ANGLISTIK/AMERIKANISTIK

invite interested students to argue whether 21 st -century fantasy literature has indeed potentials
(and meaning) beyond pure entertainment.
Note 1: A reader with sci-fi short stories will be provided by the beginning of the semester.
For the first classes, please read: Crichton, Michael. Next. New York: Harper, 2006.
Note 2: Depending on whether you use this seminar for American Literature OR Cultural
Studies, you are required to have attended the respective introductory course.
Note 3: Participants will be required to attend two or three additionally scheduled film
screenings.
maximum participants: 25
American Renaissance: Literature in the Age of Romanticism (Proseminar) 4002037
2 SWS ab 2. Sem. Do 12-14 R 21 Martin Holtz
In his address “The American Scholar,” held at Harvard University in 1837, Ralph Waldo
Emerson called for the development of a distinctly American cultural identity in the face of a
continuing European influence strongly felt sixty years after the Declaration of Independence.
The early 19 th century is often taken to be the decisive period when America discovered its
inherent potential for shaping a unique (literary) culture, based on the tenets of
transcendentalist philosophy (Emerson, Thoreau), inventive prose narratives rich with
symbolism and Gothic atmosphere (Poe, Hawthorne, Melville), and vibrant cutting-edge
poetry (Whitman, Dickinson). In this seminar we will read and discuss essential texts of the
American Renaissance which established the complex mosaic of the nation’s literary heritage,
tracing their uniquely American qualities and their appropriations of (European) Romanticist
traditions. Students need to obtain a copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter.
Additional texts are to be found in the Heath Anthology or will be provided as master copies.
maximum participants: 20
Introducing Canada (Proseminar) 4002042
2 SWS ab 2. Sem. Fr 10-12 R 23 Peter Kulchyski
This course will offer a broad introduction to Canada. The first half of the course will deal
with history and culture, from the early history and culture of indigenous occupants, through
three centuries of the fur trade, confederation and the political history of Canada in the
twentieth century. The second half of the course will look at a series of issues facing Canada
today: the problem of Canadian identity, globalization, multiculturalism, women's issues,
Aboriginal rights, environmental degradation, and so on.
maximum participants: 25
ENGLISCHE LITERATURWISSENSCHAFT UND CULTURAL STUDIES GB
The Gentleman and the Angel in the House: Gender and Victorian Literature (Seminar)
4002053
2 SWS ab 2. Sem. Mo 16-18 R 23 Andrew Mills
The terms in the title of this course “The Gentleman” and the “the Angel in the House” define
19th century gender ideals. Where did these ideals come from? And have they gone away?
Using a range of original texts, novels, and academic texts, we will investigate the role and
history of gender in British culture from the beginnings of modernity to the present.
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