Hauptseminar Glocalization Cultural Migration and Anglophone Literature

In the unfolding 21st century, globalization has not only enhanced the economic and ecological exploitation worldwide but also transformed the earth into a planet of nomads. Today millions of migrants and diasporic subjects challenge the existing power structures and expose the available self-images as ideologies. In short, on the economic, socio-cultural, ecological level, the global impacts more and more on the local. Ronald Robertson has coined the term -glocalization- to conceptualize this unfolding dialectic between the local and the global while Ulrich Becks speaks of a world risk society. How are these debates registered within the discursive space of literature and literary studies? Which aesthetic, narrative and theoretical strategies do writers use to refer to these changes and challenges? What aspects on a local level connect indigenous, diasporic and multicultural individuals around the globe? How do ecological aspects and eco-criticism feature in this context? To answer these questions, this seminar will combine the analysis of literary works that deal with glocal and global issues (e.g. cultural migration, diasporic subjects, anti-globalization campaigns, indigenous and eco-critical movements, global cities) with the critical reading of well-selected theoretical texts. In the first part, the focus will be on the relevant theoretical debates and on the clarification of the relevant terminology. Based on this, in the second part, the following literary texts will be discussed in the subsequent order: Don De Lillo Cosmopolis (2003 [978-0330524933, Pan Macmillan, 2011]), Ian McEwan Saturday (2005, [ISBN 978-0099469681, Random House]), Gautam Malkani, Londonstani (2006 [ISBN 978-0007231768, Harpercollins, 2007]) and Joseph Boyden, -Painted Tongue- in id., Born with a tooth (Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2008), 53-76. All participants are requested to obtain and read the aforementioned primary texts (please use the editions specified above). Further texts required for the seminar will be provided online (cf. DuE Publico). Recommended introductory reading: Suman Gupta, Globalization and Literature (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009). Anglistik Universität Duisburg-Essen SS 2012 LGyGe, LA Gymn./Gesamtschulen PD Dr. Ikas Karin