120070 AR Social and Cult. Interaction and Literary Landscapes in the Canadian West (2008S)

Following a fundamental reform of its immigration policy Canadian society has undergone a major change in every sphere including literature and culture. This development has made the concept of the ethnic mosaic, resulting from the settlement of the prairies by groups of allophones in a country originally shaped by its bilingual heritage, a reality. In an age of globalization mass immigration from Asian countries, which was originally severely restricted, has made Canada resemble a laboratory of the future. Canadian literature is shaped by the voices of authors belonging to various groups and spaces who have won recognition in Canada. To listen to these voices and meet with writers and experts in various disciplines is the main goal of the course. It will be concluded by an interdisciplinary field trip to Western Canada (Sept. 7-26, 2008) with symposia and workshops at several universities from Manitoba through British Columbia.
This field trip will be an integral part of this course, which will be partly blocked and is intended as a preparation for the encounters with Canadians from various ethnic groups and with prominent writers, such as Aritha van Herk, Rudy Wiebe, Jack Hodgins, Robert Kroetsch, David Arnason, Dennis Cooley. There will also be opportunities to interact with francophone writers and scholars and opportunities to visit native institutions and communicate with representatives of the First Nations.
Participation in this course is not limited to those joining the group for the interdisciplinary field trip. Additional tasks, such as a seminar paper, will permit those who cannot actually travel with the group to Western Canada to take the course successfully for credit. As on earlier occasions a documentation containing essays by host speakers and Viennese faculty and student participants will be published in the year following the field trip.