Texts in Context: British Fiction in the Changing World 3301-2ST-LK-KON001
Classes complement the diploma seminar, focusing on British fictions which are placed within the social and cultural contexts. Classes cover in detail themes in which students are currently conducting research in order to write a diploma thesis, and examine original sources in this connection. They therefore deal with specific themes arising under their specific subject of research. The reading list will reflect the students' individual research interests.
The focus of discussion will be on the intertextual and cultural connections of the texts with both past and present contexts. Attention will be paid to the changing perception of the given work from the moment of its publication to the present, as well as contemporary works which address literary, cultural and historical issues (e.g. Neo-Victorian fictions). Key topics covered will include identity and self-perception; history and memory; dystopia and posthumanism; monstrosity theory. Finally, the course will address the connections between the texts of the “canon” and re-inventions and adaptations around it, including fanfiction.
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Term 2025Z:
Class 1: Introduction. Readers and Critics. Julian Barnes, "Emma Bovary's Eyes" chapter from Flaubert's Parrot |
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
K_W01, K_U01, K_K01
Knowledge
Students will have in-depth familiarity with:
K_W01 advanced terminology, theory and research methods corresponding to the state of the art in the discipline of literary studies, particularly in the field of British literature
Abilities
Students will be able to:
K_U01 apply the advanced terminology, theories and research methods of literary studies to solve complex and original research problems, particularly in contemporary British literature
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
K_K01 critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources, in particular in relation to the topics discussed in tutorial classes
Education at language level C1+.
Assessment criteria
- study of a selected/assigned research topic (home assignments and workshop tasks during classes) : 40% [W,U,K]]
- written or oral test: 60% [W,U]
- attendance / participation in discussions: up to 10% (bonus points)
2 absences are allowed.
Bibliography
Examples of primary sources (to be adapted ac. to students’ preferences):
- Julian Bsrnes, "Emma Bovary's Eyes" from A History of the World in 10 &1/5 chapters
- Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
- Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
- John Banville, Birchwood
- Ian McEwan, "Butterflies," "Reflections of the Kept Ape"
- Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
- Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me
- Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun
Secondary sources:
- Badmington, Neil, Posthumanism, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2000.
- Bassnett, Susan, "Reflections on Comparative Literature in the Twenty-First Century," Comparative Critical Studies 3, no. 1-2 (2006): 3-11.
- Caruth, Cathy, ed., Trauma: Explorations in Memory, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
- Caruth, Cathy, Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
- Herman, Judith, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, Basic Books, 1997
- Lybeck, Eleanor, “Revisionist nostalgia: John Banville, Angela Carter, and the circus,” Textual Practice 36, no. 11 (2021): 1850-1867.
- McMillan, Callum T.F., Posthumanism in Digital Culture: Cyborgs, Gods and Fandom, Emerald Publishing, 2021.
- Radstone, Susannah and Katharine Hodgkin, Regimes of Memory, Routledge, 2003.
- Stets, Jan E., Philip S. Brenner, Richard T. Serpe, Identities in Action: Developments in Identity Theory, Springer, 2021.
- Wood, Andrea and Brandy Schillace, eds., Unnatural Reproductions and Monstrosity: The Birth of the Monster in Literature, Film, and Media, Cambria Press, 2014.
- Zunshine, Lisa, “Theory of Mind and Experimental Representations of Fictional Consciousness,” Narrative 11, no. 3 (2003): 270-291.
- Zunshine, Lisa, “How Memories Become Literature,” SubStance 51, no. 3 (2022): 92-114.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: