Kohlmann, Benjamin

Fascism,
many contemporary political commentators tell us, has made a return in
recent years. This course avoids facile presentism by turning to the
fascism of the interwar years (1918-1939) as a historical and cultural
phenomenon. We will explore a series of German and anglophone texts from
this period in order to ask how fascism has been theorized and how
fascist ideas were articulated across an exemplary range of texts and
artworks. Questions we will discuss may include the following: Did
interwar fascism generate a distinctive set of literary styles? Did
writers tend to present fascism as a psychological disposition or as a
fixed set of collectively held political beliefs? How did authors
navigate the elusive distinctions between fascism, radical conservatism,
and utopianism? How does fascism as an analytic lens change our
understanding of the literary tradition itself? And how has art’s
dalliance with fascism been assessed by later writers and filmmakers? Artists we will consider in depth in this class include William Shakespeare (whose play Coriolanus was
a Nazi favourite), Carl Schmitt, Gottfried Benn, William Butler Yeats,
W. H. Auden, as well as more recent (literary or filmic) engagements
with interwar fascism.

This seminar considers the emergence and development of British
modernism during its core period from about 1910 to 1940. Contrary to popular
opinion modernism is not synonymous with post-World War I “disillusionment” but
marks a moment of intense and often exhilarating artistic experimentation. We
will pay special attention to the modernist novel as the means whereby artists
expressed their sense of historical, cultural, and social rupture as well as
the excitement of new (metropolitan, cosmopolitan, sexual, and political) forms
of life. We will read the following canonical novels in their entirety: Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1898), James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), and George Orwell’s
Keep the Aspidistra Flying(1936). We will also discuss some modernist
poetry, short stories, and novellas. Poems and further reading materials will
be made available on GRIPS. Please note: You have to read and prepare Conrad’s
Heart of Darkness by Week 2!

This lecture course offers an overview
of the literary history of the British Isles from the Anglo-Saxon period to the
present day. We will focus on the development of literary forms and genres, as
well as on the emergence of new sets of thematic concerns from one (literary)
period to the next. Attention will also be paid to literature's interactions
with, responses to, and influences on its surrounding socio-cultural contexts.
The lecture course is an obligatory part of the “Basismodul
Literaturwissenschaft” and hence is aimed at beginners. Course materials
(including short readers) will be made available electronically and uploaded to
GRIPS.  Note: This course cannot be taken
as part of the MA British Studies. If the lecture is an obligatory part of the
“Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft” in your course of studies, it cannot be
taken for a different module.

Critical and annotated versions of the
texts discussed in the lecture course can be found in the The Norton
Anthology of English Literature (vols.1+2).
It is recommended (though by no means mandatory) that you buy this anthology
for our course. The two volumes will also come in handy during your future
university studies. Since the Norton Anthology isn’t cheap (and not all
students may decide to buy a copy), the essential readings for each week will also
be uploaded to GRIPS.

This lecture course offers a survey of English literature and culture during the period now known as early modernity (c.1500-1688). The period between Henry VIII’s accession to the throne and the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688 saw significant historical developments whose effects are still with us today. These radically ‘modern’ developments range from the Reformation, the dissemination of Renaissance humanism, and the scientific revolution to the growth of print culture, new visions of political governance, and increased global mobility. Taken together these tectonic shifts helped spark new forms of textual production, and they gave rise to remarkable literary achievements. Our lecture course explores a wide range of literary, historical, and visual sources. Genres to which we will pay particular attention include: history plays; Elizabethan revenge tragedies; city comedies; domestic tragedies; Jacobean drama; utopian writing; travel literature; scientific writing; philosophical essays; sermons; satires; epic romance; sonnets; pastoral poetry; and metaphysical poetry. Please note: the lecture course is accompanied by an optional tutorial!