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| Semester | spring semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Every 2nd spring sem |
| Lecturers | Philipp Schweighauser (ph.schweighauser@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | The beginnings of European modernism reach back to the late nineteenth century and the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, but most of the texts which are central to modernist literature as we know it today were written between 1914 and 1945, the years which mark the beginning of the First and the ending of the Second World War. In the United States, too, these years saw a spectacular flowering of literary experimentation that produced works whose innovative force every succeeding generation of writers has to contend with: Gertrude Stein's difficult and ingenious mixture of prose and poetry; the radical politics and equally radical aesthetics of John Dos Passos's "Manhattan Transfer" and "U.S.A." trilogy; the African-American modernism of the Harlem Renaissance; the succinctness of Hemingway's 'hard style' as well as the powerful long sentences of William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury;" the very different poetics of Ezra Pound's "The Cantos" and T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" on the one hand and Wallace Stevens's "Anecdote of the Jar" and William Carlos Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow" on the other; and Djuna Barnes's dark and daring exploration of alternative sexualities in "Nightwood." We will work our way toward this defining period of American literary history by beginning with naturalist works such as Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage," which can be read both as radicalizations of realist modes of writing and proto-modernist literary experiments. |
| Learning objectives | You are introduced to a formative period of American literary and cultural history. |
| Bibliography | Recommendations for moderate weekly readings are taken from the seventh, eighth, ninth or tenth edition of Volumes C and D (1865-1914; 1914-1945) of Nina Baym (gen. ed.), "The Norton Anthology of American Literature" (New York: W. W. Norton). Copies are available at the Labyrinth bookstore. If you plan to attend more than one part of this four-part lecture course and intend to do the recommended reading, it makes sense to buy all volumes (A-B + C-E) of "The Norton Anthology of American Literature" because this is the cheaper option. Make sure you bring along the handouts for each session, including the first. They are available on ADAM, contain the lecture slides, and will facilitate your note-taking. |
| Comments | The syllabus and lecture slides are made available on ADAM. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | None |
| Course application | Please register for this course on services.unibas.ch. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 28.02.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 06.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 13.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 20.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 27.03.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 03.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 10.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 17.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 24.04.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | --, -- |
| Wednesday 01.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Wednesday 08.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 15.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 22.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Wednesday 29.05.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Modules |
Modul: Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree program: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology (Start of studies before 01.08.2022)) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Slavic Studies) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Nordic Philology (Start of studies before 01.08.2022)) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Literaturwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Introduction to Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Kulturtechnische Dimensionen (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) Modul: Literaturgeschichte (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | Written test (90 mins) toward the end of term. The test is based on the lectures; the recommended weekly readings are not part of it. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | one repetition, repetition counts |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |