S Kazuo Ishiguro: Memory, Identity, and Unreliability in Fictional Self-Narratives
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
COURSE OUTLINE
3.02.121: S Kazuo Ishiguro: Memory, Identity, and Unreliability in Fictional Self Narratives
- [Module] ang612 - Periods and Key Figures
- [Credits] 6 KP
- [Instructor] Dr. Christian Lassen
- [Time] Tuesday, 08.15 am - 09.45 am, weekly session, consisting of the following two parts: plenary session, discussing the asynchronous presentation (8.15 am - 9.15 am); and prepararory session for presentation groups (9.15 am - 9.45 am); nota bene: presentations will not be given in class but they will be made available on Stud.IP the Friday before they are scheduled, i.e. watching the presentations prior to the relevant sessions constitues a mandatory course requirement.
- [Room] V03 0-D001
- [Description] TBA
- [Office Hours] Wednesday, 11.00 am - 12.00 am
PRIMARY TEXTS (Mandatory Reading)
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. 1989. London: Faber and Faber, 1999. Print.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. When We Were Orphans. 2000. London: Faber and Faber, 2013. Print.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. 2005. London: Faber and Faber, 2010. Print.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. Klara and the Sun. 2021. London: Faber and Faber, 2022. Print.
FURTHER TEXTS (Recommended Reading)
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. A Pale View of Hills. 1982. London: Faber and Faber, 2010. Print.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. An Artist of the Floating World. 1986. London: Faber and Faber, 2001. Print.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Unconsoled. 2013. London: Faber and Faber, 2010. Print.
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Buried Giant. 2015. London: Faber and Faber, 2016. Print.
ASSIGNMENTS
- [Prüfungsleistung] asynchrones (Gruppen-)Referat (max. 4 Personen; ca. 25 Folien) mit Schriftlicher Ausarbeitung (10 Seiten) [oder in Ausnahmefällen: Hausarbeit (15 Seiten)]
- [Aktive Teilnahme] Regular Attendance, Course Preparation (i.e. watching the asynchronous presentations), 3 Abstracts
Please note that written assignments (abstracts, short term papers, long term papers) need to be composed according to the style sheet ("Leitfaden")of the University of Oldenburg, which can be accessed via the 'Institutswiki'-page of the English department. The style sheet not only provides relevant information on how to write a correct bibliography but it may also help you to structure your work according to academic standards.
Please make sure to sign the "Erklärung zum 'Plagiat'" and to attach it to your research papers.
- [Abgabefrist] 15. September 2022.
Contents
- 1 Session 01, April 20: Introduction
- 2 Session 02, April 27: Theory Session - Memory, Identity, Unreliability
- 3 Session 03, May 04: Theory Session - Autobiographical Writing Across Disciplines
- 4 Session 04, May 11: Theory Session - Queering Autobiographical Writing
- 5 Session 05, May 18: Queer Life Writing - De-constructing Heteronormative Genre Conventions
- 6 Session 06, May 25: Shameless Self-Fashionings - Queer Uses of Camp and Theatricality
- 7 Session 07, June 01: Becoming Dandy - Identity, Power(-lessness), and Self-Narration
- 8 Session 08, June 08: Writing Autobiographical Identities - Narrating and Focalising Multiple Selves
- 9 Session 09, June 15: Towards a Queer Genealogy - Isherwood and Forster
- 10 Session 10, June 22: Life in Transit - Isherwood and Auden
- 11 Session 11, June 29: Narrating Life Visually: De-constructing Medial Genre Conventions
- 12 Session 12, July 06: (De-)Constructing Authenticity - (Re-)Presenting Personal Texts
- 13 Session 13, July 13: Queer Loss, Queer Healing - Reparative Functions of Life Writing
- 14 Session 14, July 20: RPO Session
Session 01, April 20: Introduction
Organisational Matters
- Assignments
Assignments are graded and mandatory. In order to obtain 6 credits (KP), you will have to give an asynchronous (group) presentation (Referat, 25 Folien) on one of the presentation topics specified in the syllabus. In addition to that, you will have to hand in a short term paper (Ausarbeitung, 10 Seiten) by the end of term (15. September). In exceptional cases, you may hand in a long term paper (Hausarbeit, 15 Seiten) instead of the above. However, an exception is only granted upon consultation.
- Presentation Topics, Presentation Groups
Presentation Topics are specified on your syllabus. In order to prepare your presentations, please pick a topic, get together in groups (see below) and write up a power-point presentation. Add your audio commentary to the presentation, save the file and send it on to me so that we can discuss your presentation during your preparatory session before you upload it. After that, you make your file available on Stud.IP on the Friday before your presentation is due so that all participants can read/ watch the presentation in time, i.e. before the session.
Requests regarding your choice of presentation topics can be send to me via e-mail, starting on Tuesday, April 05th. I will sign you in in the order of the requests' arrival. Please check this page regularly to see if your requests have been met.
Preparatory Sessions for presentations take place in the second part of the weekly sessions, i.e. Tuesday 9.15 am - 9.45 am. Please make sure that you send me your presentation at least one day prior to your preparatory session and that you attend said session the week before your presentation is due.
- Active Participation
Active Participation is ungraded but mandatory. In order to fulfil the requirements, you will have to attend class regularly and watch the asynchronous presentations prior to the relevant sessions. Moreover, you will have to write three abstracts, each including a topic, a state of research, a thesis statement, and a brief outline of your argument (approx. 1 page), in the course of the seminar. You can choose your own topic; however: all abstracts have to address different primary texts. In other words, your abstracts will have to cover each of the three of the four primary materials. They are due by the end of the week (i.e. Friday) that marks the ending of the respective sections, i.e. due date The Remains of the Day: ???; due date When We Were Orphans: ???; due date Never Let Mw Go: ???; due date Klara and the Sun: ???)
Summary: Presentations
1. Pick a presentation topic and contact me via e-mail (starting April 05). Check below for available places. Presentation groups may consist of a maximum of 4 people.
2. Contact the other members of your group and prepare your presentation, i.e. power-point presentation with audio commentary.
3. Send me your presentation 8 days before your presentation is scheduled.
4. Discuss your presentation with me in your preparatory session 7 days, i.e week, before your presentation is scheduled. Preparatory sessions take place during the second part of class, i.e. Tuesday 9.15 am - 9.45 am.
5. Upload your file on the Friday before your presentation is scheduled.
6. Be ready to answer questions on the day of your presentation.
Session 02, April 27: Theory Session - Memory, Identity, Unreliability
Theory Texts
Further Reading
Guiding Questions
- TBA
Session 03, May 04: Theory Session - Autobiographical Writing Across Disciplines
Theory Texts
- Depkat, Volker. "History." Handbook of Autobiography/Autofiction. Ed. Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2019. 73-80. Print.
- Fleig, Anne. "Gender Studies." Handbook of Autobiography/Autofiction. Ed. Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2019. 54-63. Print.
- Schaser, Angelika."Memory." Handbook of Autobiography/Autofiction. Ed. Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2019. 342-9. Print.
Further Reading
Guiding Questions
- TBA
Session 04, May 11: Theory Session - Queering Autobiographical Writing
Theory Texts
- Freeman, Elizabeth. "Introduction: Queer and Not Now." Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2010. 1-19. Print.
- Halberstam, Jack. "Queer Temporalities, Postmodern Geographies." In a Queer Time and Place: Transgendered Bodies, Subcultural Lives. New York, NY, and London: New York UP, 2005. 1-34. Print.
Guiding Questions
- TBA
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 05, May 18: Queer Life Writing - De-constructing Heteronormative Genre Conventions
Primary Material
- Crisp, Quentin. The Naked Civil Servant. New York and London: HarperCollins, 2007. Print.
Secondary Material
- Kilian, Eveline. "The Queer Self and the Snares of Heteronormativity: Quentin Crisp's Life Story - A Successful Failure". Rethinking Narrative Identity: Persona and Perspective. Eds. Claudia Holler and Martin Klepper. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2013. 171-86. Print.
- Halberstam, Jack. "The Queer Art of Failure." The Queer Art of Failure. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2011. 87-121. Print.
Presentation
- "Failure May Be Your Style,": Queer Time, Queer 'Failure', and Embracing the Abject in The Naked Civil Servant
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 06, May 25: Shameless Self-Fashionings - Queer Uses of Camp and Theatricality
Primary Material
- Crisp, Quentin. The Naked Civil Servant. New York and London: HarperCollins, 2007. Print.
Secondary Material
Presentation
- "I wouldn't like you to think I was ashamed,": Shame(-lessness), Theatricality, and Camp Performativity in The Naked Civil Servant
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 07, June 01: Becoming Dandy - Identity, Power(-lessness), and Self-Narration
Primary Material
- Crisp, Quentin. The Naked Civil Servant. New York and London: HarperCollins, 2007. Print.
Secondary Material
Presentation
- "Aloofness Is the Posture of Self-Defence,": Dandyism and Resilience in The Naked Civil Servant
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
June 03: Abstract The Naked Civil Servant Due
Session 08, June 08: Writing Autobiographical Identities - Narrating and Focalising Multiple Selves
Primary Material
- Isherwood, Christopher. Christopher and His Kind. 1976. London: Vintage, 2012. Print.
Secondary Material
- Borich, Barrie Jean. "'Three Quite Different People': Christopher and His Nonfictions." Isherwood in Transit. Eds. James J. Berg and Chris Freeman. Minneapolis and London: U of Minnesota P, 2020. 175-89. Print.
- Fonioková, Zuzana. "What's in an I? Dissonant and Consonant Self-Narration in Autobiographical Discourse." Biography 43.2 (2020): 387-406. Print.
Further Reading
- Kamel, Rose. "'Unravelling One's Personal Myth': Christopher Isherwood's Autobiographical Strategies". Biography 5.2 (1982): 161-175. Print.
- Schwerdt, Lisa N. "Isherwood's Namesake Narrators: Device, Persona, and Alter Ego." Critique 29.3 (1988): 195-207. Print.
Presentation
- Between "Christopher", "Isherwood", and "I": Narration, Focalisation and Revision in Christopher and His Kind
- Presentation Group: TBA
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 09, June 15: Towards a Queer Genealogy - Isherwood and Forster
Primary Material
- Isherwood, Christopher. Christopher and His Kind. 1976. London: Vintage, 2012. Print.
Secondary Material
Further Reading
Presentation
- Elective Affinities: Carpenter, Forster, Isherwood, and the Construction of a Queer Literary Heritage
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 10, June 22: Life in Transit - Isherwood and Auden
Primary Material
- Isherwood, Christopher. Christopher and His Kind. 1976. London: Vintage, 2012. Print.
Secondary Material
Further Reading
- Berg, James J. and Chris Freeman. "Auden and Isherwood." Auden in Context. Ed. Tony Sharpe. Cambridge: CUP, 2013. 316-26. Print.
- Charteris, Charlotte. "Part I: Christopher Isherwood and the Auden Generation." The Queer Cultures of 1930s Prose: Language, Identity and Performance in Interwar Britain. Cham: Springer/Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 27-106. Print.
Presentation
- Mr. Isherwood Changes Places: Isherwood's and Auden's Journey from Berlin to America
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
June 24: Abstract Christopher and His Kind Due
Session 11, June 29: Narrating Life Visually: De-constructing Medial Genre Conventions
Primary Material
- Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. London: Jonathan Cape, 2006. Print.
Secondary Material
Further Reading
Presentation
- Putting Life into Boxes: Autobiographical Writing, Visual Narratives, and the Comic in Fun Home
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 12, July 06: (De-)Constructing Authenticity - (Re-)Presenting Personal Texts
Primary Material
- Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. London: Jonathan Cape, 2006. Print.
Secondary Material
- Cvetkovich, Ann. "Drawing the Archive in Alison Bechdel's Fun Home." WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly 36.1&2 (2008): 111-28. Print.
- Rohy, Valerie. "In the Queer Archive: Fun Home." GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 16.3 (2010): 341-61. Print.
Presentation
- Queering the Archive: 'Authenticity' and the Visual Reproduction of Photographs, Diary Enries, and Other Personal Texts in Fun Home
- Presentation Group:
Preparatory Session
- Preparatory Session Group:
Session 13, July 13: Queer Loss, Queer Healing - Reparative Functions of Life Writing
Primary Material
- Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. London: Jonathan Cape, 2006. Print.
Secondary Material
- McCullough, Kate. "'The Complexity of Loss Itself': The Comic's Form and Fun Home's Queer Reparative Temporality." American Literature 90.2 (2018): 377-405. Print.
- Fox, Meghan C. "Alison Bechdel's Fun Home: Queer Futurity and the Metamodernist Memoir." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 65.3 (2019): 511-37. Print.
Presentation
- Toward a Queer Sense of Belonging: Memory, Loss, and Healing in Fun Home
- Presentation Group:
July 15: Abstract Fun Home Due
Session 14, July 20: RPO Session
Guidelines for finding your RPO topic:
Your RPO topic needs to be related to at least one of the primary texts
September 15: Term Paper Due
Please upload your paper to the folder "Ausarbeitungen und Hausarbeiten" on our Stud.IP page and send a printed copy to the address below.
Bitte stellen Sie Ihre Prüfungsleistung in den Ordner "Ausarbeitungen und Hausarbeiten" auf unserer Stud.IP-Seite ein und senden Sie eine gedruckte Fassung an die untenstehende Adresse.
Dr. Christian Lassen
Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Fakultät III: Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Ammerländer Heerstraße 114-118
26129 Oldenburg