Universität Wien

123425 SE Literature Seminar / BA Paper / MA British/Irish/New English (2012S)

Natural Narratives - Unnatural Narration

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

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

  • Thursday 08.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 15.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 22.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 29.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 19.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 26.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 03.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 10.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 24.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 31.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 14.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 21.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 28.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Humans are born with the faculty of story-telling. Whether we try to make sense of what happened yesterday at the supermarket or to understand what led to the horrors of the Third Reich, we will always make recourse to narrative strategies, to chronology, causality and the implementation of an autonomous agent. Literary stories, then, are merely an aestheticised application of 'natural' principles - or are they? This course deals with natural narrativity and its opposite: texts which attempt the impossible, subverting narrative conventions and defying the most basic laws of physics, biology and human cognition. In this course, we will look at stories, plays and films which are excessively static or repetitive, show ontological framebreaking or a contradictory chronology, construct radically mutable characters or present irreducibly incompatible versions of story events. Studying radical narrative transgression will bring basic epistemological and generic conventions into focus and will challenge our perception of what is 'natural' and 'real'.

Assessment and permitted materials

Assessment will be on the basis of attendance, active participation, small assignments, an oral presentation, mini exams, a longer exam in the last session and a seminar paper.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

This course aims at a) discussing natural narratology (Monika Fludernik), gapping, naturalisation, frame-breaking and defamiliarisation as major aesthetic tools b) demonstrating these concepts' wider social relevance c) teaching a topic-related analytical toolkit d) enabling students to apply their knowledge and skills in their own projects e) alerting students to related issues such as possible worlds theory, cognitive narratology, immersion, meta-reference, the aesthetics of science fiction and postmodernist aesthetics and philosophy.

Examination topics

Lecture, group work, eLearning, classroom discussion, audio- and video-excerpts, small assignments, student presentations, home study, mini exams, exam, seminar paper.

Reading list

Association in the course directory

Studium: Diplom 343, UF 344, BA 612, MA 844;
Code/Modul: Diplom 322, 326/328, 336/338, 721-723, 821, UF 4.2.4-322, BA 10.2, MA4, MA7;
Lehrinhalt: 12-0216

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33