From Paintings and Periodicals to Sitcoms and Spinoffs Seriality from the 16th Century to the Present

Serialization is an integral part of contemporary culture: numerous series and serials embellish television programmes (from The Simpsons to Mad Men), cinema schedules abound in remakes, spin-offs and adaptations (Dinner for Schmucks, 2010; X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2009; Alice in Wonderland, 2009), contemporary artists produce serialized works (Mark Quinn, Banksy). Apart from the variety of media which encourage and rely on serialization (TV and radio schedules, the Internet), international markets and economy depend on it (e.g. book, music, furniture, fashion and art industry). Yet, serialization is not a new phenomenon. Medieval monks spent their lives copying books at monasteries. Painters provided churches with -originals- serialized in their workshops already in the 16th century, while many printmakers produced socio-critical iconotextual narratives in the late 18th century. Serialized fiction written for and printed in periodicals boomed in the 19th century. Finally, pop art arose from the appropriation of mass-marketed goods while (feminist) body and performance art often took form of serialized live events. In view of this rich history of serialization, the major questions that students will tackle in this seminar are: What are the industrial, aesthetic, cultural, political and theoretical contexts of serialization? How do we -read- serialized forms in a variety of media and genres? What do they have in common? How do they influence readers, viewers and players? How does serialization change our perspective on such issues as -authorship-, -copyrights-, -originality- and -intertextuality-? These questions will be taken up with reference to: Andy Warhol's, Marcel Duchamp's, Mark Quinn's and Banksy's art, William Hogarth's engravings, El Greco's and Botticelli's workshops, early monastery art, film sequels such as Ocean's Twelve (2004), TV series Mad Men, performance art by Marina Abramovic, serialized literature e.g. Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone (1868), popular British radio programmes, etc. Using these examples, the seminar aims at 1) offering a historical overview of the forms of serialization and its changing conceptualization, 2) equipping students with methodological tools with which to analyze the phenomenon (cultural, literary and media studies). The students will produce a creative/critical journal as an outcome of this seminar. Literatur, Kultur, Medien, Deutsch-Englisch, Bachelor, PO 2009 Requirements: 2KP: active participation + expert session + short contribution (1000 words) to our journal based on the expert session 5KP: active participation + expert session + contribution (5000 words) to our journal based on the expert session 7KP: active participation + expert session + contribution (8000 words) to our journal based on the expert session Universität Siegen SoSe 2011 Literatur, Kultur, Medien, Englisch (Kernfach), Bachelor Kern-/Ergänzung, PO 2009 Literatur, Kultur, Medien, Englisch-Französisch, Bachelor, PO 2009 Dr. Pietrzak Franger Monika Maria