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Semester | fall semester 2019 |
Course frequency | Once only |
Lecturers | Johannes Fehrle (johannes.fehrle@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
Content | Coined by F.O. Matthiessen in 1941, the term "American Renaissance" describes the period between 1830 and the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861. Many of the texts and authors we now regard as representative of 19th century American literature and culture are from this period. Taking up later critiques of Matthiessen's categorization for focusing almost exclusively on white male writers, we will expand the scope beyond Hawthorne, Melville, Thoreau, Emerson and Emily Dickinson. Class discussion will include authors like Susan Warner, who wrote in a popular form, or ones who engage critical issues of the time, including patriarchal and class relations as well as the central conflict of slavery, problems that are marginal in the writings traditionally counted among the American Renaissance. |
Learning objectives | The course will provide an overview of a formative period in American literature and culture. It will highlight key ideas of pre-Civil War American culture. Students will analyze texts in a variety of genres (novels / novellas, short stories, poems, non-fiction) for their formal and aesthetic features, as well as their philosophical and political aspects. They will learn ways of engaging with and presenting scholarly research orally and in writing by giving a presentations and submitting a term paper. |
Bibliography | Please buy the following editions: - Nathaniel Hawthorne. "The House of the Seven Gables". Norton Critical Edition, 2005. - Harriet Jacobs. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl". Norton Critical Edition, 2018. - Herman Melville. "Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories". Penguin Classics, 2016. Additional texts will be made available online. |
Weblink | ADAM |
Admission requirements | It is strongly recommended that this course is taken only after the successful completion of the "Introduction I + II: Literary Studies" proseminars. |
Course application | Please sign up via MOnA and by e-mail to johannes.fehrle@unibas.ch. |
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: Introduction to Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) |
Assessment format | continuous assessment |
Assessment details | Regular active participation, taking over parts of a session as a group |
Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
Scale | Pass / Fail |
Repeated registration | no repetition |
Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |