Practice week: Recap and Practical Unit (with tutors)
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: Ian Hunter, "Learning the Literature Lesson: The Limits of the Aesthetic Personality" (1991)

Session 8: 7 December

• 12-14h Lecture: "Literature and Literary Theory: A Survey"
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: Aaron R. Hanlon, "The Ends of Literary Studies" (2023)
• Handout: Brief Overview of Theoretical Approaches and Movements

Session 9: 14 December

• No lecture, Practice week: Recap and Practical Unit (with tutors)
• No course, Reading week: Stephen Greenblatt, "Towards a Poetics of Culture" (1989)

Session 10: 21 December

• 12-14h Lecture Recaps, Historical and Practical Unit: Theoretical Perspectives on the History of Shakespeare Performance, Editing, and Interpretation
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: Ina Schabert, Das Shakespeare Handbuch (1978/2018; Auszüge); Michel Foucault, "What is an Author?" (1967)
• Handout: Editing Shakespeare
• Handout: Shakespeare Handbuch

// Christmas Break //

Session 11: 11 January

• 12-14h Lecture: "Literature in Historical Context: Narrative Fiction"
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: excerpts from Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction (1983)
• Handout Narratology

Session 12: 18 January

• 12-14h Lecture: Recap, Historical and Practical Unit – Changing historical contexts and conceptions of Narrative and Fiction. Changes in narrative conventions. Famous Passages from Famous Novels.
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion
• Reading: Catherine Gallagher, "The Rise of Fictionality" (2006); and in response, Monika Fludernik, "The Fiction of the Rise of Fictionality" (2018)

  [Hand in RPO until 20 Jan 2023]

Session 13: 25 January

• 12-14h Lecture: "Working with Literature: Preparing to write a Research Paper"
• 14.30-16h Course Discussion: how to write a research paper
• Handout Style Sheet for Literary and Cultural Studies
• course evaluation

Session 14: 01 February

• No lecture, BM test
• discussion of research paper topics
• feedback on evaluation

  [Hand in research papers until 15 March 2023]

Tools

• Handout Analysing Poetry
• Handout Rhetoric
• Handout Analysing Dramatic Communication
• Handout Narratology
• Handout Editing Shakespeare
• Handout Brief Overview of Theoretical Approaches and Movements
• Handout Literature & Representation
• Handout Key Concepts in Cultural Studies: Culture and Representation
• Handout Key Concepts in Cultural Studies: Discourse
• Handout Key Concepts in Cultural Studies: Identity
• Handout Key Concepts in Cultural Studies: Media
• Handout Traditions in our discourse about literature
• Handout (Non-)literary texts
• Handout Excerpt
• Handout Style Sheet for Literary and Cultural Studies

Recommended Primary Reading

Note that there will be no 'primary reading' in the strict sense. However, we will take a look at extracts from various primary texts taught as part of the basic module this term as well as in the previous terms. Ideally, familiarize yourself with the Reading List in British and Anglophone Literatures. The main reading in this course will be theoretical and secondary texts.

Secondary and Further Reading

• Aristotle, Poetics and Rhetoric (335 BCE)
• Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel (1957)
• Michel Foucault, "What is an Author?" (1967)
• Jonathan Culler, Structuralist Poetics (1975)
• Ina Schabert, Das Shakespeare Handbuch (1978/2018; Auszüge)
• Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction (1983)
• Louis A. Montrose, "Professing the Renaissance: The Poetics and Politics of Culture" (1989)
• Stephen Greenblatt, "Towards a Poetics of Culture"
• Ian Hunter, "Learning the Literature Lesson: The Limits of the Aesthetic Personality" (1991)
• Manfred Pfister, The Theory and Analysis of Drama (1993)
• Kirchhofer, Anton. “The Foucault Complex. A Review of Foucauldian Approaches in Literary Studies. ZAA 45.4 (1997): 277-299.
• Olaf Simons, Marteaus Europa, oder der Roman bevor er Literatur wurde (2001)
• Catherine Gallagher, "The Rise of Fictionality" (2006)
• Monika Fludernik, "The Fiction of the Rise of Fictionality" (2018)
• Simon During's essay on the demoralization of the humanities in The Conversation (2022)
• Ken Gelder (2022)
• Hanlon, Aaron R. "The Ends of Literary Studies." The Ends of Knowledge: Outcomes and Endpoints Across the Arts and Sciences. Eds. Seth Rudy and Rachael Scarborough King. London: Bloomsbury. 2023.

Helpful Resources

• Literary Theory Reading List
• Reading List: British and Anglophone Literatures