Aufbauseminar TransformatioNation Defining America as Redefinition Mo 14:45 18:00 biweekly

Does change threaten identities, or should transformation be integrated into our understanding of who we are? At the turn of the 21st century, pop star Madonna was hailed as an icon of postmodern consumer culture because the singer kept re-inventing herself, changing her style and image with every new record. But although this particular case of an ever-changing identity may be regarded as the epitome of postmodernity, the notion of being in a constant state of change and self-reinvention is not new in cultural history. Ever since the inception of the United States of America, a recurring leitmotif has run through descriptions of what is typical and possibly exceptional about individual American identities and American culture as a whole: namely, the idea that nothing characterizes Americanness more than change and transformation, self-invention and constant re-invention. The seminar TransformatioNation invites you to explore the origins and ramifications of this idea, its cultural, political, and economic ramifications, and how it is relevant for traditional notions of American exceptionalism. We will look at selected key texts from the 18th to the early 20th century to see how the notion of constant transformation manifests itself in different genres from the Autobiography of the great founding father, inventor and self-inventor Benjamin Franklin to the ever-evolving great American poetry of Walt Whitman; from drama (Israel Zangwill's Melting Pot) to academic studies in various disciplines (F.J. Turner on the history and importance of the American Frontier, H.L. Mencken on the American laguage et al.). The seminar will explain how the notion of change, transformation and self-reinvention is related to different social and historical contexts such as US America's revolutionary break from the British Empire, the Frontier and Westward Expansion, and immigration as a constant source of cultural transformations. Our seminar discussions will include the following critical questions: Are the notions of transformation and self-reinvention part of a progressive, inclusive agenda or can they also be used to justify exclusion, or political projects such as an imperial expansionism? Can the transformative national character of the USA explain the special status of American culture in a globalizing world today, as claimed in Hardt & Negri's Empire? Please purchase the following books: - Benjamin Franklin. The Autobiography and Other Writings. Signet Classics edition! ISBN: 0-451-46988-7 (or previous edition ISBN 0-451-52810-7) - Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass: The Complete 1855 and 1891-92 Editions. Library of America edition! ISBN 1-598-53097-6 (or previous ISBN 0-679-72514-8) - Israel Zangwill. The Melting-Pot. (edition to be announced in class.) All other course materials will be made available in an online seminar reader. Bemerkung PLEASE NOTE: Sessions are longer (double time slot, with a break) because the seminar will take place on a mostly bi-weekly basis. -> More time for you to read, and more time to address texts and their contexts in class! First session: Oct. 17, 14:45h. Voraussetzungen Willingness to read assigned texts, regular active participation. English & American studies students should have passed at least one literature intermediate module. MeKuWi: This course is particularly suited for more advanced students (5th semester and up). ----------------------------------------------------- Enrolled students must be present on the first day of class; otherwise your untaken slots will be made available to present students from the waiting list. (Enrolled = -zugelassene- students: Please contact me beforehand at nmilde@phil.hhu.de if you need to be excused from the first session but wish to remain enrolled!) Leistungsnachweis Course requirements: - All participants: regular attendance, active participation & reading of assigned texts! - AP candidates major / minor: final term paper / oral exam. - One short oral presentation with handout - or equivalent. (AP candidates may prepare an ungraded abstract for their exam.) Anglistik u.Amerikanistik (BA, PO 2013) Kernfach Willingness to read assigned texts, regular active participation. English & American studies students should have passed at least one literature intermediate module. MeKuWi: This course is particularly suited for more advanced students (5th semester and up). ----------------------------------------------------- Enrolled students must be present on the first day of class; otherwise your untaken slots will be made available to present students from the waiting list. (Enrolled = -zugelassene- students: Please contact me beforehand at nmilde@phil.hhu.de if you need to be excused from the first session but wish to remain enrolled!) Course requirements: - All participants: regular attendance, active participation & reading of assigned texts! - AP candidates major / minor: final term paper / oral exam. - One short oral presentation with handout - or equivalent. (AP candidates may prepare an ungraded abstract for their exam.) Universität Düsseldorf WiSe 2016/17 Milde Nadine