Reading Trauma Pearl Harbour and 9 11 in the American Mind

Being a narrative starting point for the American Century the Pearl-Harbor-attack still holds a prominent position in the emotional realm of today‘s American culture. Thus, there is a need to repeat and serialize the Pearl-Harbor-Memory in order to both stabilize and confirm the existence of a shared national identity whenever a new state of emergency occurs. While being referred to as -the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century-, the September 11 attacks’ narrative treatment heavily draws upon the imageries of what President F. D. Roosevelt once coined as a -day of infamy-. This course accordingly will study the various modes of representing both ‘9/11‘ and 'Pearl Harbor' as national traumatic experiences in American Popular Culture. The theoretical framework of this seminar will draw on recent developments in the field of Cultural Memory Studies. Screenings will include Flying Tigers (1942), Destination Tokyo (1943), Bataan (1943), December 7th (1943), Tora!Tora!Tora! (1970), Pearl Harbor (2001), 25th Hour (2002), World Trade Center (2006) and United 93 (2006). Don DeLillo‘s Falling Man (2008) and Frédéric Beigbeder‘s Windows on the World (2005) will be required reading for all seminar attendees. Each student is encouraged to purchase a copy of the novels. Students will have to read the following texts in full (please get your own copies – all books are available second hand at little expense): • Don DeLillo Falling Man (2008) (to be read by beginnings of January) • Frédéric Beigbeder Windows on the World (2005) (to be read by mid-January) Recommended Textbooks: • Alexander, Jeffrey C. et al. (eds.). Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. Berkeley: U of California P, 2004. • Assmann, Jan. Das kulturelle Gedächtnis: Schrift, Erinnerung und politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen. München: Beck, 1992. • Hartwig, Marcel. Die traumatisierte Nation? »Pearl Harbor« und »9/11« als kulturelle Erinnerungen. Bielefeld: transcript, 2011. • Neal, Arthur G. National Trauma and Collective Memory: Extraordinary Events in the American Experience. London: M.E. Sharpe, 2005. Bemerkung This course will possibly be enhanced by a screening session (wednesdays, 6-8pm). Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft BA-LKM (Semester 2 und höher): erfolgreicher Abschluss der Module 1-3 Lehramt GY und BK: erfolgreicher Abschluss der Zwischenprüfung 2 CP: short oral presentation, active course participation, passing all reading tests . 5 CP: Active course participation, Passing half of the reading tests, oral presentation, final exam 7 CP: Active course participation, Passing half of the reading tests, oral presentation, term paper, to be handed in by 16 March 2012. Universität Siegen WiSe 2011/12 Dr. Hartwig Marcel