Kommentiertes Vorlesungsverzeichnis Sommersemester 2013

This course introduces students to the research methods and writing skills relevant for writing an MA thesis in American
Studies and provides a platform for presenting their work in progress.
Please contact the instructor directly if you would like to participate in this course. jeanne.cortiel@unibayreuth.de.
41133 “Literary Critical Theory and Practice: Kate Chopin, The Awakening”
MAIAS A 3; Special Seminar Theories and Methods
Mayer
HS, 2st., Do 10-12,
This seminar has a double purpose. It aims at introducing students to a classic of late-19th century American literature,
Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), and to several literary critical approaches, among them narratological
criticism, feminist criticism, and new historicism. Set in late-19th century Louisiana’s Creole culture, The Awakening
addresses the complexities of a woman’s struggle to chart her own life. The novel traces the life of Edna Pontellier,
an upper-class wife and mother who tries to escape her dull domestic routines and rebels against confining personal,
social, and cultural forces. The rich language of The Awakening, its vivid and sensuous imagery, its provocative
ending, its traces of realism, naturalism, and impressionism have sparked an immense critical interest since the
novel’s re-discovery in the 1970s. Participants should use the edition of The Awakening given below and are expected
to have read the novel by the beginning of the teaching period.
Students interested in participating must register via e-mail to amanee.katwaroo@uni-bayreuth.de by April 1,
2013.
Text: Kate Chopin. The Awakening. Ed. Nancy A. Walker. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin,
2000. ISBN-13: 978-0312195755
41134 MAIAS Research Seminar
MAIAS C 4
OS, 2st., Do, 8-10
68
Mayer
This seminar gives students of literary and cultural studies the opportunity to discuss their research projects. Particular
attention will be paid to the use of theoretical concepts and their methodological application central to the
projects, but also to techniques of argumentation and written presentation. The first meetings of the seminar will
deal with issues of theory, method, and academic research in general. The following meetings will address the participants’
individual fields and topics of interest. Participants will have to present work-in-progress – either an MA
thesis project that is already under way or work on topics that will be part of the oral or written MAIAS exams.
Students interested in participating in the seminar have to register via e-mail to sylvia.mayer@unibayreuth.de
by April 1, 2013.
MAIAS Linguistics
41165 Colloquium on Methods: Linguistic Fieldwork Methods MAIAS (C3), Anchimbe
MA SprInK
HS 2st., Mon 12-14,
Collecting authentic data on which reliable findings could be made is central to linguistics, especially in the last decade
where corpus linguistic approaches became preferred. This advanced course will be concerned with techniques
in fieldwork research and is meant to be significantly more practical than theoretical. Participants will be expected to
apply some of the major fieldwork techniques either to their own research projects or to other projects. Issues of
interest will include designing and administering questionnaires, conducting interviews, doing participantobservation,
doing electronic recording, transcribing recorded data, and choosing quantification methods.
Reading: Duranti, Alessandro. 1997. Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
41166 English(es) in Australia and South Africa
MAIAS (A1.1, A2), MA SprInK
HS 2st., Di 12-14,
Bieswanger
This course will explore and compare the status, function and features of English(es) in Australia and South Africa.
We will look at the historical development, current functions and uses as well as linguistic features of different varieties
of English spoken in Australia and South Africa. The analysis of these issues will be connected to the discussion
of theoretical concepts from areas such as language contact, multilingualism, and language policy. We will also
identify and compare the main linguistic characteristics of these varieties with the help of available literature, linguistic
corpora, authentic texts, recordings and audiovisual material.
Students interested in participating in this course have to register via e-mail to bieswanger@uni-bayreuth.de
by April 12, 2013.
41170 Linguistic Approaches to Translation and Culture: Theory and Methods
MAIAS (A 3), MA SprInK
HS 2st., Di 14-16,
Mühleisen
A rather simple and straightforward notion of translation is "to change (speech or writing) from one language into
another". But what exactly does this act of translation involve Rather than just considering lexical and grammatical
equivalence, there are many semantic, pragmatic, text linguistic and language philosophical questions which have
to be taken into account in the process of translation. Every act of translation is also an act of intercultural
communication which requires a reflection on different cultural knowledge and genre norms between source and
target audience. This course will focus on different methods and theories of how to deal with this "Babel tower" –
both from a diachronic and a synchronic perspective. We will then integrate our theoretical and methodological