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| Semester | fall semester 2022 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Christian Hänggi (christian.haenggi@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | With their 1967 debut album (produced by Andy Warhol), The Velvet Underground and German singer Nico anticipated what would harrow and delight New York City’s white cultural scene in the two decades to come: heroin, sadomasochism, gender-fluidity, punk, and pop art aesthetics, much of which eventually took its toll in the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s. After the dreams of the hippie generation had turn into a nightmare in the late 1960s, a new scene emerged in NYC, a scene which took mutual interest in their respective artistic productions, from literature and poetry to music, painting, photography, and philosophy. One of the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers was a Frenchman, Sylvère Lotringer, who not only introduced America to the writings of philosophers like Deleuze, Guattari, Virilio, Foucault, and Baudrillard but, in 1978, also organized the Nova Convention which brought renewed interest to William S. Burroughs and featured writers from the Beat Generation, musicians like Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson and Frank Zappa, and countercultural figures like LSD guru Timothy Leary. Through the genres of autobiography, novels, short stories, poetry, and interviews, the seminar will explore many facets of 1970s’ and 1980s’ white literary and cultural scene in New York, introduce students to some of the major works of the time in literature and beyond, discuss the innovations and limits of different forms and styles of writing and the ways literature depicts and describes a metropolis. Some of the readings include explicit passages of sex and violence. Students are asked to procure a copy of Patti Smith’s autobiography "Just Kids" (2010) and listen to the album "The Velvet Underground & Nico" before the start of the course. Other readings will be made available or announced at the start of the seminar. Except for "Just Kids", the reading list below is only indicative. |
| Learning objectives | Students will have received an insight into the multimedial nature of NYC's literary and otherwise cultural production in the 1970s and 1980s, be able to identify some of the artistic networks of the time, recognize the innovations, benefits, and limits of different styles of writing, and have an understanding of the ways in which literature can shape our image of an urban space. |
| Bibliography | • Acker, Kathy. 'New York City in 1979' in "Hannibal Lecter, My Father". Semiotext(e), 1991. • Anderson, Laurie. "Big Science". Warner Brothers Records, 1982. Music album. • Baudrillard, Jean. "Screened Out". Excerpts. London/New York: Verso, 2002. • Lotringer, Sylvère. "I Was More American than the Americans". Zürich-Paris-Berlin: Diaphanes, 2021. • Smith, Patti. "Just Kids". New York: HarperCollins, 2010. • Smith, Patti, "Horses". Arista Records, 1975. Music album. • The Velvet Underground & Nico. "The Velvet Underground & Nico". Verve, 1967. Music album. • Waldman, Anne. "Fast Speaking Woman". San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1975. • Warhol, Andy. "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)". New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. |
| Admission requirements | This seminar is for BA students on the advanced level. Students must have completed ALL three introductory modules (including the proseminar papers). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 23.09.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 30.09.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 07.10.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 14.10.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 21.10.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 28.10.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 04.11.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 11.11.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 18.11.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 25.11.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Dies Academicus |
| Friday 02.12.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 09.12.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 16.12.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 23.12.2022 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Modules |
Modul: Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| 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 |