123046 PS PS Literary Studies (2022S)

1922 has been critically acknowledged as the year that defined 'High Modernism'. That particular year saw the publication of the key works of what we today consider the modernist canon: T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Virgina Woolf's Jacob's Room, and James Joyce's Ulysses. Many landmark developments in disciplines other than literature have been associated with this particular year. It is therefore not surprising that many critical works have been devoted to these particular twelve months that happened exactly 100 years ago.

However, in this proseminar, the year 1922 will serve simply as a point of ingress for our journey in the course of which we will 1) attempt to discover and 2) learn to recognize and interpret the various characteristics of modernism in general and modernist literature in particular. For this to be possible, we will take into consideration both modernist classics and some lesser-known texts. We will delve deep and discover some of the unknown authors and texts who/which, while popular at the time, are no longer remembered. While the overall aim of this seminar is to get acquainted with modernist literature and its major characteristics, we will also (briefly) try to assess what modernist endeavours have remained part and parcel of contemporary literature and culture.

As the knowledge of socio-cultural and literary contexts is ultimate to the understanding of the novelty and experimental character of some of the texts we shall work with, we will 3) devote part of the seminar to getting to know modernist contexts. We will then delve deeper and work on a close-reading of chosen texts. As this course is also aiming to 4) help you in the completion of your first longer term paper (and hence facilitate your preparation for the BA), we will spend a considerable amount of time attending to your writing skills.

Please be aware that, while we are preparing for an on-site default mode, the pandemic has been unpredictable so far and therefore we may have to change our meeting mode accordingly. In such a case, we'll move to an online-mode. Please be aware that, since I have to remain flexible, some of the materials may change.