Universität Wien
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123223 SE Literary Seminar / BA-Arbeit / MA American/North American Lit./Studies (2021W)

1922: Internationalism versus Regionalism in Poetry and Fiction in North America

11.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
ON-SITE
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 18 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The participants in the seminar are expected to attend this conference scheduled for 18 to 20 November 2021. Attendance at relevant sessions of this conference will be a substitute for several seminar sessions in November and December which will be canceled.
Because of the restrictions due to the pandemic the seminar will be online until further notice. See the information on Moodle.

  • Wednesday 06.10. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 13.10. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 20.10. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 27.10. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 03.11. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 10.11. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 17.11. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 24.11. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 01.12. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 15.12. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 12.01. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 19.01. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Wednesday 26.01. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The 100th anniversary of the publication of seminal books by poets and writers born in the USA calls for an analysis of some of these texts which reflect the polarized tensions in the 1920s between radically different social and cultural conceptions and trends in America in the aftermath of World War One. The literary projections of the advocates of internationalism and of many expatriates embracing the life-style of the jazz age clashed with the views of inward-looking conservatives favoring isolationism, supporting a termination of mass-immigration and fostering the cultivation of the regional in literature (e.g. Robert Frost, W. C. Williams etc.). Several writers often originating from the Mid-West ( Sinclair Lewis, F. S. Fitzgerald, and also T. S. Eliot) composed narratives and /or poems capturing these contrasted trends, and the impact of their innovative texts shaped a number of avant-garde literary works in the following years (e.g. "Manhattan Transfer" by John Dos Passos). The seminar will offer an opportunity to discuss a number of representative poems (by Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams and T.S. Eliot) and some short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald as well as parts of novels (by Sinclair Lewis, and John Dos Passos) illustrating the juxtaposed trends in American literature of the 1920s.

Assessment and permitted materials

Participants will submit a written seminar paper and offer an oral presentation. Regular attendance and active participation will be expected, including (parts of) an international conference on the related topic of "Polarization in the North Atlantic Triangle". Two written reports of (seminar) sessions and a written essay test are also part of the tasks of the seminar members.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Participants will submit a written seminar paper or bachelor paper, and offer an oral presentation. Regular attendance and active class participation are expected. They will also be asked to submit two written reports – one on a seminar session, the other on two presentations at the international conference related to the theme of the seminar.
Student presentation and written seminar paper, 50 %
Oral contributions in class and two written reports 25 %
Final essay test ……………25%

Examination topics

Students will have to be familiar with the chosen poems and the short stories as well as the novels jointly studied in class and will have to be able to discuss them in their contexts.

Reading list

A reader containing several poems by R.Frost, W.C. Williams and T.S. Eliot and some stories by F.S.Fitzgerald and segments of J. Dos Passos’ novel 'Manhattan Transfer' will be available before the beginning of the semester. Participants will also have to acquire copies of S. Lewis’ novel 'Babbitt'.
A reserve shelf with some relevant studies will be accessible on the upper floor of the departmental library

Association in the course directory

Studium: BA 612, MA 844; MA 844(2)
Code/Modul: BA10.2, MA5, MA7; MA 4.1, 4.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-0375

Last modified: Tu 23.11.2021 12:48