| Lerninhalte |
Unlike other animals, humans invent stories. Literature and cultural discourse make abundant use of them, especially the fashionable genres of adventure narrative, narrative of initiation, romance, and tragedy. In this class, we will explore the sociocultural reasons for the existence of stories, the genres and plot forms that (particularly) American stories have, and the 'cultural work' they perform, especially in postcolonial and minority writings (including children's books). Using a rich corpus of (shorter and longer) texts, we will discuss concepts like emplotment, characterization, and inter- and metatextuality. We will also look at how various disciplines, like anthropology and pedagogy, have theorized stories and their educational and political uses in different times and contexts. Particular attention will be given to the origin of all stories in oral traditions, using examples from American Indigenous story traditions.
This class is of particular relevance to future teachers, including Lehramt Grundschule.
Required Reading:
- Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Puffin, 1990.
- Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Oxford World's Classics. 1900/2010
- Further books to be purchased will be announced.
Admission to the class depends on students to sign up electronically. All students, including those who were rejected by the system or put on a waiting list but want to take this class, have to participate in a QUIZ (Lektürekontrolle) on Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, in the first session. Please read and bring along the novel for that purpose! |
