Universität Wien

123425 SE Literary & Cultural Studies Seminar / BA Paper / MA American/North American Lit./Studies (2015S)

Expatriates and Returnees in North American Narratives

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

The course will also offer seminar participants the opportunity to attend lectures given by scholars from North America and several European countries at the international interdisciplinary conference on “Exiles, Returnees and their Impact in Austria and Central Europe”, which will take place in Vienna from April 24- 26, 2015.
Attendance at three relevant talks will also be used to make up for one, possibly two sessions which will have to be canceled in May.

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. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 11.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 18.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 25.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 15.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 22.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 29.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 06.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 13.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 20.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 27.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 03.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 10.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 17.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
  • Wednesday 24.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The seminar will deal with narratives of the experiences of North American expatriates in continental Europe or of travelers from the western hemisphere returning to central Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. It will consider little known stories by such accomplished fiction writers as Henry James, whose interest in the ‘international theme’ engendered several major novels and tales (cf. The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors; “Daisy Miller”), and stories by his - once very popular -fellow -writer Bret Harte, set in Central Europe and involving journeys across national borders. The participants in the seminar will also study 'Dodsworth', a novel by the first US American Nobel Prize laureate, Sinclair Lewis, which offers a modern counterpart of the traditional “grand tour”. They will also analyze texts mirroring the imaginative return of the Austrian refugee Heinrich /Henry Kreisel, eventually a well-known Canadian writer and academic, to his native city.

Assessment and permitted materials

Seminar paper (20-22 pages), oral presentation, regular attendance and active class participation, two written reports on sessions of up to two pages each, final written test.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The aim of this seminar is to acquaint students with North American fiction reflecting transatlantic experiences but also hetero-stereotypes of countries visited and nations encountered, which are mediated by the fictional characters (and possibly by their authors). It will also make them familiar with the changes in international relations before 1900, in the interwar years and after World War Two.

Examination topics

Student presentations of research papers on the topics chosen, general discussion of the texts and their location in the tradition of the "grand tour" and "the international novel" and the changes in cross-cultural perceptions.

Reading list

The stories to be analyzed are accessible in a Reader to be acquired at Copy Studio aafter the beginning of February. Details about the editions of the two novels on the program Sinclair Lewis's Dodsworth and Henry Kreisel's The Rich Man :
Copies of Kreisel's novel will be available at Facultas on Campus, for instance, copies of Lewis' novel should be ordered individually, for instance through Amazon.

Association in the course directory

Studium: UF 344, BA 612, MA 844;
Code/Modul: UF 4.2.4-322, BA09.2, 10.2, MA5, MA6, MA7;
Lehrinhalt: 12-0406

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33