Inhalte

We may not be aware of it, but our expectations towards the texts we read, or the movies we watch, are to a considerable extent determined by our conscious or unconscious knowledge of genre. The term genre is used to describe particular generic text types sharing a set of characteristic features. Whereas one used to distinguish three major genres in the past (epic, poetry, drama), modern genre theory tends to use the term more broadly for text types in general - e.g. romance, gothic, science fiction etc. This seminar follows that tendency, too, as it seeks to introduce participants to some fundamental theoretical approaches to genre and - most importantly - to a selection of major genres of contemporary popular literature and culture, such as romance, fairy tale, fantasy, gothic, horror, detective fiction or adventure.

After familiarizing ourselves with some of the major critical positions in genre theory, we shall explore a selection of genres (including those mentioned above, but you may also make suggestions to the list) with regard to their recurring themes, features and narrative patterns, in order to raise our own genre awareness and, maybe understand our expectations and reactions towards the texts we read and the movies we see better in the future. Exemplary representatives (see the reading list) of the individual genres will render our discussions more concrete.

Zwingende Voraussetzung

SL oder PL können nur erworben werden, wenn Modul 1 bis zum Beginn des Sommersemesters 2018 erfolgreich bestanden wurde (gilt für Studierende in allen BA-Studiengängen - sowohl LKM als auch Lehramt)

Zu erbringende Studienleistung

For a Studienleistung, students will be expected to have read all the primary text for this course, to contribute actively to all sessions and to act as experts for one of the genres discussed in class.

More detailed information is going to be announced here before the term starts.

Literatur

Participants are expected to buy their own copies of and read the following exemplary genre representatives to be discussed in class:

Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

William Rider Haggard, King Solomon’s Mines

Tom Stoppard, The Real Inspector Hound

 

Further texts, text extracts and movies will be made available in class.

It is recommended to begin with reading your texts as soon as possible! (they are going to be treated in the sequence listed above)