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37998-01 - Seminar: Approaches to Reading Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2014 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Philipp Schweighauser (ph.schweighauser@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This BA seminar focuses on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter with a view to three key issues in contemporary literary and cultural theory: textuality, historicity and subjectivity. Among the questions we will consider are: What underlying structures generate meaning within The Scarlet Letter, and how are those structures related to nonliterary systems of signification? How do we conceive of the relationship between Hawthorne's novel and its historical contexts given that those contexts are most often accessible to us exclusively through other texts? What role does literature play in our constructions of subjectivity? The answers a variety of theoretical approaches give to these and related questions will be tested mainly against readings of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, but Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" will also be considered. In terms of theoretical approaches, we will begin with structuralism as a reference and departure point for many contemporary theories and then move on to post-structuralism, New Historicism, cultural materialism, psychoanalysis, and gender theory. |
| Learning objectives | Students gain in-depth knowledge of a classical novel of the American Renaissance and learn to discuss it from a variety of theoretical vantage points. |
| Bibliography | Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" need to read in preparation of the semester. Hawthorne's novel can be purchased from the Labyrinth book store in this specific second edition: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Ross C. Murfin (Boston: Bedford Books, 2006), see http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/Catalog/product/scarletletter-secondedition-hawthorne). Note that this edition also contains several critical articles we are going to read during the semester, so you need to buy this specific (second!) edition. Melville's short story is available in many anthologies, including the Norton Anthology of American Literature. Additional reading material will be made available as on ISIS by the beginning of the semester. |
| Comments | Note that this closely seminar relates to Philipp Schweighauser's lecture course "American Literature Survey II/IV: American Renaissance to Naturalism" (27426). However, attendance of the lecture is not a prerequisite for this seminar. |
| Weblink | ISIS |
| Admission requirements | This seminar is open to BA students who have successfully completed their 2nd year (including the proseminar paper in literature). |
| Course application | Please register on ISIS. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul Extending the View (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Focusing on the Discipline (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | t.b.a. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |