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| Semester | fall semester 2018 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Christiane Schlote (christiane.schlote@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | "There was a sound in the background like a distant sheep coughing gently on a mountainside. Jeeves sailing into action." In this quote from P. G. Wodehouse's "Joy in the Morning" (1946), Reginald Jeeves, trusted manservant and valet to Bertie Wooster, once again saves the day with his trademark competence. The character of Jeeves also provides the starting point for this seminar's focus on the history of servitude and its literary and cultural representations. We will begin with an overview of domestic servants and their functions in British literature, before moving on to representations of domestic workers (including maids, nannies, cleaners, etc.) within a transnational context in contemporary African and Indian texts and, finally, the significance of domestic service figures in neo-Victorian and neo-Edwardian popular culture such as 'Downton Abbey' (2010-2015) and 'Victoria and Abdul' (2017). Our discussions of the representation of domestic labour in a variety of periods, contexts, geographical settings, cultural spaces and genres will also enable us to address broader issues of 'cosmopolitanism from below', female migration, global inequality, (postcolonial) retellings of classics from the servants' perspective and working-class studies. |
| Learning objectives | Students will be introduced to the field of global working-class studies and develop a critical understanding of transnational literatures and class discourses. |
| Bibliography | Students should acquire the following texts: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Half of a Yellow Sun" (HarperCollins 2014); Nadine Gordimer, "July's People" (Bloomsbury 2005) and Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, "The Dohmestics" (CreateSpace 2014). Copies of Adichie and Gordimer will be available at the 'Labyrinth' bookstore, Nadelberg 17, 4051 Basel. Theoretical and additional primary texts will be made available on ADAM. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | For MA and PhD students only |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul Literatur- und kulturwissenschaftliche Forschung (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) Modul Research in Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Regular and active participation, reading assignments, oral presentation |
| 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 |