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28840-01 - Seminar: Modernist American Prose and Poetry (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Philipp Schweighauser (ph.schweighauser@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This BA seminar invites you to an intense engagement with a moment in the history of U.S. literature that the modernist writer John Dos Passos called “an explosion ... that had an influence in its sphere comparable with that of the October revolution in social organization and politics.” The links Dos Passos establishes between the literary and the social will be at the center of our course as we analyze the ways in which literary modernisms negotiate, affirm, critique, and intervene in the debates, conflicts and processes that constitute modernity (industrialization, WW I, urbanization, growing ethnic diversity, women’s rights movements, and so on). We will take a close look at different forms of modernist prose and poetry and immerse ourselves in some of the critical debates surrounding the meaning, forms, and politics of modernist writing. We will be focusing on two different but related traditions of American modernism: that of Anglo-American modernism and the African-American modernism of the Harlem Renaissance. You are expected to purchase and read the following two representative texts from each tradition before the beginning of the semester: John Dos Passos’s "Manhattan Transfer" and Zora Neale Hurston’s "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Additional poems (by T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, and others) and critical texts will be made available on ADAM. |
| Learning objectives | Through an in-depth study of a variety of modernist texts, you gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between the forms of literary texts and the social and political issues they address. |
| Bibliography | John Dos Passos's "Manhattan Transfer" and Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" need to be purchased and read in preparation of the semester. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | This course is open to students of English who have passed all three BA introductory modules (including the proseminar paper in literature). Max. 25 students. |
| Course application | Please register on services.unibas.ch. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 16.09.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 23.09.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 30.09.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 07.10.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 14.10.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 21.10.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 28.10.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 04.11.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 11.11.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 18.11.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 25.11.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 02.12.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 09.12.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 16.12.2025 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Modules |
Modul: Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | regular attendance, active participation, weekly readings |
| 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 |