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| Semester | fall semester 2021 |
| Course frequency | Every 2nd fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Philipp Schweighauser (ph.schweighauser@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | For generations of Americanists, 'real' American literature began only with Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Melville. More recently, critics have begun to point out the gender, ethnic, and regional biases of that selection and added Margaret Fuller, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frances E. W. Harper, sentimental women poets, and the fireside poets to the list. This semester will take us from these writers--the representatives of a newly configured 'American Renaissance'--to Stephen Crane's naturalist dissection of urban and martial plight. Along the way, we will encounter some of the classics of American literary history (most prominently "Moby-Dick" and "The Scarlet Letter"); the 'Dean' of American realism (William Dean Howells); Henry James; the rise to stardom and fall of Theodor Dreiser's Sister Carrie; and the shocking but intelligible brutality of the eponymous protagonist of Frank Norris's "Mc Teague." |
| Learning objectives | You are introduced to a formative period of American literary and cultural history. |
| Bibliography | Recommendations for moderate weekly readings are taken from the seventh, eighth or ninth edition of Volumes B and C (1820-1865; 1865-1914) of Nina Baym (gen. ed.), "The Norton Anthology of American Literature" (New York: W. W. Norton). Copies are available at the Labyrinth bookstore. If you plan to attend more than one part of this four-part lecture course and intend to do the recommended reading, it makes sense to buy all volumes (A-B + C-E) of "The Norton Anthology of American Literature" because this is the cheaper option. Make sure you bring along the handouts for each session, including the first. They are available on ADAM, contain the lecture slides, and will facilitate your note-taking. |
| Comments | The lecture slides are made available on ADAM. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | None |
| Course application | Not required |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz - |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 21.09.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 28.09.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 05.10.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 12.10.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 19.10.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 26.10.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 02.11.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 09.11.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 16.11.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 23.11.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 30.11.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 07.12.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 14.12.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Tuesday 21.12.2021 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| 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: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree program: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: English) 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: Nordic Philology) 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 | Please write one essay of 1,000-1,500 words that provides an interpretation of one of the literary texts discussed by Philipp Schweighauser. The deadline for submission of the essay is January 10, 2022. Please submit as a .doc or .docx file. If you fail the essay, you can write a second essay on a new literary text. This option if available only to those who submitted an essay (not an empty sheet) by the first deadline (January 10). The deadline for the second essay is February 20, 2022. |
| 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 |