Universität Wien

123220 SE Literature Seminar / BA Paper / MA American/North American Lit./Studies (2012S)

The Great War in North American Literatures

11.00 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. 18 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 13.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 20.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 27.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 17.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 24.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 08.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 15.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 22.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 05.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 12.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 19.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Tuesday 26.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Few collective experiences had such an impact on several generations in the countries involved as World War I. The battles fought on several fronts, the new destructive technology employed, and the unprecedented loss of lives shaped the rendition of the disenchantment of volunteers who had enlisted to serve their country or to experience heroic adventures. A spate of novels in the decade following the Armistice reflected the disillusionment of “the lost generation” in the USA and mirrored the terrible casualties Canadian forces suffered on the Western Front.
The seminar will study the representation of the Great War in some novels selected from numerous memorable texts.

Assessment and permitted materials

Seminar paper (20-25 pages), oral presentation, active class participation, two reports on sessions, regular attendance, final written test.
A list of topics for seminar papers has been prepared and volunteers for the first sessions are invited to see me in my office hour or register with team members in the Canadian Studies Center.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Familiarizing the participants with the effects of the traumatic experience of participants in the War or the imaginative recovery of this collective experience by their descendants. Appreciation of the narrative art of three important US American and Canadian writers who have dealt with this timeless challenge.

Examination topics

Student presentations of the research papers, general discussion of the impact of the Great War on creative writers in North America.

Reading list

Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms will offer an opportunity to relate the fictional rendition of the battles on the (Italian) front and life behind the front drawn from reports to the private lives of the individuals involved. The preoccupation of Canadian authors with the Great War has continued to produce significant fiction until the present so that later authors who did not witness the battles composed remarkable novels. We shall consider Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business and Jack Hodgins’ Broken Ground.
Copies of the three books chosen will be available for purchase at Facultas on Campus. A reserved shelf will be provided in the Departmental Library.

Association in the course directory

Studium: Diplom 343, UF 344, BA 612, MA 844;
Code/Modul: Diplom 322, UF 4.2.4-322, BA10.2, MA5, MA7;
Lehrinhalt: 12-0264

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33