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This is a seminar for book lovers. For our sixteen weeks we have quite a lot of texts to read, but some are short and dense (Pynchon), some are fast reads (Brautigan) – we start with the shorter reads--, some are suspenseful and grim (Butler), some interesting and annoying (Roth), some exciting and surprising (Yamashita) and some creative, imaginative and riveting (Whitehead). We will attempt to re-assess postmodernism in literature. We will get to know various approaches to postmodernism, definitions, explanations. And we will read the novels/novellas against these suggestions, look at the styles, strategies, topics, concerns. We will see if there is a development within postmodernism, if postmodernism is passé, or if we can relate to the material (and if Afrofuturism is its heir). We will also discuss what a (literary) period could be and from which vantage point we judge literary eras.
Reading:
Please start reading these texts before the semester starts (the later are the longer books!)!
- Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966)
- Richard Brautigan, Dreaming of Babylon (1977)
- Octavia Butler, Kindred (1979)
- Philip Roth – Operation Shylock (1993)
- Karen Yamashita, Tropic of Orange (1997)
- Colson Whitehead – Underground Railroad (2016)
Online Format: This will be a synchronous course – depending on what is allowed either through Zoom or in person in a room (see below) – or a mixture of in-class and Zoom. We will meet on a weekly basis, so you need to block the time. You need to be in Berlin!
Support:
There will be a Moodle site with information and links. It will also detail the course format, so have a look at it before the first week!
Requirements:
- You will have to introduce one postmodern book of fiction that is not on our reading list in class (just 5 minutes) and fill in 8 very short questionnaires about a meeting. The MAP is an oral exam, either in this seminar or in your cultural theory seminar.
Please register through Agnes, it’s my only way to get the access data to the moodle course to you (which also means: check your mail!!!!). |
