| Kommentar |
The seminar introduces different stages in the history of the study of American culture. The seminar will be structured in three parts: First we will examine different notions of “culture” (Freud, Marx, Williams). In the second part we will discuss central topics and paradigms in American Studies, such as puritanism, the frontier, popular culture, ethnic studies, gender studies, and transnationalism. In the third part we will concentrate on more recent debates on “border studies” and “empire”. For preparatory reading I recommend: Neil Campbell and Alasdair Kean. American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture (London and New York: Routledge, 1997); Susie O’Brien and Imre Szeman. Popular Culture: A User’s Guide. Scarborough, ON: Nelson, 2004; Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Empire (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000). A reader will be available for purchase in the first week of teaching. Please watch the movie Babel (2006, dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu) before the seminar starts. |
