Kommentiertes Vorlesungsverzeichnis Sommersemester 2013

Covering the period between c. 1900 and 1940, this lecture class introduces the diversity of U.S. literary and cultural
responses to processes of modernization since the late 19th century. “American modernism” must be understood as
both a national and a transnational phenomenon that reflects an awareness of rapid cultural change and transformation
and that is in many ways characterized by (aesthetic) innovation and experiment. Modernist texts became
manifest in various media and genres: in the literary genres of novel, short story, drama, and poetry, but also in
painting, photography, sculpture, and film. The lectures will first establish historical contexts – economic, political,
and social, but also philosophical, psychological, scientific, and technological – to which the arts, literature, and
popular culture (especially film) responded. They will then focus on the genres of novel, drama, and poetry. Addressed
will be, moreover, the major groups and movements that emerged during those decades: avant-garde
movements such as Imagism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the so-called “Lost Generation” of American expatriate
writers in Europe. Among the writers whose texts will be introduced are: Sherwood Anderson, Willa Cather, T.S.
Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Susan Glaspell, Claude
McKay, Eugene O’Neill, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and William Carlos Williams.
Many of the texts discussed in the lectures can be found in volume D of the seventh edition of The Norton Anthology
of American Literature “1914 – 1945” (the exact bibliographical information is given below). It is recommended
to purchase this volume as a textbook. Additional materials (e.g. the syllabus and weekly handouts) will be made
available on the UBT E-learning Server.
Students who will take the written exam (“Klausur”) at the end of the semester (e.g. if they take the class as the BA
or Lehramt “survey lecture”) will be informed in the first lecture which materials are relevant. The written exam will
focus only on a selection of the issues and texts discussed in the lectures.
It is not necessary to register for this class.
41101 Survey of British Literature
Steppat
(BA, Lehramt, MAIAS electives extension)
V 2st, Di 10-12,
Plus 17.05., 31.05., jeweils 10-12, 14-16:30
This survey course of lectures will outline the history of British literature from the time of Chaucer to the twentieth
century, with a stress on major developments and masterworks. The focus will be on all genres of historical importance,
in the main poetry, drama, and fiction. General information on each period (cultural and political history,
social and economic developments) will form a part of the lectures to provide a context for literary developments.
The lectures address particularly the first few semesters, for students of English as major or minor subject, but are
also suitable as revision electives at MAIAS level. Summaries of the lectures are available on the web page (Prof.
Steppat, Courses, Survey of British Literature), as well as textual quotations. The E-learning platform offers further
materials (guest status is mostly adequate). Essays and a written examination are compulsory for undergraduate
majors. Essays and an exam will meet the credit requirements for BA or MAIAS electives.
NB. The compact sessions on 17.05. and 31.05. are needed to replace a few regular sessions that cannot take
place. In the compact sessions, 50% will be devoted to the lecture part.
41102 Survey of British Literature
(BA TG 1.1 oder 1.2, Lehramt, MAIAS electives
extension)
Begleit-Ü 2st, Di 14-16,
Plus 17.05., 31.05., jeweils 10-12, 14-16:30
Steppat
This course is designed to provide an opportunity for guided reading of selected masterworks, or sections thereof, to
extend the scope of the Survey lectures. It is not a compulsory part of the lecture cycle.
The course is recommended for members of the Survey lectures, as the reading materials are a part of the preparation
for the compulsory exam. Both cursory and in-depth readings are possible. Context readings may be included,
for a better understanding of literary developments. Thus the course offers an opportunity to improve one's understanding
of major literary works, and to discuss questions. Information on reading materials will be given during
meetings. Submission of essays will meet the credit requirements for BA or MAIAS electives. For BA undergraduates,
the topics of essays will determine full validation for "Teilgebiet" 1.1 or 1.2.
For the first session, members should bring a printout of the texts found at the web site: Prof. Steppat, Courses, this
semester, Survey of British Literature, "Lecture 1, Texts 1-2".
NB. The compact sessions on 17.05. and 31.05. are needed to replace a few regular sessions that cannot take
place. In the compact sessions, 50% will be devoted to the reading part.
41103 Comedy: Variations of a genre
(BA TG 1.1, Lehramt, MAIAS electives
extension)
PS 2st, Do 10-12,
Plus 17.05., 31.05., jeweils 1000-1200, 1400-1630
Steppat
The well-known scholar and novelist Dietrich Schwanitz has characterized British cultural history, in contrast to
Germany, as commedia anglicana: a culture in which comedy has a special significance. This seminar will read and
analyze a selection of popular comedies from the early modern age, for a better understanding of the genre's major
types as well as the culturally representative functions of humor. The seminar will include an introduction to characteristic
features of this period, then go on to consider matters of structure, dramatic technique, style, characterization,
and theme for each play. Film and opera versions of a few works may become a part of the program.
The plays to be discussed are William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The
Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing; Ben Jonson, Volpone. The Shakespeare texts (e.g., New Penguin
Shakespeare) and Volpone (a good edition being ed. Robert Watson, New Mermaids) should be purchased
during semester holidays. A plain reading text of Volpone can be downloaded from Bibliomania
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