Universität Wien

128422 SE Literary & Cultural Studies Seminar (MA) (2025S)

Biografication: Life Narratives across Genres

10.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle
Th 08.05. 12:15-13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A

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. 10 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 06.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 13.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 20.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 27.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 02.04. 19:00 - 20:30 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Thursday 03.04. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 10.04. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 15.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 22.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 05.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 12.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Thursday 26.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Life stories fascinate us. We seem to have an urgent need to record these “true” stories – our own as well as others’. In recent years especially, we have seen an unprecedented proliferation of life narratives – a veritable “biografication” of culture – that has been palpable in the memoir boom, the popularity of biopics and biographical fiction, and the ubiquity of personal narratives on social media platforms, for instance. This course investigates life narratives in different genres and across media – from biography to romance novels, from (auto)biographical poetry and spoken word to biographical motion pictures. We will approach life narratives not just as representations but as a form of ‘doing’, through the lens of concepts such as authenticity, exemplarity, and appropriation, and in light of a variety of theories (e.g. auto/biography theory, cultural memory studies, gender studies, postcolonial criticism). Themes that will occupy us throughout include the aesthetics and politics of auto/biographical narration and the notion of biographical truth in different genres and media, the questions whose lives get told, for what purpose, and in what form.
The course will include a guest appearances by Dr. Rachel Bolle-Debessay (“Poetry Off the Page” project, Univ. of Vienna) and a joint visit on 2 April (7:00pm) of a performance by Irish poet William Keohane, whose work we will study in class.

AIMS:
Students will become familiar with a range of genres of life writing. They will be able to explain key concerns articulated in these works and contextualise them appropriately with reference to generic conventions, media specificities, and historical sources. They will further be able to apply various critical approaches to life writing – such as auto/biographical theory, cultural memory studies, gender and postcolonial theory – in presentations, discussions and in a scholarly paper that reflects the complexity of the debate in the field.

METHODS:
Short lectures, classroom discussions, group work, presentations, individual research and writing assignments.

Assessment and permitted materials

Active participation (regular attendance; participation in class discussions of set readings); abstract and bibliography; oral presentation; written peer feedback; term paper.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

You may miss no more than two sessions without certified medical reason. If you miss a third session and can produce a viable doctor’s note, you will be assigned an extra tasks and can still pass the course. If you miss more than three lessons, you will fail the course.

Active participation = 15%
Oral presentation = 15%
Abstract and bibliography = 15%
Peer feedback task = 5%
Final paper = 50%

You need to complete and pass all individual requirements to complete the course.
Marks:
1 (very good): 90-100
2 (good): 80-89
3 (satisfactory): 70-79
4 (pass): 60-69
5 (fail): 0-59

You must hand in an anti-plagiarism statement with your term paper and upload the paper onto Moodle. Your paper will be marked once it has been cleared by the University’s anti-plagiarism software.

Examination topics

There will be no written exam. Participants are expected to study set materials and additional secondary/theory sources, take an active part in class discussions and group work, and hand in assignments on time.

Reading list

Extracts from a biography and a novel:
Haeger, Diane. The Perfect Royal Mistress. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007;
Beauclerk, Charles. Nell Gwyn: Mistress to a King. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005.

Biopic:
Gillespie, C. (2017). I, Tonya. 30WEST.

Poetry:
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Keohane, Aaron Apps, Neil Hilborn, Raymond Antrobus, Hollie McNish, Kamau Brathwaite, Derek Walcott, M. NourbeSe Philip.

Theory and critical literature, including (extracts from):
-- Ailes, Katie. “‘Speak Your Truth’: Authenticity in UK Spoken Word Poetry.” Spoken Word in the UK. Ed. Lucy English and Jack McGowan. London and New York: Routledge, 2021. 142–153.

-- Day, Amber. “Gender and Genre in Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette.” Television & New Media 25.5 (2024): 435-449.
-- Fenton Stitt, Jocelyn. Dreams of Archives Unfolded: Absence and Caribbean Life Writing. Rutgers University Press, 2021.
-- Korzeniewska-Nowakowska, Paulina. “American Poverty and Social Rejection in Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya. European Journal of Life Writing 10 (2021): 64-76.
-- Martínez García, Ana B. New Forms of Self-Narration: Young Women, Life Writing and Human Rights. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
-- Moore-Gilbert, Bart. Postcolonial Life-Writing: Culture, Politics, and Self-Representation. Routledge, 2009.
-- Novak, J., & Ni Dhuill, C., eds. Imagining Gender in Biographical Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
-- Saunders, Max. "Life-Writing, Cultural Memory, and Literary Studies". Cultural Memory Studies: An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook, ed. Astrid Erll and Ansgar Nünning. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2010. 321-332.
-- Vannini, Phillip, and J. Patrick Williams. “Authenticity in Culture, Self, and Society.” Authenticity in Culture, Self, and Society. Ed. Phillip Vannini and J. Patrick Williams. London: Routledge, 2009. 1-18.
-- Whitlock, Gillian. Postcolonial Life Narratives: Testimonial Transactions. Oxford UP, 2015.

Except for I, Tonya, all texts will be made available on Moodle.

Association in the course directory

Studium: MA 844(2)
Code/Modul: M 4.1, M 4.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-0631

Last modified: Tu 25.02.2025 21:26