135112 SE Bachelor Seminar: Fake and Forgery in Literature and Cinema (2022S)

The awareness of the artificiality of all literature and of the intertextual interweaving of all texts has brought the concepts of original, copy, plagiarism and forgery up for discussion again. Literary history tells us that forgeries have existed for a wide variety of motives since antiquity; contemporary literature shows that the topic is more relevant than ever by strikingly often staging the forgery of texts or other works of art in a serious or playful manner. Between famous literary forgeries such as the "Ossian" or the works of Th. Chatterton and the subject of art forgery, there are numerous special cases and problems. Here are just a few examples of possible topics (related to seminar papers or BA theses):
1. History of forgery
2. Forgeries of purpose (from the "Dark Man's Letters" to Hauff's "Man in the Moon")
3. Ossian
4. The "Ura-Linda Chronicle
5. Thomas Chatterton: The Case Itself
6. Thomas Chatterton as a literary figure
7. False sequels: Guzman de Alfarache, Don Quixote, Wilhelm Meister
8. The theory of literary forgery: originality and authenticity
9. Legal aspects of forgery
10. Forgery as a contrast to authenticity
11 Plagiarism (definition, difference to forgery and examples)
12. Transparent forgeries 1: Max Aub: Jusep Torres Campalans
13. Transparent forgeries 2: Wolfgang Hildesheimer, „Marbot“
14. Mystifications (example: George Forestier, Erm Malley)
15. Pseudo-documentarism (mockumentary): Woody Allen, "Zelig“
16 Hermann Kasack: Forgeries. Narration.
17. Forgery as a metaphor: André Gide, „Les faux-monnayeurs“
18. On the theory of forgery: the threat to authorship in the 21st century
19. Forgery and self-reference: Umberto Ecos, "Il pendolo di Foucault" and "Baudolino“
20 Art forgery as a theme 1: Georges Perec, „Un cabinet d'amateur“
21. Art forgery as a theme 2: John Banville, „Athena“
22. Art forgery as theme 3: William Gaddis, „The Recognitions“