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!