123044 PS Proseminar Literature (2014W)
"Vibrant Matters": The Tales Things Tell
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Student conference "Commemorating Stuart Hall" on Sat., 6 Dec, 10am-5:30pm; attendance required if you want to take this course.
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).
- Registration is open from Mo 08.09.2014 00:00 to Fr 12.09.2014 18:00
- Registration is open from Tu 23.09.2014 00:00 to Th 25.09.2014 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Fr 31.10.2014 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Thursday
09.10.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
16.10.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
23.10.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
30.10.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
06.11.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
13.11.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
20.11.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
27.11.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
04.12.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
11.12.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
18.12.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
08.01.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
15.01.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
22.01.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Thursday
29.01.
18:00 - 20:00
Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Sarah Nuttall calls it 'the entanglement of people and things', Bill Brown speaks about the 'spectral power' of objects, Tim Burke writes about the force of material things 'to possess and captivate us'. Recently, philosophers, anthropologists and literary theorists alike have re-examined the relation between humans and the 'inanimate' world. Increasingly, it has become clear that our daily interaction with things is not a question of mere consumption, passive use or exchange value; it always entails a deep psychic, affective and emotional investment. Although things are mute as far as their own existence is concerned, they can become very eloquent in telling tales about us, our desires, our anxieties and fantasies but also about wounds of the past which cannot easily be verbalised or re-claimed through language. Is it possible, then, to speak about the unspeakable through the material? What is the narrative power of things? What kinds of functions do writers ascribe to the material world of their poems, novels and plays?In this course we will familiarise ourselves with so-called 'thing-theory' (Jill Bennett's Vibrant Matter, Ian Hodder's Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships Between Humans and Things, and Bill Brown's A Sense of Things) and we will explore the narrative function of objects in a wide range of contemporary South African texts: Damon Galgut's The Impostor, Ivan Vladislavic's The Restless Supermarket, Athol Fugard's A Road to Mecca and poems by Ingrid de Kok.
Assessment and permitted materials
Class participation, weekly written assignments, short oral presentation (15 min.), end-term paper.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Students will become familiar with basic skills required to analyse and interpret different literary genres (poems, short stories, novels and plays). They will also learn how to write academic papers.
Examination topics
interactive, small-group and classroom discussions, reading assignments, oral presentations and close-reading of texts.
Reading list
Damon Galgut's The Impostor; Ivan Vladislavic's The Restless Supermarket; The Road to Mecca by Athol Fugard. A reader containing further primary and secondary material will be available at the CopyStudio Schwarzspanierstraße at the beginning of term.
Association in the course directory
Studium: UF 344, BA 612; BEd 046
Code/Modul: UF 3.3.3-304, BA10.1; BEd 08a.1, BEd 08b.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-3041
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