Lost in the Funhouse? Postmodern American Literature and Culture

Course description: This class is designed as an introductory course to postmodern U.S. American literature and culture. You will be familiarized with the key concepts associated with postmodernism and postmodernity (‘grand narratives,’ ‘simulacrum,’ ‘simulation,’ ‘palimpsest,’ ‘pastiche,’ ‘cyborg,’ etc.) and read crucial theoretical as well as fictional texts. The seminar will begin with close readings of early postmodern texts such as Thomas Pynchon’s novel The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) and John Barth’s short story “Lost in the Funhouse” (1968) and then move on to Kurt Vonnegut’s cryptic fiction of the 1970s. Chief emphasis will be placed on the heyday of literary postmodernism in the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s, with discussions of the writings by Paul Auster (Moon Palace, 1989), Toni Morrison (Paradise, 1997), and Don DeLillo (Falling Man, 2007). We will also discuss some films, including Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973), Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1995), Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999), and Frank Miller’s Sin City (2005), as well as TV shows like The Simpsons (1989 – present). One of our main goals will be to examine the boundary lines between modernism and postmodernism on the one hand and postmodernism on the other in order to find out how both discourses affect us today.


Grading:2 CP: active participation in class discussions, expert session plus handout with a summary of the main additional text in one (!) sentence & at least eight entries in the discussion forum before the session;

5 CP: competent & lively participation in class discussions, expert session plus handout with a summary of the main additional text in one (!) sentence & at least ten entries in the discussion forum before the session & a 3-page summary of one important feature of postmodernism(to be made accessible to the class);

7 CP: competent & lively participation in class discussions, expert session plus handout with a summary of the main additional text in one (!) sentence & at least ten entries in the discussion forum before the session & short paper on a seminar-related topic with a close reading of ca. 10 pages.

Note: Poor attendance or class participation will negatively affect your final grade!

Deadline for Final Papers: Friday, March 31 (Thursday), 2011. Note: There is no (!) extension of this deadline.