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| Semester | fall semester 2019 |
| Course frequency | Every 2nd spring sem |
| Lecturers | Philipp Schweighauser (ph.schweighauser@unibas.ch) |
| Content | The beginnings of European modernism reach back to the late nineteenth century and the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, but most of the texts which are central to modernist literature as we know it today were written between 1914 and 1945, the years which mark the beginning of the First and the ending of the Second World War. In the United States, too, these years saw a spectacular flowering of literary experimentation that produced works whose innovative force every succeeding generation of writers has to contend with: Gertrude Stein's difficult and ingenious mixture of prose and poetry; the radical politics and equally radical aesthetics of John Dos Passos's "Manhattan Transfer" and "U.S.A." trilogy; the African-American modernism of the Harlem Renaissance; the succinctness of Hemingway's 'hard style' as well as the powerful long sentences of William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury;" the very different poetics of Ezra Pound's "The Cantos" and T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" on the one hand and Wallace Stevens's "Anecdote of the Jar" and William Carlos Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow" on the other; and Djuna Barnes's dark and daring exploration of alternative sexualities in "Nightwood." We will work our way toward this defining period of American literary history by beginning with naturalist works such as Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage," which can be read both as radicalizations of realist modes of writing and proto-modernist literary experiments. |
| Learning objectives | You are introduced to a formative period of American literary and cultural history. |
| Bibliography | The ninth, eighth or seventh edition of Volumes C and D (1865-1914; 1914-1945) of Baym, Nina, gen. ed., "The Norton Anthology of American Literature" (New York: W. W. Norton) needs to be ordered and purchased well before the beginning of the term. The Labyrinth bookstore right opposite the Department of English has ordered copies of these volumes. You might consider supporting your local bookstore. If you plan to attend more than one part of this four-part lecture course, it makes sense to buy all volumes (A-B + C-E) of "The Norton Anthology of American Literature". You also need to bring along the handouts for each session, INCLUDING THE FIRST. They are available on ADAM. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | None |
| Course application | Not required |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Course auditors welcome |
| 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: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree program: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Slavic Studies) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Literature) Modul: Introduction to Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Literaturgeschichte (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | Written test (90 mins) toward the end of term |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | one repetition, repetition counts |
| 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 |