Universität Wien

160071 PS Literary Cross-Currents (PS): 1960s Counterculture in Music and Literature (2010W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 16 - Musik-, Sprach- und Vergleichende Literaturwisse
Continuous assessment of course work

Details

max. 40 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 06.10. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 13.10. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 13.10. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 20.10. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 20.10. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 27.10. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 27.10. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 03.11. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 10.11. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 10.11. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 17.11. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 17.11. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 24.11. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 24.11. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 01.12. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 01.12. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 15.12. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 12.01. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 19.01. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 19.01. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 26.01. 14:00 - 15:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Wednesday 26.01. 15:30 - 16:30 Seminarraum 3 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course discusses works of art that either or originated in the counterculture of the 1960s or were inspired by it. The works discussed in the course will be taken from the fields of literature and music. The students shall analyze the works as to how the social environment is reflected in them and what position they take in the cultural upheaval of the time. The course will provide different thematic focal points, that will be discussed with the help of the analysis of relevant literary texts, songs, and record albums. These topics include, but are not limited to:
From Beat to Hippie: the transition from one countercultural movement to another – the influence of mass media on the image-making process
Summer of Love: the early stages of the hippie movement, especially in San Francisco
Back to the Garden: the rise of the back-to-the-country-movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s
Student movements of the 1960s
Utopias of the counterculture: From Robert Heinlein to Jefferson Starship
internal criticism of social inadequacies int 1960s counterculture
the influence of 1960s counterculture in later decades
international countercultural movements, e.g. the beginnings of German pop literature with Brinkmann and Rygulla, or the Mexican Onda Chicana movement

Assessment and permitted materials

active participation
oral presentations, discussions, essays
paper (approx. 15 pages)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Literary and musical works with a relation to the counterculture of the 1960s shall be analyzed, using methods of comparative literature studies.

Examination topics

The different topics shall be analyzed in oral presentations, moderated discussions, and a paper, using two or more thematically related texts or music sources.

Reading list

Primary sources:
Ken Kesey – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ken Kesey – Sometimes a Great Notion
Joan Didion – Slouching Toward Bethlehem
Richard Brautigan – Trout Fishing in America
Robert Heinlein – Stranger in a Strange Land
Thomas Pynchon – Vineland
Thomas Pynchon – Inherent Vice
T. C. Boyle – Drop City
Tom Wolfe – The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse Five
Norman Mailer – The Armies of the Night
Hunter S. Thompson – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Tom Robbins – Another Roadside Attraction
Tom Robbins – Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Text-book:
Scott MacFarlane – The Hippie Narrative: A Literary Perspective on the Counterculture. Jefferson, NC: McFarland 2007

A complete bibliography and discography will be provided at the beginning of the term.

Association in the course directory

Diplomstudium VL 130, VL 131,
BA M4,

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:35