Confessions Modern 1st person narrative in fiction and film

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When we tell stories we were involved in, we usually view the events, such as they are, from a subjective, from a very personal perspective. Hence the first person point of view has been a classic narrative mode in the history of fiction. In the modern(ist) reformation of story telling between, say, 1880 and 1930, the 1st person perspective has been less often used by innovative writers who were more interested in presenting consciousness, pre-rational perceptions and uncontrolled associations, in fiction. And yet, some modern(ist) writers continued to create 1st person narrators who called the conventions and expectations of that mode and, indeed, the very notion of an integrated self, a (story-telling) individual with a clear-cut identity, into question. We will study this phenomenon by reading Joseph Conrad's novels The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897) and The Shadow-Line (1917) as well as his novellas Heart of Darkness (1899) and The Secret Sharer (1910). In the second half of the term we will shift to William Faulkner, arguably Conrad's most inventive disciple, by studying selected short stories and his modernist masterpiece As I Lay Dying (1930). Recent and classic film versions of this novel and of Heart of Darkness will help us to discuss and compare the peculiar features of narrating stories in fiction and in audiovisual media.

Students are requested to buy the following (very reasonably priced) editions: John G. Peter, ed., Joseph Conrad: The Secret Sharer and Other Stories (Norton Critical, 2015), Bernhard Reitz, ed., Heart of Darkness (Reclam) and William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (Random House). All of them are available at good bookstores like our very own Uni-Buch. Other texts and a course outline will be provided in a reader at the WISO pool by early October. Additional material and useful books are, as usual, available on the reserve shelf in BB2 (Semesterapparat). Voraussetzungen This course is only open to students who have successfully completed at least an undergraduate research paper (-Proseminararbeit-) in Literary Studies. Regular and active participation, including a short oral report, is required of everybody. Prior to the first meeting, you must have read The Nigger of the Narcissus (quiz!) and you should be familiar with key concepts of textual and narratological analysis. We will practise the following skills (Kompetenzen) on an advanced level: close reading, library research, composing outlines or handouts, and giving oral presentations in class. Leistungsnachweis Credit (-Studienleistung-) for regular and active participation, including an oral presentation with handout; full credit (-Prüfungsleistung-) for an additional term paper (approx. 20-25 standard pages) or oral exam for Literary Studies. Topics of your choice can be discussed with me in advance. FB 02 Institut für Anglistik / Amerikanistik This course is only open to students who have successfully completed at least an undergraduate research paper (-Proseminararbeit-) in Literary Studies. Regular and active participation, including a short oral report, is required of everybody. Prior to the first meeting, you must have read The Nigger of the Narcissus (quiz!) and you should be familiar with key concepts of textual and narratological analysis. We will practise the following skills (Kompetenzen) on an advanced level: close reading, library research, composing outlines or handouts, and giving oral presentations in class. Credit (-Studienleistung-) for regular and active participation, including an oral presentation with handout; full credit (-Prüfungsleistung-) for an additional term paper (approx. 20-25 standard pages) or oral exam for Literary Studies. Topics of your choice can be discussed with me in advance. Uni Kassel WiSe 2016/17 English and American Culture and Business Studies Prof. Dr. Göske Daniel