Blockseminar Meta Fiction as a Corporeal Experience

Meta-Fiction reflects the process of writing in a fictional form, consciously recreating its own origin. This special form of literature can be full of humor and irony, because it makes the mechanisms of genre visible. But in some cases the writing process seems to be associated with painful bodily experiences. What are the consequences of this kind of literature and how do we deal with these self-conscious texts, that seem to resist common forms of interpretation? The texts of this seminar are by four different authors of the 20th century: Franz Kafka, -In der Strafkolonie-; Samuel Beckett, Malone Dies; William Burroughs, Queer; and Kathy Acker, Empire of the Senseless The class can be taken as a seminar in literary studies or as a reading course. Requirements : • Reading the assignments. • Handing in two thesis outlines. Due April 1, 2010. • A short presentation in class. I will send around a list of possible topics. Course Readings : For Beckett's Malone Dies I recommend one of the editions that also contain the other two novels, of the so-called trilogy: Samuel Beckett. Three Novels: Molloy. Malone Dies. The Unnamable. Grove Press, 1995. William Burroughs. Queer. Picador, 1987. Kathy Acker. Empire of the Senseless. Grove Press, 1989. A reader with an English translation of Kafka's -In the Penal Colony- (-In der Strafkolonie-) and some additional texts will be available at the copy shop on Reckhammerweg 4. Anglistik Universität Duisburg-Essen SS 2010 Bachelor, Bachelor Greiffenstern Alexander