Universität Wien
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123212 VO Literatures in English - American Studies (2012S)

Journeys Across the Atlantic in North American Literatures

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik

Details

max. 80 participants
Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 19.03. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 26.03. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 16.04. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 23.04. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 30.04. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 07.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 14.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 21.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 04.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 11.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
  • Monday 18.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The lecture course will offer a survey and analysis of many fictional or fictionalized transatlantic journeys of North American individuals and their sojourns in various countries of continental Europe. After the American Civil War, Europe became an even more favorite destination on the popular grand tour, including visits to historical sites and the cultural treasures of the Old World, prompting the permanent expatriation of figures dissatisfied with the ostensible cultural dearth of the New World. Furthermore, Europe also served as a preferred location for postgraduate study. Both factors gave rise to the ‘international novel’ and its juxtaposition of manners and life styles in the two hemispheres.
In the aftermath of the collective experience of World War I, tens of thousands of North American expatriates temporarily resided in Europe, offering distinct depictions of the different countries in the rapidly changing continent. Equally, the events of World War II and the era of the Cold War took large numbers of military personnel but also millions of tourists across the Atlantic and stimulated numerous fictional accounts of the encounter of US Americans and Canadians with European physical and socio-cultural landscapes.

Assessment and permitted materials

Written final test

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The various texts chosen will be placed in the careers of their authors and, with methods of imagology, related to traditional images of individual countries, esp. of France, Germany, Austria and Italy, and to reciprocal misunderstandings, which have shaped at least since the 18th century the description of transatlantic societies and locations in North American literatures.

Examination topics

The lecture course will be supported by visual material which will also be made accessible in a Power Point presentation at the Canadian Studies homepage.

Reading list

Among the (excerpts from) books and stories and the authors to be studied will be Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad; Henry James, Daisy Miller; F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender Is the Night; Sinclair Lewis, Dodsworth; Thomas Wolfe, Of Time and the River; Ethel Wilson; Elizabeth Spencer, The Light in the Piazza; John Irving, The World According to Garp; Jack Hodgins, Jane Urquhart, and Aritha Van Herk.
A reader with excerpts from a number of texts will be available at the Copy Studio (Schwarzspanierstrasse) from about February 20th onwards. Students are also encouraged to purchase James’ Daisy Miller, Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night and Spencer’s The Light in the Piazza. A reserved shelf will be provided in the Departmental Library.

Association in the course directory

Studium: Diplom 343, UF 344, ME 812, MA 844;
Code/Modul: Diplom 321, 326/328, 336/338, 721-723, UF 4.2.4-321, ME1, MA1;
Lehrinhalt: 12-0115

Last modified: We 09.09.2020 00:22