Wählen Sie eines der Seminare. One of the paradigms of American Literature and Culture has been the ongoing experience of migration. From the earliest European settlers and the first documents of American culture, the trials and tribulations of arriving and making oneself at home in America have been emplotted as an "errand into the wilderness," as the challenge of building a "city upon the hill," or the arrival in a "land of freedom and opportunity". There is, perhaps, no other experience which is more subject to myth and projection than the entry into the "new world." This seminar looks at the way migration is emplotted today, in a time of globalization and "post-colonialism" (a problematic term), by five writers and one filmmaker. We will explore their novels/movie; we will look at definitions of migration, globalization and post-colonial theory. We will also discuss the techniques and functions of emplotment/fictionalization. Hopefully, the class will also enable us to rethink ideas about migration in Europe! Since some of the novels are rather long, please start reading before the semester begins!Please sign yourself up for this class in the virtual classroom in Moodle! The key is "Migration". Reading:· Amy Tan (1989), The Joy Luck Club. (Please get the Random House Edition (paperback), so that we have the same page numbers) Geoffrey Eugenidis (2002), Middlesex. (Please get the Picador Edition (paperback)) Khaled Hosseini (2003), The Kite Runner. (Please get the Bloomsbury Edition (paperback)) Kiran Desai (2006), The Inheritance of Loss. (Please get the Penguin Edition (paperback)) Dinaw Mengestu (2007), The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears. (Please get the Riverhead Edition (paperback)) Course Requirements: Short presentation in class and term paper (15 pages) or oral exam (reading list)—either/or in exchange with Modul 4 |
