This class is an advanced survey course on major problems of American Literary and Cultural History. In the form of lectures (over roughly 50-60 min), some collaborative interpretations, and workshops we will review recent descriptions and current research questions for some of the main literary and cultural periods in American history: Re-Discovery: 1492 (Old and New Inhabitants); City upon a Hill (The Puritan Experiment); Reason and Revolutions (The Age of Reasons and American Revolutions between Philadelphia and Seneca Falls); In and beneath the American Renaissance (a canon for 1850 and its multicultural and multi-gendered basis); Post-bellum Realisms and Naturalisms; Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance; Postmodernism and the old/new Diversity. Because of the upcoming convention of the German Association for American Studies in Berlin, the topic of which is "American economies", workshops (3-4 students) will concentrate on the economy in one of the periods: The economy of colonization; tax, commerce and revolution; the economy of slavery; Big Business; The Depression; post-fordist economy; globalization and the economy. Reading:· A reader with pertinent texts will be available the copyshop "Sprintout", Georgenstraße, S-Bahn Bogen 190.· The powerpoint presentations used in the lecture will be available for viewing and downloading on the e-learning platform Moodle before each lecture. Course Requirements: Students will have to prepare a poster and a short presentation on their workshop topic. As a MAP students will write a Klausur about this class and the class "Theories of American Studies".You have to register for this class in the e-learning platform Moodle. As a password use the last word of the course title. |
