Universität Wien

123043 PS Literary Studies / Proseminar Literature (2019S)

Australian Ethnic Minority Writing in English - From the Mid-Twentieth Century Until Today

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Wednesday 13.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 20.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 27.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 03.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 10.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 08.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 15.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 22.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 22.05. 18:00 - 20:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
Wednesday 05.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 12.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 19.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
Wednesday 26.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

It is frequently observed that Australia is a highly multicultural society. Indeed, for the first time in Australian history the 2016 census showed a higher proportion of Australians born in Asia than in Europe. Yet, literature by ethnic minorities in English, i.e. writers who are neither Anglo-Australians nor Indigenous Australians, has for a long time operated on the margins of national literary production only. More recently, however, ethnic minority writing (a term introduced by Sneja Gunew) has attracted a reasonable amount of critical interest, as not least the awarding of last year’s Miles Franklin Award, Australia’s most prestigious literary award, to Michelle de Kretser for her novel The Life to Come (2017) has illustrated. In this Proseminar, we will focus exclusively on narrative and dramatic texts by Australian ethnic minority writers from the mid-twentieth century until today and examine the ways in which these texts discuss experiences distinct from both those of the Anglo-Australian mainstream and Indigenous Australians. The primary texts under discussion reflect a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, namely Russian Jewish (Waten), Latvian (Balodis), Greek (Tsiolkas), and Sri Lankan (de Kretser).

Central questions addressed in this Proseminar will include:
1. How is ethnic minority writing positioned within the discourse of Australian literature as a whole? What is the effect of labelling particular kinds of literature as ‘ethnic minority writing’?
2. What are recurring concerns in Australian ethnic minority literature? How do the texts under discussion negotiate concepts such as ethnicity, gender, class and sexuality?
3. In how far does Australian ethnic minority writing change over time?
4. How does Australian ethnic minority writing respond to the nation’s colonial legacy and how does it make sense of its position within a colonised country?

Apart from addressing the primary texts in their form and content, this Proseminar is also designed to introduce you to basic academic skills, including academic writing, thesis formulation and the structuring of a term paper in literary studies.

NB: This Proseminar will be accompanied by the Schreibassistenz programme offered by the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL). In this context, students are required to meet up with a writing assistant once (approx. 50 minutes) to discuss the writing process. Moreover, students will receive feedback on two of their written assignments by writing fellows, which they will then, after having sufficient time to rework them, have to submit as part of the Proseminar credit requirements.

Assessment and permitted materials

• Regular attendance (two sessions may be missed) and preparation of session material
• General participation in class, including individual contributions as well as work in groups
• Expert work on assigned readings: each student will be assigned to one source material of the syllabus and provide expert input in the respective session (experts are expected to provide everyone with a handout summarising the most important points)
• A written portfolio consisting of two short writing tasks (students are required to meet up with writing assistants once to discuss their writing progress)
• A formal research paper of 3,500 words +/- 10%

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

• Active participation and contributions in class (including your expert input in your respective session): 20%
• Written portfolio tasks (including willingness to meet up with writing assistants once): 20%
• Term paper: 60%

Students must attain at least 60% of each to pass the course.

All written assignments will be checked for plagiarism, using Turnitin on moodle.

Marks in %:
1 (sehr gut): 90-100
2 (gut): 80-89
3 (befriedigend): 70-79
4 (genügend): 60-69
5 (nicht genügend): 0-59

Examination topics

There will be no written exam.

Reading list

Primary Texts
Balodis, Janis. Too Young for Ghosts. The Ghosts Trilogy, Currency P, 1997, pp. 1-80. (will be available on moodle)
Kretser, Michelle de. The Life to Come. Allen & Unwin, 2017. (We will discuss the full novel, so please buy this edition. It will be available at Facultas am Campus.)
Tsiolkas, Christos. Loaded. Vintage, 2011. (We will discuss the full novel, so please buy this edition. It will be available at Facultas am Campus.)
Waten, Judah. “The Theatre.” Alien Son, Angus & Robertson, 1989, pp. 22-34. (will be available on moodle)
---. “To a Country Town.” Alien Son, Angus & Robertson, 1989, pp. 1-21. (will be available on moodle)

Students are asked to acquire and start reading the two novels as soon as possible.

Theory and Secondary Literature
Carter, David. A Career in Writing: Judah Waten and the Cultural Politics of a Literary Career. Association of the Study for Australian Literature, 1997.
Gilbert, Helen. Sightlines: Race, Gender, and Nation in Contemporary Australian Theatre. The U of Michigan P, 2001. Theater: Theory/Text/Performance.
Kelly, Veronica. “Falling Between Stools: The Theatre of Janis Balodis.” Ariel, vol. 23, no. 1, 1992, pp. 115-132.
Ommundsen, Wenche. “Work in Progress: Multicultural Writing in Australia.” Modern Australian Criticism and Theory, edited by David Carter and Wang Guanglin, China Ocean UP, 2010, pp. 243-257.
Pons, Xavier. Messengers of Eros: Representations of Sex in Australian Writing. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
Schwarz, Anja. “Mapping (Un-)Australian Identities - ‘Territorial Disputes’ in Christos Tsiolkas’ Loaded.” Global Fragments: (dis)orientation in the New World Order, edited by Dirk Wiemann and Anke Bartels, Brill Academic Publishers, 2007, pp. 13-27.
Silcox, Beejay. “Review of The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser.” Australian Book Review, 2017. www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue/4279-beejay-silcox-reviews-the-life-to-come-by-michelle-de-kretser.
Tompkins, Joanne. Unsettling Space: Contestations in Contemporary Australian Theatre. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Studies in International Performance.
Webb, Jen. “The Life to Come - This Year’s Miles Franklin Winner - Is a Brilliant Character Study.” The Conversation, 2018.

These texts, relevant excerpts from them or links to them will be available on moodle at the beginning of term.

Association in the course directory

Studium: UF 344, BA 612; BEd 046 / 407
Code/Modul: UF 3.3.3-304; BA10.1; BEd 08a.1, BEd 08b.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-3041

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33