Hauptseminar Genre Theory Transformations

In literary studies we usually distinguish between three main genres (fiction, drama, poetry) which branch out in several directions, resulting in various sub-genres. This straightforward approach neglects the fact that a system of genres is not a chest of drawers into which we may neatly stack away any text that crosses our path. Instead of envisaging genres as rigid, closed and unalterable categories, it is more appropriate to understand them as flexible and open fields of production which are subject to historical change and to creative re-combination and innovation. In this seminar we will first read a number of seminal theoretical texts on genre theory and then focus on several literary texts which test the limits and transgress the boundaries of established genres, thus generating new genre combinations and suggesting new sub-genres. Some of the guiding questions will be how generic transformations react to sociocultural and historical developments, how we as readers respond to such genre modifications, how they influence our reading of a text and how they change our understanding of genres, but also of other identity markers (cf. Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando as a striking example of genre-bending and gender-bending). Students who wish to attend must have read Christopher Priest’s award-winning novel The Separation for the first session and be able to pass a quiz on this text. Nathaniel Hawthorne, -Rappaccini’s Daughter” (1844) Virginia Woolf, Orlando (1928) Stephen King, -The Body” (1982; available in the collection Different Seasons) Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy (1986) Christopher Priest, The Separation (2002) Ann-Marie MacDonald, Belle Moral (2005) Voraussetzungen Successful completion of your Aufbaumodul in literary studies (check your Modulhandbuch for details). Leistungsnachweis Research paper (20-25 standard pages) and active participation in class. FB 02 Institut für Anglistik / Amerikanistik Successful completion of your Aufbaumodul in literary studies (check your Modulhandbuch for details). Research paper (20-25 standard pages) and active participation in class. Uni Kassel WiSe 2012/13 Anglistik/Englisch Dr. Heiler Lars